Америкалық кәсіпкер, саясаткер және авиация тарихындағы тұлға

American businessman, general, and cabinet member
the American engineer
Upon his graduation, Smith worked as an accountant for the accounting firm of Peat Marwick Mitchell. Smith later ran a number of businesses, including a Western apparel store and a firm that sold state records of new mothers to manufacturers of baby supplies. In business, he was known for an informal, no nonsense leadership style that stressed close relationships with both executives and employees. Convair president Jack Naish noted that "you can close a $100 million deal on his word alone." He generally communicated through personally typed one page memos. Smith was said to know every American employee by name until the end of his first term as CEO. He fostered a close relationship with Douglas Aircraft that led American to become a key adopter of the Douglas DC 3 and DC 6: he was also one of the early proponents of what is now LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The age 60 retirement rule was publicly justified on the grounds that pilots might experience health issues past the age of 60. This rule remained in effect from 1960 until 2007 when Congress voted to raise it to 65 on the grounds that the age 60 rule was outdated and it was now much easier to screen pilots for potential health risks. In 1953, Smith was having dinner with a CBS radio executive who complained of the lack of advertisers willing to have their commercials aired in the middle of the night, even at reduced rates. Smith struck a deal and bought the block of hours from 11:30 pm until 6:00 am exclusively for American and created the show Music 'Til Dawn. Smith left American in 1968 to become the US Secretary of Commerce. He agreed to return to American in 1973 for six months, following a period of corporate mismanagement and scandal, while the board of directors searched for a permanent replacement. After the six month period was over, Smith retired for a final time stating that he was "thinking with a DC 6 mind and this business has changed. Yet if you don't take my advice, I'll get upset." After the war, Smith returned to run American Airlines.

Smith was exceptionally well connected politically, beginning with a Fort Worth and Texas base. He was close friends with many prominent Texan politicians, including Lyndon B. Johnson, Jesse Jones and Sam Rayburn. Smith was also on very close terms with the Roosevelt family, especially Eleanor Roosevelt and her son Elliott Roosevelt. Eleanor Roosevelt would habitually call on Smith for travel arrangements. Smith introduced Elliott to his second wife, served as best man, and persuaded him to move to Fort Worth. Smith's friendship with Lyndon Johnson was the principal reason for his accession to the Cabinet, and he became the U. S. Secretary of Commerce following the resignation of Alexander B. Trowbridge. Smith served until the age of 69, from March 6, 1968 until January 19, 1969. However, he often clashed with the civil service because of his aversion to bureaucracy: on his first day, he objected to having four secretaries and asked that three of them be fired. They had one son, Douglas Smith.

While living in New York City, Smith felt homesick for his native Texas and started collecting fine Western art. Smith donated 100 Western art paintings to his alma mater, University of Texas, which are on display at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas. This collection includes art from Henry Farny, Maynard Dixon, and others. Smith donated a western oil painting The Romance Makers by Charles Russell to the University of Notre Dame and it is on the collection of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art. A book was written about Smith's art collection and donations in 1988, titled Collecting the West: The C. R. Smith Collection of Western American Art. Smith also had a vast nautical art collection, which he donated to Admirals Clubs throughout American's route system. He is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Smith was a Horatio Alger award winner in 1961. In 1974, Smith was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. He was the 1976 recipient of the Tony Jannus Award for distinguished achievement in commercial air transportation. In 1992 he was inducted into the Airlift/Tanker Association Hall of Fame. American Airlines opened the C. R. Smith Museum in 1993 at its Fort Worth, Texas corporate campus. Smith was also the recipient of the Billy Mitchell Award and the Wright Brothers Memorial Award, as well as elected into the Travel Hall of Fame and the Business Hall of Fame.