Attending a campaign fundraiser in Jackson this summer, Corky Smith shook hands with the man who would become President.
He also met with members of then-Republican nominee Donald Trump’s campaign staff, building a network of contacts that helped land the Columbus attorney an invitation to Friday’s Presidential Inauguration.
Smith and his wife, Lindsay, will depart Columbus on Thursday for the nation’s capital to watch Trump’s inauguration on Friday.
“This is my first one,” Smith said. “I haven’t been invited to any of them in the past. On the chance that I don’t get invited to any of the others, I figured I’d take them up on the chance.”
The Smiths will attend the presidential swearing-in ceremony, which begins at 12:30 p.m. They also plan to attend an inaugural ball Friday evening.
“I think it will be really neat to go to the ball,” he said. “It’s a little more of an informal setting. You get to see everybody from small-town folks like me to hopefully some big-town folks who may be there. You can see people from all walks of life. I like that. I’m a people person; I like to talk to anyone and everyone about anything.”
Smith said he received his invitation to the inauguration a few weeks ago from the Presidential Inaugural Committee, but he wasn’t sure at first if he should make the trip.
“I always hate missing work unless I have to, and it’s during the week,” Smith said. “I learned a long time ago that if you have a happy wife, you have a happy life. I showed it to my wife and asked if it was something she wanted to go to and she said, ‘Of course.’ That ended the conversation right there.”
Mississippi District 39 Rep. Jeff Smith (R-Columbus), Corky’s father, said he’s very proud to see his son have the opportunity to attend an inauguration. Jeff said Corky did the work himself to earn the invitation, which puts him in rare company in the Golden Triangle.
“I’ve been practicing since 1979, and I’ve only known of one lawyer in the Golden Triangle area that went to an inauguration,” Jeff said. “It helped him launch his law practice. It’s a very rare opportunity. I’m tickled to death for him.”
Jeff said he has never attended an inauguration, though he’s had the chance.
The trip is especially exciting for Corky, who said he can remember watching every presidential inauguration going back to George H.W. Bush’s in 1989.
“It’s going to be an exciting event,” he said. “It’s really exciting to be able to go and see it in person now.”
Recalling his meeting Trump at the August fundraiser, Corky Smith said he was impressed with both the candidate and his organization.
“It was very nice, very congenial and very accommodating,” he said. “I’ve been to enough of these to realize when someone’s just shuttling you through and BS-ing you. He seemed happy to be here in Mississippi.”
As Corky and his wife prepare for the trip, he said he’s happy to just have the opportunity to go.
“I’m really honored,” he said. “There are a lot more important people who could go and make an appearance. I think it speaks volumes about the incoming administration that they like to have anyone and everyone involved.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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