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[[Harvard University]]}}
[[Harvard University]]}}
'''Howard Drummond Smoot''', known as '''Dan Smoot''' (October 5, 1913 – July 21, 2003), was a [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] agent and a [[conservative]] political [[activism|activist]]. From 1957 to 1971, he published ''The Dan Smoot Report.'' a newsletter which chronicled alleged [[communism|communist]] infiltration in various sectors of [[United States|American]] government and society.
'''Howard Drummond Smoot''', known as '''Dan Smoot''' (October 5, 1913 – July 21, 2003), was a [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] agent and a [[conservative]] political [[activism|activist]]. From 1957 to 1971, he published ''The Dan Smoot Report.'' a newsletter which chronicled alleged [[communism|communist]] infiltration in various sectors of [[United States|American]] government and society.
==Background==
==Background==
Smoot was born into poverty in a log cabin in East Prairie in Mississippi County in southeastern [[Missouri]], to William Bernard "Bernie" Smoot (died 1924), a sharecropper, and the former Dora E. Allbright (born 1892).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Bernie+W._Smoot&event=_east+prairie-mississippi-missouri-usa_49370|title=William Bernard "Bernie" Smoot|publisher=Ancestry.com|accessdate=August 24, 2019}}</ref> As a six-year-old, Dan picked and hoed [[cotton]] and cultivated [[corn]] with a one-mule plow at the age of eight. He had a sister, Virginia Ruth, and a brother, Jewell Martin Smoot (1911-2003), who predeceased his brother by only ten days.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?viewrecord=1&r=an&db=FindAGraveUS&indiv=try&h=23442108|title=Jewell Smoot|publisher=Ancestry.com|accessdate=August 24, 2019}}</ref> Despite the lack of material resources, Bernie Smoot taught young Dan how to read the classics.
Smoot was born into poverty in a log cabin in East Prairie in Mississippi County in southeastern [[Missouri]], to William Bernard "Bernie" Smoot (died 1924), a sharecropper, and the former Dora E. Allbright (born 1892).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Bernie+W._Smoot&event=_east+prairie-mississippi-missouri-usa_49370|title=William Bernard "Bernie" Smoot|publisher=Ancestry.com|accessdate=August 24, 2019}}</ref> As a six-year-old, Dan picked and hoed [[cotton]] and cultivated [[corn]] with a one-mule plow at the age of eight. He had a sister, Virginia Ruth, and a brother, Jewell Martin Smoot (1911-2003), who predeceased his brother by only ten days.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?viewrecord=1&r=an&db=FindAGraveUS&indiv=try&h=23442108|title=Jewell Smoot|publisher=Ancestry.com|accessdate=August 24, 2019}}</ref> Despite the lack of material resources, Bernie Smoot taught young Dan how to read the classics.
==Departure from the FBI==
==Departure from the FBI==
Smoot instead became an FBI agent, a position he held until 1951, when he resigned for what he cited as professional reasons: namely, the desire to go into the field of political pamphleteering and commentary. Rather than accept assignment to the FBI office in [[Savannah]], [[Georgia]], Smoot resigned in part because he wanted to rear his family in the Dallas area. Smoot said that several fellow agents had complained to him about the supervisor's management decisions. Smoot said that he related to the inspector what he had heard from colleagues. Then, according to Smoot, the colleagues would not back up what they had told Smoot. The supervisor hence believed that Smoot had been disloyal to him.
Smoot instead became an FBI agent, a position he held until 1951, when he resigned for what he cited as professional reasons: namely, the desire to go into the field of political pamphleteering and commentary. Rather than accept assignment to the FBI office in [[Savannah]], [[Georgia]], Smoot resigned in part because he wanted to rear his family in the Dallas area. Smoot said that several fellow agents had complained to him about the supervisor's management decisions. Smoot said that he related to the inspector what he had heard from colleagues. Then, according to Smoot, the colleagues would not back up what they had told Smoot. The supervisor hence believed that Smoot had been disloyal to him.
After Smoot left the FBI, he became a commentator and began producing ''Facts Forum'' newsletters in conjunction with Dallas [[oil]] billionaire [[H. L. Hunt]]. His salary doubled with his new assignment. From 1953 to 1954, ''Facts Forum'' was the source for the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] public affairs [[television series]], ''Answers for Americans.''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112234003/http://www.jfredmacdonald.com/macfilms/Press%20Release%202.htm|title=MacDonald & Associates: Facts Forum press release|publisher=Jfredmacdonald.com|accessdate=June 13, 2011}}</ref>
After his FBI tenure, Smoot became a commentator and began producing ''Facts Forum'' newsletters in conjunction with Dallas [[oil]] billionaire [[H. L. Hunt]]. His salary doubled with his new assignment. From 1953 to 1954, ''Facts Forum'' was the source for the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] public affairs [[television series]], ''Answers for Americans.''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112234003/http://www.jfredmacdonald.com/macfilms/Press%20Release%202.htm|title=MacDonald & Associates: Facts Forum press release|publisher=Jfredmacdonald.com|accessdate=June 13, 2011}}</ref>
In 1954, Medford Bryan Evans (1907-1989), a conservative critic of American [[Cold War]] policies and a college [[professor]] who was dismissed in 1959 amid a controversy at [[Northwestern State University]] in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], [[Louisiana]], was described as "News Editor" and "Editor" of ''Facts Forum News.'' Mary Helen Brengel was identified as an "associate editor." She later worked for the ''Independent American,'' the conservative bimonthly newspaper founded in 1955 as ''Free Men Speak'' by [[Kent Courtney]], and his then first wife, Phoebe Carolyn Greene Courtney (1918-1998).
In 1954, Medford Bryan Evans (1907-1989), a conservative critic of American [[Cold War]] policies and a college [[professor]] who was dismissed in 1959 amid a controversy at [[Northwestern State University]] in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], [[Louisiana]], was described as "News Editor" and "Editor" of ''Facts Forum News.'' Mary Helen Brengel was identified as an "associate editor." She later worked for the ''Independent American,'' the conservative bimonthly newspaper founded in 1955 as ''Free Men Speak'' by [[Kent Courtney]], and his then first wife, Phoebe Carolyn Greene Courtney (1918-1998).
Smoot dismissed Medford Evans from ''Facts Forum'' for "financial irregularities". On November 15, 1956, Hunt withdrew his subsidy to the monthly ''Facts Forum News'' because the publication was not financially self-sustaining.
Smoot dismissed Medford Evans from ''Facts Forum'' for "financial irregularities". On November 15, 1956, Hunt withdrew his subsidy to the monthly ''Facts Forum News'' because the publication was not financially self-sustaining.
==Spreading his conservative message==
==Spreading his conservative message==
Thereafter, Smoot published his weekly syndicated ''The Dan Smoot Report,'' a 15-minute broadcast aired on weekends on selected stations. He also carried his conservative message via. [[radio]]. One issue of the report was devoted to a mental health bill in [[Alaska]] in 1956, prior to statehood. Smoot claimed the Alaska bill was a communist conspiracy to establish concentration camps on American soil. Upon the death in the spring of 1964, Smoot lionized [[Douglas MacArthur]] and his call, "There Is No Substitute for Victory."
Thereafter, Smoot published his weekly syndicated ''The Dan Smoot Report,'' a 15-minute broadcast aired on weekends on selected stations. He also carried his conservative message via. [[radio]]. One issue of the report was devoted to a mental health bill in [[Alaska]] in 1956, prior to statehood. Smoot claimed the Alaska bill was a communist conspiracy to establish concentration camps on American soil. Upon the death in the spring of 1964, Smoot lionized [[Douglas MacArthur]] and his call, "There Is No Substitute for Victory."
In 1972, Smoot opposed the reelection of President [[Richard M. Nixon]] and served as campaign manager for American Independent Party presidential candidate [[John Schmitz]], a departing Republican [[U.S. Representative]] for [[California]]'s 35th congressional district. Schmitz received 1.1 million votes but carried no states.
In 1972, Smoot opposed the reelection of President [[Richard M. Nixon]] and served as campaign manager for American Independent Party presidential candidate [[John Schmitz]], a departing Republican [[U.S. Representative]] for [[California]]'s 35th congressional district. Schmitz received 1.1 million votes but carried no states.
==Books==
==Books==
* ''The Hope of the World'' (1958)
* ''The Hope of the World'' (1958)
* ''The Invisible Government'' (1962)
* ''The Invisible Government'' (1962)
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'''Further reading'''
Heather Hendershot, ''What's Fair on the Air? Cold War Right-Wing Broadcasting and the Public Interest'' (University of Chicago Press, 2011) 260 pages; covers the rise and fall of prominent conservative radio hosts H. L. Hunt, Carl McIntire, and Billy James Hargis, and Dan Smoot.
Heather Hendershot, ''What's Fair on the Air? Cold War Right-Wing Broadcasting and the Public Interest'' (University of Chicago Press, 2011) 260 pages; covers the rise and fall of prominent conservative radio hosts H. L. Hunt, Carl McIntire, and Billy James Hargis, and Dan Smoot.