Robert E. Smylie

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Robert Eben Smylie


24th Governor of Idaho
In office
January 3, 1955 – January 2, 1967
Preceded by Leonard B. "Len" Jordan
Succeeded by Don Samuelson

Attorney General of Idaho
In office
November 24, 1947 – January 3, 1955
Preceded by Robert Ailshie
Succeeded by Graydon W. Smith

Born October 31, 1914
Marcus, Iowa
Died July 17, 2004 (aged 89)
Boise, Idaho
Resting place Pioneer Cemetery in Boise
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Lucille C. Irwin Smylie (married 1943-2004, his death)
Children Robert William Smylie

R. Steve Smylie

Alma mater College of Idaho in Caldwell (Bachelor of Arts)
George Washington University

(Bachelor of Laws]]


Military Service
Service/branch United States Coast Guard
Years of service 1942–1946

Robert Eben Smylie (October 31, 1914 – July 17, 2004) was the Republican 24th governor of his adopted state of Idaho, with service for three terms from 1955 to 1967. Prior to his gubernatorial tenure, he was the state attorney general from 1947 to 1955.[1]

Biography

Born in Marcus in Cherokee County in northwestern Iowa, Smylie graduated during the Great Depression from high school in Cresco, 230 miles east of Marcus in eastern Iowa.[2] An uncle invited him to Idaho to attend the private liberal arts school, the College of Idaho in Caldwell, from which he graduated in 1938. During the school year, he participated in football, debate, the yearbook, and student government. In the summers he hitchhiked back to Iowa.

After his four years at the College of Idaho, he moved to Washington D.C., where he was a U.S. Capitol policeman, attended George Washington University Law School, from which he graduated in 1942, and simultaneously clerked at the law firm of Covington Burling. In 1943, he wed the former Lucille C. Irwin (1907-2004}. Governor Smylie died only forty days before the passing of his wife. The couple had two sons, Robert William Smylie (1949-2017), a veteran of the Vietnam War who is interred at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery in Boise,[3] and R. Steve Smylie (born 1953), a former state representative.[2]

During World War II, he served as an attorney in the United States Coast Guard, stationed in the Philippines. After the war, he returned to Idaho,and served two terms as Attorney General of Idaho. In 1954, he was elected governor, in which capacity, he worked to increase the state minimum wage, to establish a five-day work week for state employees, and the creation of the Department of Commerce. He also launched a state highway construction program and the creation of the state park system. He pushed for a state sales tax to fund education.After his gubernatorial tenure, he resumed his law practice and served as a trustee and acting president of his alma mater, the College of Idaho.[4]

A Moderate Republican, Smylie lost his primary race for a fourth gubernatorial term by a significant margin to the more conservative Don Samuelson, who had settled in Idaho from his native Illinois. Samuelson was unseated after a single term by the Democrat Cecil Andrus, later the Secretary of the Interior under U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Smylie died at the age of eighty-nine in the capital city of Boise, where he and his wife are interred at Pioneer Cemetery.[4]

References

  1. Rebecca Boone (July 18, 2004). Former Gov. Smylie dies at 89. Spokane Spokesman-Review. Retrieved on September 9, 2021.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Gov. Robert Eben Smylie. Basque Museum (Idaho Statesman obituary) (July 20, 2004). Retrieved on September 9, 2021.
  3. Robert William “Bill” Smylie (1949-2017) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed September 8, 2021.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Robert Eben Smylie (1914-2004) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed September 8, 2021.