Nick Smith (U.S. politician)

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Nick Smith

Nicholas H. "Nick" Smith (born November 5, 1934), is a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan, who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1993 until 2005, representing from the 7th District of Michigan.

Born in Addison, Michigan, Smith earned a B.A. from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, in 1957 and an M.S. in Economics from the University of Delaware in 1959. Smith served in the United States Air Force from 1959 to 1961. He was Squadron Commander in the Civil Air Patrol and later an Intelligence Officer.

Smith served on the Somerset Township board of trustees, 1962 to 1968, and he was township supervisor and on the Hillsdale County board of supervisors from 1966 to 1968. He then served as assistant deputy administrator and director of energy in the United States Department of Agriculture between 1972 and 1974.

Smith served as a member of the Michigan State House of Representatives from the 41st District from 1979 to 1982. He then served as a member of Michigan Senate from the 19th District from 1983 to 1993. While in the Michigan senate, he was appointed President Pro Tempore from 1983 to 1990. He resigned from the senate in 1993 when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Smith gained national attention in 2004 when he claimed that members of the House Republican leadership told him that business interests would give $100,000 to the campaign of his son Brad Smith in his bid to win his father's House seat, on the condition that his father vote for the Medicare Modernization Act. When Nick Smith refused to vote for the bill, he was told that his son would never get into Congress.

In March 2004, the House Ethics Committee admonished fellow Representative from Michigan Candice Miller and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay for their involvement in the affair.

Smith did not run for reelection in 2004 and his son Brad lost in the primary to Joe Schwarz, who was elected in the general election (Schwarz was defeated in the 2006 primary).