Benjamin A. Smith II

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Benjamin Atwood Smith II

United States Senator from Massachusetts
In office December 27, 1960 – November 6, 1962
Preceded by	John F. Kennedy
Succeeded by	Ted Kennedy

Born	March 16, 1916(1916-03-16) Gloucester, Massachusetts
Died	September 6, 1991 (aged 75)
Political party	Democratic

Benjamin Atwood Smith II (March 16, 1916 – September 6, 1991) was briefly a United States Senator from the U.S. State of Massachusetts.

Smith was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts and he graduated from Harvard University where he was a roommate of John F. Kennedy. He served in the United States Navy in the Pacific during World War II. He served as Mayor of Gloucester from 1954 to 1955.

John F. Kennedy resigned from the Senate on December 22, 1960 after being elected President of the United States. Kennedy, who had been re-elected to a second Senate term of six years in 1958, advised Gov. Foster Furcolo of Massachusetts to appoint Smith to fill the vacated seat "in the interest of promoting party unity." Critics said Smith was intended all along to simply be a "seat-warmer" until the President-elect's brother, Ted Kennedy, turned 30 (the minimum age provided by the U.S. Constitution for eligibility to serve in the Senate). Smith served as Senator until a special election was held in 1962, when he was indeed succeeded by Ted Kennedy, who served the remainder of the term. Kennedy has been reelected ever since.

[edit] External links

Benjamin A. Smith II at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-01-23
Benjamin A. Smith II at Find A Grave Retrieved on 2008-01-23

Preceded by John F. Kennedy	United States Senator (Class 1) from Massachusetts 1960–1962 Served alongside: Leverett Saltonstall	Succeeded by Edward M. Kennedy

v • d • e United States Senators from Massachusetts

Class 1: Dalton • Cabot • Goodhue • Mason • Adams • Lloyd • Gore • Ashmun • Mellen • Mills • Webster • Choate • Webster • Winthrop • Rantoul • Sumner • Washburn • Dawes • Lodge, Sr. • Butler • Walsh • Lodge, Jr. • J. Kennedy • Smith • E. Kennedy Class 2: Strong • Sedgwick • Dexter • Foster • Pickering • Varnum • Otis • Lloyd • Silsbee • Davis • Bates • Davis • Everett • Rockwell • Wilson • Boutwell • Hoar • Crane • J. Weeks • Walsh • Gillett • Coolidge • Lodge, Jr. • S. Weeks • Saltonstall • Brooke • Tsongas • Kerry