Representative Dennis Alan Smith

Dennis Alan Smith (born January 19, 1938) is an American businessman, publisher, Vietnam War veteran, and former United States congressman from the state of Oregon. A native of Oregon and a member of the Republican Party, he served as a Representative from Oregon in the United States Congress from 1981 to 1991, completing five terms in office. Over the course of his decade in the House of Representatives, he participated in the legislative process during a significant period in American history and represented the interests of his constituents in two different congressional districts. He is the only son of former Oregon Governor Elmo Smith and his wife Dorothy, and is a cousin of Steve Symms, a former congressman and United States senator from Idaho.

Smith was born in the eastern Oregon city of Ontario, Oregon, on January 19, 1938. He grew up in a politically engaged family due to his father’s prominence in state politics, which exposed him early to public affairs and the workings of government. He attended public schools in Oregon and graduated in 1956 from Grant Union High School in John Day. That same year he enrolled at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, an institution long associated with training future leaders in law, business, and public service.

In 1958, Smith interrupted his college studies to join the United States Air Force. He served on active duty until 1960, when he transferred to the Oregon Air National Guard. Returning to his academic pursuits, he completed his education at Willamette University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961. In 1962, he returned to active duty in the Air Force and remained in service until 1967. During this period he served as a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War, flying the F-4C Phantom and completing approximately 180 combat missions. His military service established his credentials as a Vietnam War veteran and laid the groundwork for his later involvement in veterans’ issues in Congress.

Following his active-duty military career, Smith remained in the aviation field. From 1967 until 1976 he worked as a flight engineer and co-pilot for Pan American World Airways, flying commercial routes for the international airline. In 1974, his fellow employees selected him to serve as the union’s lobbyist in Washington, D.C., giving him his first direct experience with federal policymaking and congressional advocacy. Meanwhile, in 1968, after the death of his father, he took over the family’s newspaper business, marking the beginning of his long involvement in the printing and publishing industry. His later leadership in this field would be recognized when he became chairman of Eagle Newspapers, a printing and publishing company in the Pacific Northwest, and when the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association inducted him into the Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2012. In recognition of his aviation career and military flying service, he was also inducted into the Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor in 2009.

Smith entered elective politics at the national level in 1980, when he ran for the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from Oregon’s 2nd congressional district. In that election he defeated 12-term Democratic incumbent Al Ullman by a narrow margin of about 3,700 votes. His victory was widely attributed in part to the strong performance of Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election, during which Reagan carried every county in the sprawling district. For his first term, beginning in January 1981, Smith represented a vast district that stretched from his home in the state capital, Salem, all the way to the Idaho border. Following the 1980 census, Oregon was awarded an additional congressional seat. Redistricting placed Smith’s home in Salem, along with much of the western portion of the old 2nd District, into the newly created 5th congressional district. Smith successfully sought election from the 5th District in 1982 and was reelected three more times, serving continuously in Congress from 1981 until 1991.

During his five terms in the House of Representatives, Smith served on several key committees, including the Committee on the Budget, the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. His assignments reflected both his regional interests—such as land, resource, and interior issues important to Oregon—and his personal background as a Vietnam War veteran. He was comfortably reelected in 1984 and 1986, consolidating his position in the 5th District. In 1988, however, he faced a strong challenge from Democratic State Representative Mike Kopetski and was narrowly returned to office by only 707 votes. While still serving in Congress, Smith established and headed Oregonians Against Crime, an organization that placed Oregon’s 1988 Anti-crime Bill on the ballot by initiative petition and successfully campaigned for its passage, reflecting his engagement with criminal justice and public safety issues.

Smith’s congressional career came to an end in the 1990 election cycle. Mike Kopetski sought a rematch and defeated Smith, in part by attacking Smith for his ties to several collapsed savings and loan institutions during a period of national concern over the savings and loan crisis. Smith left Congress in January 1991 at the conclusion of his fifth term. He remained active in Republican politics and public affairs in Oregon. In 1994, he was the Republican nominee for Governor of Oregon but lost the general election to Democratic state Senate President John Kitzhaber. He also served as the Republican National Committeeman for Oregon, holding that party position until 2000.

In his later life, Smith continued to focus on business and publishing as chairman of Eagle Newspapers, maintaining the family’s long-standing presence in the regional newspaper industry. His dual recognition in the Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor and the Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame underscored the breadth of his professional contributions in both aviation and media. On the personal side, Smith married Sandra in 1962, and the couple had one son before divorcing in 1967. He later married Kathleen Barrett, with whom he had three children; that marriage ended in divorce in 1986. In 1989, he married Deanna Marie Koenig, who remained his spouse until her death in 2011. Throughout his career in the military, business, publishing, and politics, Smith’s life and work have been closely tied to the state of Oregon and to a family legacy of public service.