Global InformationWalter Bedell Smith information
Walter Bedell Smith | |
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| 18th United States Under Secretary of State | |
| In office 9 February 1953 – 1 October 1954 | |
| President | Dwight Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | David K. E. Bruce |
| Succeeded by | Herbert Hoover Jr. |
| 4th Director of Central Intelligence | |
| In office 7 October 1950 – 9 February 1953 | |
| President |
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| Deputy |
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| Preceded by | Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter |
| Succeeded by | Allen Dulles |
| United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union | |
| In office 3 April 1946 – 25 December 1948 | |
| President | Harry Truman |
| Preceded by | W. Averell Harriman |
| Succeeded by | Alan G. Kirk |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 October 1895 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | 9 August 1961 (aged 65) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Spouse | Nory Cline (1917–1961) |
| Signature |  |
| Nickname | Beetle |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1911–1953 |
| Rank |  General |
| Unit |  Infantry Branch |
| Commands | First Army |
| Battles/wars |
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| Awards | Army Distinguished Service Medal (3) Navy Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit Bronze Star National Security Medal (more below) |
| ASN | 0-10197 |
General Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith (5 October 1895 – 9 August 1961) was a senior officer of the United States Army who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) during the Tunisia Campaign and the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943, during World War II. He was Eisenhower's chief of staff at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in the campaign in Western Europe from 1944 to 1945.
Smith enlisted as a private in the Indiana Army National Guard in 1911. During World War I, he served with the American Expeditionary Forces and was commissioned to second lieutenant in 1917. He was wounded in the Aisne-Marne Offensive in 1918. After the war, he was a staff officer and instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School. In 1941, he became secretary of the General Staff, and in 1942 he became the secretary to the Combined Chiefs of Staff. His duties involved taking part in discussions of war plans at the highest level, and Smith often briefed President Franklin D. Roosevelt on strategic matters.
Smith became chief of staff to Eisenhower at AFHQ in September 1942 and acquired a reputation as Eisenhower's "hatchet man" for his brusque and demanding manner. However, he also successfully represented Eisenhower in sensitive missions requiring diplomatic skill. Smith was involved in negotiating the armistice between Italy and the Allies, which he signed on behalf of Eisenhower. In 1944, he became the chief of staff of SHAEF, again under Eisenhower. In that position, Smith also negotiated successfully for food and fuel aid to be sent through German lines for the cold and starving Dutch civilian population, and he opened discussions for the peaceful and complete German capitulation to the First Canadian Army in the Netherlands. In May 1945, Smith met representatives of the German High Command in Reims, France, to conduct the surrender of the German Armed Forces, and he signed the German Instrument of Surrender on behalf of Eisenhower.
After the war, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1946 to 1948. In 1950, Smith became the Director of Central Intelligence, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the other intelligence agencies in the United States. Smith reorganized the CIA, redefined its structure and its mission, and gave it a new sense of purpose. He made the CIA the arm of government that is primarily responsible for covert operations. He left the CIA in 1953 to become an Under Secretary of State. After retiring from the State Department in 1954, Smith continued to serve the Eisenhower administration in various posts for several years until he retired shortly before he died in 1961.