Tom Harkin: “with the recent death of Dr. Elbert B. Smith--known to his friends simply as ``E.B.''--I lost a much beloved mentor…”

“with the recent death of Dr. Elbert B. Smith--known to his friends simply as ``E.B.''--I lost a much beloved mentor, advisor, and friend. Obituaries in the Washington Post and elsewhere have captured the essential facts of his life. Since 1990, he was professor emeritus at the University of Maryland. He served in the Navy in World War II, earned his master's degree and Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, and taught at Iowa State University, among other colleges, before joining the faculty at Maryland in 1968. Over the years, he also served as a Fulbright professor at the University of Tokyo and at Moscow State University, and elsewhere. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat in Iowa in 1962 and again in 1966. What those factual obituaries fail to capture is the spirit of this remarkable man--his personal warmth, his talent for friendship, his great love of history and scholarship, and his passion for progressive causes. He was one of the most influential people in my life, beginning in my years as an undergraduate at Iowa State University, where he was a history professor. He inspired me to get involved in politics and public service. When he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1962, I got involved in his campaign. And what a campaign it was--an unconventional, insurgent, student-run campaign against the status quo. This was 6 years before Senator Eugene McCarthy ran a similar campaign for President.…”