Frank Leslie SMITH, Congress, IL (1867-1950)

SMITH Frank Leslie , a Representative and a Senator-elect from Illinois; born in Dwight, Livingston County, Ill., November 24, 1867; attended the public schools of Dwight; taught school for several years; engaged in banking, real estate, insurance, and agricultural pursuits; Dwight village clerk 1894; unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor 1904; internal-revenue collector 1905-1906; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1919-March 3, 1921); was not a candidate for renomination in 1920, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for United States Senator; resumed his former business pursuits; chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission 1921-1926; appointed as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1926 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William B. McKinley in the term ending March 3, 1927; presented credentials as a Senator-designate but was not permitted to qualify, due to charges of "fraud and corruption" in his campaign; presented credentials as a Senator-elect to the United States Senate for the term beginning March 4, 1927, but again was not permitted to qualify and subsequently tendered his resignation on February 9, 1928; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1930 to the Seventy-second Congress; member of the Republican National Committee in 1932; continued in real estate and insurance business and agricultural pursuits; chairman of the board of directors if the First National Bank of Dwight, Ill., until his death there August 30, 1950; interment in Oak Lawn Cemetery.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Wooddy, Carroll Hill. The Case of Frank L. Smith: A Study in Representative Government. 1931. Reprint. New York: Arno Press, 1974.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present