James E Smith

Jim Smith is the Chairman of The Smith-Free Group. Mr. Smith is the former President of Walker/Free Associates, which he joined in 1980. He served previously as the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency from 1973 through 1976, heading the agency charged with chartering and regulating the national banking system. From 1969 to 1973, Mr. Smith headed the Treasury Department's Office of Congressional Relations, completing his tenure as Deputy Under Secretary of the Department. In 1971 he received the Alexander Hamilton Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Department. After his tenure at the Treasury department, Mr. Smith served from 1977-1980, as Executive Vice President of the First Chicago Corporation. From 1963 to1968, Mr. Smith was Associate Federal Legislative Counsel of the American Bankers Association. Earlier, he served as Legislative Assistant to Senator Karl Mundt of South Dakota and as Minority Counsel of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations. A native of South Dakota, Mr. Smith received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1952 from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and an LLB from George Washington University in 1961. Mr. Smith is married to Karen Klem Smith and they reside in Bethesda, Maryland.