Howard W. Smith
Howard W. Smith | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Smith, c. 1960 | |
| Chair of the House Rules Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1967 | |
| Speaker | Sam Rayburn John W. McCormack |
| Preceded by | Leo E. Allen |
| Succeeded by | William M. Colmer |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia | |
| In office March 4, 1931 – January 3, 1967 | |
| Preceded by | R. Walton Moore |
| Succeeded by | William L. Scott |
| Constituency |
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| Judge of the Virginia Circuit Court for the 16th Judicial Circuit | |
| In office July 1928 – April 19, 1930 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel G. Brent |
| Succeeded by | Walter T. McCarthy |
| Judge of the Alexandria Corporation Court | |
| In office October 26, 1922 – July 1928 | |
| Preceded by | Robinson Moncure |
| Succeeded by | William P. Woolls |
| Commonwealth's Attorney for Alexandria | |
| In office September 1, 1918 – October 26, 1922 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel G. Brent |
| Succeeded by | William P. Woolls |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Howard Worth Smith February 2, 1883 Broad Run, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | October 3, 1976 (aged 93) Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. |
| Resting place | Little Georgetown Cemetery Broad Run, Virginia, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Virginia (LLB) |
| Occupation |
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Howard Worth "Judge" Smith (February 2, 1883 – October 3, 1976) was an American politician. A Democratic U.S. Representative from Virginia, he was a leader of the informal but powerful conservative coalition.
Smith offered an amendment to insert "sex" after the word "religion" as a protected class of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Congressional Record shows Smith made serious arguments, voicing concerns that white women would suffer greater discrimination without a protection for gender. Reformers, who knew Smith was hostile to civil rights for blacks, assumed that he was doing so to defeat the whole bill.
The prohibition of sex discrimination was added on the floor by Smith. While Smith strongly opposed civil rights laws for blacks, he supported such laws for women. Smith's amendment passed by a vote of 168 to 133.