For the Scottish writer, see Jess Smith (writer). For others with a similar name, see Jesse Smith.

Jess Smith
Smith in 1920
Born
Jesse W. Smith

(1872-10-19)October 19, 1872
Washington Court House, Ohio, U.S.
DiedMay 30, 1923(1923-05-30) (aged 50)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Burial place
Washington Cemetery
OccupationPolitical aide
Years active1920–1923
Known forSuspected bootlegging scandal
Spouse
Roxy Stinson
​
​
(m. 1908, divorced)​

Jesse W. Smith (October 10, 1872 – May 30, 1923) was an American political aide who was a member of the Ohio Gang, the circle of political and business associates around President Warren G. Harding. Smith was a close assistant of Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty, and was suspected of illegally selling government liquor before dying by suicide.

Career

Smith was born and raised in Washington Court House, Ohio, where he befriended future U.S. Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty. When Smith's father died, Daugherty became an elder brother figure to him, assisting him in opening a department store. Daugherty first enlisted Smith as his aide while acting as Warren G. Harding's campaign manager for the 1920 presidential election, and when Daugherty assumed the office of Attorney General in 1921, Smith accompanied him to Washington. Although never on the government payroll, Smith kept an office near his boss at the U.S. Department of Justice.[1][2]

Smith was also Daugherty's roommate at the Wardman Park Hotel in Washington.[3] Daugherty "lived, worked, and traveled in the near-constant company" of Smith. The two routinely spent days together in a cabin in the Ohio woods, and in the capital took up social roles usually reserved for spouses.[4] Daugherty's wife had remained in Ohio due to illness, while Smith was on friendly terms with his ex-wife Roxy Stinson, whom he had married in 1908 and divorced 18 months later.[5] Although rumors circulated that Daugherty and Smith were in a homosexual relationship, there is no evidence to corroborate this.[1]

With Prohibition enacted as federal law, Smith was suspected of using his position to sell alcohol to bootleggers; chief among them was George Remus, who paid Smith for licenses to purchase government liquor—which Remus resold illegally at a profit—as well as immunity from prosecution from Daugherty.[5] Smith was also linked to the "Little Green House on K Street" where multiple Harding administration scandals were said to have been formulated. The allegations of Smith's illegal activities brought embarrassment to Harding, whose administration was already under scrutiny while embroiled in the Teapot Dome scandal. This culminated in Harding telling Daugherty he wanted Smith out of Washington.[1]

Death and aftermath

Smith died of a gunshot wound at the Wardman Park Hotel in Washington on May 30, 1923.[1] As he was found with a pistol at his side, his death was ruled a suicide.[1][6] Smith, depressed and in failing health,[1] feared that Daugherty "no longer needed or wanted him."[4] Bureau of Investigation director William J. Burns also lived in the hotel and rushed to Smith's residence to "tidy up the scene" prior to the arrival of police.[4] No autopsy was performed and Smith had destroyed all of his personal papers before his death.[1]

On March 12, 1924, Smith's ex-wife Roxy Stinson informed a Senate committee that Smith would consistently return to Ohio to relay information regarding Daugherty's financial crimes.[5] Alabama senator J. Thomas Heflin was not alone in suspecting foul play in Smith's death, saying in 1926: "Nobody else knew what he knew and with him dead there was nobody to tell the story—so Jesse Smith was murdered."[2] On the Senate floor, Heflin suggested that Smith was tasked with selling liquor to repay a $5 million loan that Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon had given to the Republican National Committee, but was murdered as a coverup when his illegal activities were exposed.[2]

In media

On the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire, Smith is played by actor Ed Jewett.[7] On the show, Smith's death is dramatized as a suicide moments after thwarting an assassination attempt by Ohio Gang operative Gaston Means, who sought to prevent Smith from implicating Daugherty in his crimes.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Dean, John W. (2004). Warren G. Harding. New York: Times. pp. 142–144. ISBN 978-0-8050-6956-3. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c "National Affairs: Again, Heflin". Time. December 27, 1926. Archived from the original on January 31, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  3. ^ a b Freed, Benjamin F. (November 19, 2012). "Boardwalk Empire Recreates Grisly Moment in D.C. History". DCist. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  4. ^ a b c Gage, Beverly (2022). G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century. New York: Viking. pp. 91, 97–98. ISBN 978-0-6700-2537-4.
  5. ^ a b c Cook, William A. (2008). King of the Bootleggers: A Biography of George Remus. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 47; 86. ISBN 978-0-7864-3652-1.
  6. ^ "Daugherty's Friend Suicide in His Room". The New York Times. May 31, 1923. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  7. ^ Yeoman, Kevin (November 19, 2012). "'Boardwalk Empire' Season 3, Episode 10 Review – What's In The Box?". Screen Rant. Retrieved May 13, 2026.