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After service in the Texas House from 1945 to 1951, Smith served six more years in the state Senate from 1957 to 1963. He won the Senate position by unseating Kilmer B. Corbin, the father of [[actor]] Barry Corbin. In 1962, Smith won the lieutenant governor's race, securing majorities in all but 16 of the 254 counties to defeat the Republican O.W. "Bill" Hayes.<ref>Charles Ashman, ''Connally: The Adventures of Big Bad John'', New York: William Morrow Company, 1974, p. 22.</ref>

After service in the Texas House from 1945 to 1951, Smith served six more years in the state Senate from 1957 to 1963. He won the Senate position by unseating Kilmer B. Corbin, the father of [[actor]] Barry Corbin. In 1962, Smith won the lieutenant governor's race, securing majorities in all but 16 of the 254 counties to defeat the Republican O.W. "Bill" Hayes.<ref>Charles Ashman, ''Connally: The Adventures of Big Bad John'', New York: William Morrow Company, 1974, p. 22.</ref>

In 1968, Smith was elected governor to succeed the popular Democratic incumbent [[John Connally|John B. Connally, Jr.]], who in 1973  switched affiliation to the [[Republican Party|Republican Party]]. To win the governorship, Smith first defeated fellow Democrat Don Yarborough in the 1968 Democratic runoff election. Eliminated in the primary that year were [[Dolph Briscoe]], a rancher, businessman, and philanthropist from Uvalde and former Attorney General Waggoner Carr, also of Lubbock, who two years earlier had lost the race for the [[United States Senate]] to Republican [[John Tower]].

In 1968, Smith was elected governor to succeed the popular Democratic incumbent [[John Connally|John B. Connally, Jr.]], who in 1973  switched affiliation to the [[Republican Party]]. To win the governorship, Smith first defeated fellow Democrat Don Yarborough in the 1968 Democratic runoff election. Eliminated in the primary that year were [[Dolph Briscoe]], a rancher, businessman, and philanthropist from Uvalde and former Attorney General Waggoner Carr, also of Lubbock, who two years earlier had lost the race for the [[United States Senate]] to Republican [[John Tower]].

On January 21, 1969, the day after the swearing-in of [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] to his first term, Smith took the oath of office. His ceremony, replete with the Texas Tech band, was the first to have been televised in Texas history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lubbockonline.com/lnb100/2017-01-27/1969-smith-s-inaugural-celebration-have-flavor-south-plains|title=1969: Smith's inaugural celebration to have flavor of South Plains|publisher=''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=January 27, 2017|accessdate=April 3, 2017}}</ref>

On January 21, 1969, the day after the swearing-in of [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] to his first term, Smith took the oath of office. His ceremony, replete with the Texas Tech band, was the first to have been televised in Texas history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lubbockonline.com/lnb100/2017-01-27/1969-smith-s-inaugural-celebration-have-flavor-south-plains|title=1969: Smith's inaugural celebration to have flavor of South Plains|publisher=''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=January 27, 2017|accessdate=April 3, 2017}}</ref>