On this day in Alabama history: Albert Lee Smith Jr. was born
Birmingham native Albert Lee Smith Jr. (1931-1997) worked in the insurance industry for many decades and served one term in the U.S. Congress from 1981 to 1983. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, photo courtesy of the Birmingham Public Library)
August 31, 1931
Albert Lee Smith Jr., a Birmingham native who graduated from Ramsay High School and Alabama Polytechnic Institute (present-day Auburn University), was born on Aug. 31, 1931. After college, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1954-56. Smith was a conservative who became active in the Republican Party in 1962, serving as an Alabama delegate to the 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1984 Republican National Conventions. In 1978, he lost in the primary to incumbent Rep. John Hall Buchanan Jr., but beat him in the 1980 primary and narrowly won the general election. In 1982, Smith ran for re-election, but Jefferson County Commissioner Bed Erdreich defeated him. Smith died in Birmingham on Aug. 12, 1997.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.
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