Gene A. Smith


Gene A. Smith is an American historian. He is a professor of History and the director of the Center for Texas Studies at Texas Christian University. He is the author of several books.

Early life

Smith was born in Fort Payne, Alabama, and grew up in Albertville, Alabama. Playing sports as a teen, he attended Auburn University to become a veterinarian. A course in chemistry put him on the course to become a historian. He earned a bachelor's degree at Auburn University in 1984, followed by a master's degree in 1987 and a PhD in 1991.

Career

Smith began his career in academia at Montana State University Billings. He is a professor of American History at Texas Christian University, where he is also the director of the Center for Texas Studies.
Smith is the author of five books and editor of four more books. His first book, For the Purposes of Defense': The Politics of the Jeffersonian Gunboat Program, based on his PhD dissertation, looked at Thomas Jefferson's naval strategy during the American Revolutionary War. He authored two more books about Manifest Destiny, including Filibusters and Expansionists with Frank Lawrence Owsley, Jr. of Auburn University, which was praised as "a quality piece of historical writing" and "a valuable contribution to the historiography of expansion and the Gulf South" in The Journal of Southern History. Another book is a biography of Thomas ap Catesby Jones, who served in the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War. Smith has also authored a book about the role of slaves in the War of 1812, which was lauded as "essential and informative reading" in the Journal of the Early Republic.

Selected works

As an author

As an editor