William Howell Smathers

William Howell Smathers (January 7, 1891 – September 24, 1955) was a Democratic United States Senator from New Jersey, serving from 1937 to 1943. He was born on January 7, 1891, on a plantation near Waynesville, Haywood County, North Carolina. Raised in the rural South at the turn of the twentieth century, he was part of a family that would later produce multiple prominent political figures; he was an uncle of future Florida Senator George Smathers.

Smathers attended public schools in North Carolina before pursuing higher education at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. He then studied law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from which he was graduated from the law department in 1911. The following year, in 1912, he was admitted to the bar and soon thereafter moved to New Jersey, where he commenced the practice of law in Atlantic City. His relocation marked the beginning of a long professional and political association with the state he would later represent in the United States Senate.

In Atlantic City, Smathers built a legal career that led to significant judicial and governmental responsibilities. He served as a judge of the common pleas court of Atlantic City from 1922 to 1932, presiding over a broad range of civil and criminal matters during a decade that spanned the Prohibition era and the early years of the Great Depression. After leaving the bench, he continued his public service at the state level, serving as the first assistant Attorney General of New Jersey from 1934 to 1936. In this capacity he was involved in the legal affairs of the state government during a period of expanding New Deal–era regulation and reform. His growing prominence in New Jersey politics led to his election to the New Jersey Senate in 1935, further solidifying his role in state governance.

Smathers’s state-level experience provided the foundation for his entry into national politics. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the United States Senate from New Jersey and served one term in Congress from 1937 to 1943. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, encompassing the later years of the Great Depression and the early years of World War II. As a United States Senator, William Howell Smathers contributed to the legislative process during his single term in office, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his New Jersey constituents in debates over domestic recovery, national defense, and foreign policy. He sought reelection in 1942 but was unsuccessful in his bid, bringing his Senate career to a close at the end of his term.

After leaving the Senate in 1943, Smathers returned to his law practice in Atlantic City, resuming private legal work while maintaining his ties to New Jersey’s civic and political life. He continued in practice there until his retirement, after which he returned to his native region in western North Carolina, settling again near Waynesville. William Howell Smathers died on September 24, 1955, in Asheville, North Carolina. He was remembered as a jurist, state official, and one-term United States Senator whose career linked Southern origins with long service to the State of New Jersey and whose family would continue to be represented in the United States Senate through his nephew, George Smathers of Florida.