22 September 2004
What is your background?
I was born in Pendleton, Oregon in 1952. Two years later, my father accepted the job as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture under Ezra Taft Benson and moved our family to Washington D.C. where I spent my adolescent years. During that time I developed a love of public affairs, politics, and continued an interest in the family business of agriculture. That was the foundation of my professional life. It could be summed up as “peas and politics”.
Upon graduating from high school, I went to Brigham Young University, spent a year there, and then served a mission to New Zealand. After returning from New Zealand, I studied three years and graduated with a bachelor’s in History and English.
So, you knew you wanted to go into politics?
I knew I had a profound interest in it that began in my boyhood. I have specific recollections of being inspired by the Kennedy inaugural—a sense it was important, and something I would like to be involved in at some point in my life. I found that some of the best skills that honed me for later life I had developed as a missionary in New Zealand, learning to speak King’s English and deal with people in all circumstances of life, were a remarkable preparation for life in a public role.
When I came back from my mission, my parents had sold our food processing business. So, I set my sights on Law school, since it was in line with my other interests, which were the Constitution, Public Policy, and Law. I went to Southwestern University, earned a place on the Law review, graduated from Law school there, and went on to pass the Bar exams in Arizona and New Mexico. I was a Law clerk to the New Mexico Supreme Court and later practiced briefly in Mesa, Arizona. I saw, however, an opportunity to pursue a business interest in food processing back in my native state of Oregon, where I bought the assets of Deluxe Norco Foods. I was able to do that because the company was in financial extremes. So, with a little bit of luck, good timing, and a sound business plan, I was able to grow that business into what it is today, with sales of $60 million that produces about 15% of the nation’s frozen peas and corn. The company bears our family name of Smith Frozen Foods.
How did you go from there to the Senate?
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