- Earl T. Smith
Earl Edward Tailer Smith (1903-1991) was a United States foreign
diplomat ,ambassador toCuba (1957-1959) and mayor ofPalm Beach (1971-1977). Husband of JFK mistress and former model, Florence Pritchett Smith (1920-1965).Biography
Smith was born in
Rhode Island and studied atYale University (1926-28) before becoming an investment broker and a member of theNew York Stock Exchange . He also became a partner in the investment brokers, Paige, Smith, and Remick (1930-1939).In 1941 U.S. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Smith as special assistant in the Office of Production Management (laterWar Production Board ). He left this post to serve in the United States Army during theSecond World War . He served overseas and by the end of the war reached the rank oflieutenant colonel .Cuba
In June, 1957, U.S. President
Dwight Eisenhower appointed Smith Ambassador to Cuba replacingArthur Gardner . At that time Smith was a successful businessman who had never held a diplomatic position and who did not speak Spanish [ [http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/havana/Fidel-2.htm] Book Excerpt The Man Who Invented Fidel: Castro, Cuba, and Herbert L. Matthews of the New York Times ] On arrival Smith was urged by his staff to leave Havana in order to get a better feel of the country, which was in a state of some turmoil. On a visit toSantiago de Cuba Smith witnessed at first hand repressive measures undertaken by the Cuban police and consequently protested to authoritarianPresident of Cuba Fulgencio Batista . The government inHavana denounced Ambassador Smith's actions as interfering in the internal affairs of Cuba, and relations became terse. Smith was also critical of what he perceived as Washington's ambivalent attitude towards the growing26th of July movement led byFidel Castro , feeling that the CIA were underestimating the strength of theCommunist Party of Cuba . [ [http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuban-rebels/kirkpatrick.htm Batista's Cuba] Lyman B. Kirkpatrick, Jr. The Real CIA. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1968]Smith resigned his post on 20 January, 1959 to be replaced by
Philip Bonsal , only three weeks after theCuban Revolution led by Castro. In 1960 Smith testified to the Senate Committee on the subject of the "Communist threat to the United States through the Caribbean". During the hearings Smith made the following analysis of the evolving situation in Cuba and U.S. foreign policy in the region: cquote|If we are to intervene sufficiently to bring about the overthrow of dictatorships, then we should intervene to whatever extent is required to fulfill our purpose. Otherwise, in my opinion, we must wait for the normal self-development of a people and not assist revolution. And we must be prepared to receive the criticism of supporting friendly governments recognized by the United States, although they have been labeled dictatorships. To make my point more clear, let me say that, we helped to overthrow the Batista dictatorship which was pro-American only to install the Castro dictatorship which is pro-Russian.----
External links
* [http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/us-cuba/gardner-smith.htm Communist threat to the United States through the Caribbean] Earl E. T. Smith evidence to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on 27 August, 1960.
* [http://www.yamaguchy.netfirms.com/7897401/smith/fourth_00.html The Fourth Floor] by Earl Smith, Random House, 1962.ee also
*
Cuba-United States relations
*History of Cuba References
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