George Albert Smith

This article is about the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For others of the same name, see George Albert Smith (disambiguation).

George Albert Smith
8th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
May 21, 1945 (1945-05-21) – April 4, 1951 (1951-04-04)
Predecessor	Heber J. Grant
Successor	David O. McKay
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
June 21, 1943 (1943-06-21) – May 21, 1945 (1945-05-21)
End reason	Became President of the Church
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
October 8, 1903 (1903-10-08) – May 21, 1945 (1945-05-21)
Called by	Joseph F. Smith
End reason	Became President of the Church
LDS Church Apostle
October 8, 1903 (1903-10-08) – April 4, 1951 (1951-04-04)
Called by	Joseph F. Smith
Reason	Death of Brigham Young, Jr.
Reorganization at end of term	Marion G. Romney ordained
Personal details
Born	George Albert Smith (1870-04-04)April 4, 1870 Salt Lake City, Utah Territory
Died	Salt Lake City, Utah
Resting place	Salt Lake City Cemetery
Spouse(s)	Lucy Emily Woodruff
Children	3
Parents	John Henry Smith Sarah Farr
Signature

George Albert Smith, Sr. (April 4, 1870 – April 4, 1951) was the eighth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Early life

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, Smith was one of nineteen children of Mormon apostle John Henry Smith and one of his plural wives, Sarah Farr. His grandfather, for whom he was named, was also an LDS Church apostle as well as a cousin of church founder Joseph Smith. John Henry Smith and George Albert Smith are the only father and son pair to have been members of the Quorum of the Twelve at the same time, having served in the Quorum together between 1903 and 1910.

Smith attended high school at Brigham Young Academy, graduating in 1884. He next graduated from the University of Deseret (later the University of Utah) in 1888. In 1896, he had joined the Republican Party and campaigned for William McKinley, who became President of the United States. He also favored Theodore Roosevelt, McKinley's successor.

While surveying for a railroad as a young man, Smith's eyesight was permanently impaired by glare from the sun. After 1903, Smith found his frequent travels debilitating and began to show prominent symptoms of physical weakness. He was eventually diagnosed with lupus erythematosus, a chronic debilitating autoimmune disease.

Smith was known for his patriotism and joined various American patriotic groups. He was also an ardent supporter of the Boy Scouts. In 1934, the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America awarded him the prestigious Silver Buffalo Award. Smith was an avid genealogist and family historian and was named national vice president of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1922.

Marriage and family

On May 25, 1892, Smith married Lucy Emily Woodruff, the granddaughter of Wilford Woodruff, in the Manti Temple. The couple later had three children. Lucy had spent much of her time growing up in the household of her grandfather and looked on him as almost more of a father than a grandfather. Smith's son, George Albert Smith, Jr., became a professor at Harvard Business School.

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  George Albert Smith, ca. 1890

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  Lucy Emily Woodruff, wife of George Albert Smith

LDS Church service

Just prior to his marriage to Lucy, Smith served as a Mutual Improvement Association missionary throughout many areas in Southern Utah.

Smith and his new wife, Lucy, were missionaries in the LDS Church's Southern States Mission, with J. Golden Kimball as their president, from 1892 to 1894. Smith was appointed mission secretary.

Smith was called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1903. From 1920 until 1923 Smith served as president of the church's British and European missions. In this capacity, he preached in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany. From 1921 to 1935, Smith was the general superintendent of the church's Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association. In 1935 he was succeeded in this position by Albert E. Bowen.

With the death of quorum president Rudger Clawson in 1943, Smith was sustained as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and served in the position for two years.

Administration as President of the Church

With the death of Heber J. Grant, Smith became president of the church on May 21, 1945. When World War II ended, Smith helped send supplies to Europe and was also known for his efforts to revitalize missionary work. He publicly denounced the activities and political influence of the American Ku Klux Klan. Smith dedicated the Idaho Falls Temple on September 23, 1945. Over his lifetime, he traveled approximately a million miles fulfilling church assignments.

Smith was the first church president to visit Mexico while in office. He went there to complete the reconciliation of and return to the church a group of apostates in Mexico known as the "Third Conventionists".

Emotional illness

While not common knowledge among contemporary members of the LDS Church, nor even in Smith's day, it was well known to his close friends, church associates, and family members that Smith suffered from chronic depression and anxiety, which at times could be debilitating, including one nervous breakdown that left him largely ridden to his bed from 1909 to 1912. Throughout his life, Smith could take to his bed, sometimes for days at a time, with emotional and mental illness related issues. Smith himself professed that these experiences helped deepen his understanding of the Gospel and personal belief in the existence of God, stating in a 1921 general conference session, “I have been in the valley of the shadow of death in recent years, so near the other side that I am sure that for the special blessing of our Heavenly Father I could not have remained here. . . . The nearer I went to the other side, the greater was my assurance that the gospel is true.”

According to Mary Jane Woodger:

"Those close to George Albert Smith were aware of some emotional problems. Grandchild George Albert Smith V suggests that his grandfather struggled with depression, feeling incompetent, and being overwhelmed. There were times when 'he just could not pull it all together.' Another granddaughter, Shauna Lucy Stewart Larsen, who lived in George Albert’s home for twelve years as a child, remembers that 'when there was great, tremendous stress, mostly [of] an emotional kind, it took its toll and he would literally have to go to bed for several days.' Grandson Robert Murray Stewart remembers, 'There were problems associated with his mental health, just maintaining control of himself.' Given what seems to be George Albert’s emotional fragility, physical illness may have been a socially acceptable way for him to retreat, rest, and regroup before tackling his responsibilities again with renewed determination."

Death and legacy

In March 1951, Smith suffered a stroke that left him mostly paralyzed on the right side of his body, and gradually deteriorated until his death on April 4, 1951. He was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Smith's teachings as an apostle were the 2012 course of study in the LDS Church's Sunday Relief Society and Melchizedek priesthood classes.

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  George Albert Smith's grave marker
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  Front side of monument to four generations of a branch of the Smith family, prominent in LDS history.
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  Back side of monument to four generations of a branch of the Smith family, prominent in LDS history.

References

Footnotes

Works cited

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External links

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titles
Preceded by Heber J. Grant	President of the Church May 21, 1945–April 4, 1951	Succeeded by David O. McKay
Preceded by Rudger Clawson	President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles June 21, 1943–May 21, 1945	Succeeded by George F. Richards
Preceded by Hyrum M. Smith	Quorum of the Twelve Apostles October 8, 1903–May 21, 1945	Succeeded by Charles W. Penrose
Preceded by Anthony W. Ivins	Superintendent of the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association 1921–1935	Succeeded by Albert E. Bowen