Family Background

1870. April 4: George Albert Smith was born in Salt Lake City to Susan Farr and John Henry Smith. He was a great- grandnephew of Joseph Smith, Sr., and a grandson of George A. Smith.

At twelve, George attended the Brigham Young Academy for a year under Karl G. Maeser, returning home when his father left on a mission to England. At eighteen, he attended the University of Utah, but left after a year to work as a sales clerk at ZCMI.

In 1892 he married Lucy Emily Woodruff, a grand-daughter of Wilford Woodruff; they had three children. She died in 1937. He never remarried.

Missionary

1891. Filled a two-month mission promoting the MIA in central Utah.

1892. One week after their wedding, Lucy and George Albert Smith were called on a mission to the Southern States.

While serving as president of the European Mission in 1919, he took his first airplane ride—from Brussels to London—in a two-passenger open-cockpit plane. This resulted in his life-long passion for flying.

Federal Official

1898. An enthusiastic supporter of William McKinley, Smith was appointed receiver in the U.S. Land Office when McKinley was elected president.

Apostle

1903. Called to the Quorum of the Twelve by Joseph F. Smith after the death of Brigham Young, Jr., fulfilling an 1882 promise by Patriarch Zebedee Coltrin that Smith would "become a mighty prophet in the midst of the sons of Zion."

When President Smith sought the approval of George Albert's father for his choice, Apostle John Henry was hesitant: "I told him if it was a political office I would advise against it but I could not stand in the way of the suggestions of the spirit to him."They were the only father and son combination to serve in the same Quorum of the Twelve.

Just after ordination, Elder Smith listed the guidelines by which he intended to live his life: "I would not seek to force people to live up to my ideals, but rather love them into doing the thing that is right ... I would not be an enemy to any living soul."

Prolonged Nervous Breakdown

1909. From 1909 until 1913 George Albert Smith suffered what Reed Smoot called "mental trouble," and a recent biographer termed "mental collapse." He seemed to recover until the 1930s, when further complications developed. Throughout his service as a general authority after 1909, particularly as Church president, his associates did their best to limit demands upon him that might trigger a relapse. Recovering in the winter of 1909-10, he "became so weak as to be scarcely able to move. It was a slow and exhausting effort for me even to turn over in bed. One day under these conditions, I lost consciousness of my surroundings and thought I had passed to the Other Side. I found myself standing with my back to a large and beautiful lake, facing a great forest of trees. …

"Through the forest, I saw a man coming towards me. … I recognized him as my grandfather [George A. Smith]. … He looked at me very earnestly and said: 'I would like to know what you have done with my name.' Everything I had ever done passed before me as though it were a flying picture on a screen—everything I had done. … I smiled and looked at my grandfather and said: 'I have never done anything with your name of which you need be ashamed.'"

Scouter

1932. A long-time advocate of the Boy Scout movement in the Church, Smith was awarded the Silver Buffalo—the highest award in American Scouting. His citation read, "George Albert Smith: Business executive, religious leader, former President of the International Irrigation Congress and International Farm Congress, Federal Receiver of Public Moneys and Special Disbursing Agent for the State of Utah. Member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and General Superintendent of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association of the Church. Organizer and President of the Utah Pioneer Trails and Land-Marks Association. Member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America, Program Divisional Committee on Relationships and of its Region Twelve Executive Committee, and identified with its local activities since its organization. He has been indefatigable in serving the cause of scouting and to his enthusiasm for its program must be largely traced the fact that Utah stands above all other states in the percentage of boys who are Scouts."

Advocate for the Visually Impaired

Smith was a long-time supporter of visual-handicap societies, serving as president of the Society for the Aid of the Sightless for sixteen years. As a teenager his own sight was permanently impaired while working in the desert glare near Green River, Utah, with a railroad surveying crew.

His own words best sum up his philosophy of benevolent Christianity: "I plead with you, my brothers and sisters, let us be generous with one another. Let us be as patient with one another as we would like others to be with us. Let us see the virtues, not find fault and criticize. If we will do that, we will radiate sunshine, and those who know us best will love us."

Eighth President of the Church

1945. May 14: After two years as president of the Quorum of the Twelve, George Albert Smith, upon the death of Heber J. Grant, became the eighth President of the Church, with J. Reuben Clark and David O. McKay as counselors. He was the first Church president who did not have plural wives.

He dedicated the Idaho Falls Temple (1945), and was the first Church president to tour Mexico (1946) and to appear on a telecast of general conference (1949).

Shortly after World War II, President Smith visited Harry Truman to "'ascertain from you, Mr. President, what your attitude will be if the Latter-day Saints are prepared to ship food and clothing and bedding to Europe.' He smiled and looked at me, and said: 'Well, what do you want to ship it over there for? Their money isn't any good …. ' 'We would give it to them. They are our brothers and sisters and are in distress. God has blessed us with a surplus, and we will be glad to send it if we can have the cooperation of the government.' 'How long will it take you to get this ready?' I said: 'It's all ready.'"

President Smith served as a director of Utah Savings and Trust, Utah-Idaho Sugar, ZCMI, Heber J. Grant Company, Mutual Creamery, Utah National Bank, Salt Lake Theatre, and Decker Wholesale Jewelry Company. He was also president of Libby Investment Company.

Death:

1951. April 4: George Albert Smith died on his eighty-first birthday at his Yale Avenue home in Salt Lake City of lupuserythematosus disseminatus, a disease of the connective tissue which may have contributed to his mental collapse. Buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Sources
Ballard, Melvin R. Melvin J. Ballard: Crusader for Righteousness. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966.
Conference Reports, October 1947.
My Kingdom Shall Roll Forth: Readings in Church History. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1980.
Nibley, Preston. The Presidents of the Church. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1971.
Pardoe, T. Earl. The Sons of Brigham. Provo: Brigham Young University Alumni, 1969.
Provo, Utah. Brigham Young University. Harold B. Lee Library. Reed Smoot Diary.
Pusey, Merlo J. Builders of the Kingdom: George A. Smith, John Henry Smith, George Albert Smith. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1981.
Salt Lake City, Utah. University of Utah. J. Willard Marriott Library. George Albert Smith Diary.
_____. John Henry Smith Diary.
Stubbs, Glen R. "A Biography of George Albert Smith: 1870 to 1951." Ph.D. dissertation, Brigham Young University, 1974.