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~ Joseph Fielding Smith ~


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Joseph Fielding Smith - Tenth Prophet

President Joseph Fielding Smith assumed the presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints exceptionally well qualified by study, experience, and training. He served for 60 years as an apostle under four Presidents of the Church, 19 years as President of the Quorum of Twelve and five years as a counselor in the First Presidency….

It has been my privilege to accompany President and Sister Smith as they have traveled about the Church since he became President. I have observed the great love that the people, young and old, have for him, and I have seen him reciprocate by leaving a blessing upon the people. I have watched as he has picked up little children and held them is his arms and I have seen the tenderness with which he has greeted them….

Although he has been so blessed that he has never really been sick, he has great compassion for those who suffer. He has sat up at night with his own children when they were young, caring for the This was not only to comfort them, but to relieve there mother, who has had a long and strenuous day and needed the rest. When shown a picture of a group of handicapped children, to whom he had recently spoken and sung a duet, tears came to his eyes and he reflected upon the circumstances of these wonderful young people.

I have found the President to be forthright, honest, and a fearless defender of the faith. He has always been a kind, compassionate, and loving father and a devoted, considerate, and gentle husband and companion. To know his is to love, honor and respect him, not only as a man and as a friend, but as a Prophet to the Lord.

~D. Arthur Haycock

(From a tribute given by D. Arthur Haycock, executive secretary to President Smith,

in A Prophet Among the People, by Heslop and Can Orden.)

JOSEPH FIELDING SMITH was born in Salt Lake City July 19, 1876. His father was Joseph F. Smith (sixth President of the Church) and his grandfather was Hyrum Smith, brother to the Prophet Joseph Smith and who was martyred with the Prophet Joseph at Carthage Jail. He served a mission to the British Isles from 1899 to 1901. Joseph Fielding Smith was appointed a member of the YMMIA general board at age 26 (1903), was made a member of the Salt Lake Stake High Council in 1904, and was appointed assistant Church Historian in 1906. In 1908 he was made director of the Genealogical Society and in 1910 he was ordained an apostle by Joseph F. Smith. He was a member of the Council of the Twelve longer than any other man in this dispensation (sixty years), he served as President of the Twelve from 1951 to 1970, and was Church Historian for sixty-four years. During his administration as President of the Church from January 23, 1970 to July 2, 1972, three new Church magazines began publication, the Church education system was recognized and a commissioner of education was named, the personal achievement program for young Latter-day Saints was introduced, "All-Church" activities were discontinued and greater emphasis put on stakes and regional areas, the first general conference was held in England, and new stakes were created in such distant places as Peru, Japan, South Africa, the South Pacific and Brazil. Joseph Fielding Smith died July 2, 1972 at age 95.

Tenth President of the Church

Succession:  Succeeded David O. McKay as President of the Church.
Birth date: July 19, 1876
Birthplace: Salt Lake City, Utah
Called as president, date: January 23, 1970
Called as president, age: 93
Years as president: 2
Fact: At 93, he was the oldest prophet to assume the presidency.
Fact: He enjoyed flying in military jets with the Utah National Guard.
Fact: When called as an Apostle, his father was the president of the church and his older brother Hyrum was also an Apostle.