Smith: Vision alone doesn't get the job done

In the sour real estate market of the late 1980s and early '90s, Fred Smith was staring at rows of unsold homes he had built. He was swimming in debt and telling creditors to hang with him while he worked on a plan to repay them.

Keeping the business alive meant long hours at work and months of uncertainty for Smith and his managers.

Some days, Hal Perry, whom Smith had brought in to develop a marketing strategy for the subdivision in east Raleigh, went home well after midnight.

"I'd be back at 6:30 or 7 (in the morning) and Fred would be there with his second or third cup of coffee," Perry said. "Fred had worked all night."

Smith has spent his life as a pre-dawn to midnight worker and master juggler -- taking classes in tax law while serving as an Army lawyer, managing a farm while practicing law, and serving in the state Senate while launching a campaign for governor.

Smith says he took to heart a lesson from one of his Wake Forest law professors: The lawyer who wins in court isn't the most eloquent. It's the lawyer who has done his homework.

"Once you have a vision, it really gets down to work and perseverance," Smith said. "Just to talk about a plan or just to talk about a vision doesn't really get it done. It's doing it. It's hard work."

Hard work hasn't necessarily meant success in politics, however. Smith, a three-term Republican state senator, has enjoyed few victories in the legislature, where his most far-reaching proposals have been sent to die in committees.

That has left the Johnston County Republican to run hard on his biography, figuring his life story and varied experiences will win votes in the May 6 primary.

Smith kept the Hedingham development, a subdivision in east Raleigh, from going into bankruptcy and went on to build other homes and athletic clubs in Wake and Johnston counties. A multimillionaire, Smith had pumped nearly $2 million of his own money into his campaign by the end of last year. That is almost three times more than his campaign has received in contributions from other people.

Politics and 'cue

So far, it's been an unconventional run. He has hosted barbecues in all 100 counties. He's traveling the state with country singer Lee Greenwood, wrapping political talk around an hourlong performance. And he wrote and published a biography that he mailed to potential voters, and gives away and autographs at campaign stops. He said he has spent $40,000 a week on television ads for the past two months and plans to do more.

Smith's three oldest children said they discouraged him from writing the book, called "A Little Extra Effort." They didn't think anyone would be interested.

The father kept turning out chapters even as the children shook their heads, but they now agree that he was right.

One chapter tells of his first wife's mental illness, their divorce and her suicide.

Smith said he spent years worrying about his first wife's erratic behavior and visiting her in hospitals. When they separated, he won custody of their four children.

"I did all I could do," he said. "I did more than my share, but I had four children to take care of."

Smith remarried and had another child with his second wife.

Smith said he wrote the book to "paint his own barn," to tell others about himself before someone else defined him. "When you run a statewide race, there's nothing about your life that's not going to come up," he said. "I just wanted to tell my story."

'Losers don't smile'

That story starts with Smith spending his early childhood living at the Methodist Orphanage in Raleigh, where his parents worked.