Adam Smith plays a key role in shepherding Joe Biden’s plans for the military through a closely divided House of Representatives. Smith is hardly an apologist for the Pentagon: he has voiced concerns about the DOD’s bureaucracy and been a skeptic of the 500-ship navy backed by the Trump administration as well as the size of the nation’s nuclear arsenal. Smith put himself through Fordham University in New York by loading trucks for United Parcel Service. He was a Teamsters union member and still supports organized labor on most issues. Smith was in private law practice and then, during a portion of his tenure as a part-time state lawmaker, he also worked as a prosecutor for the city of Seattle, focused on drunk driving and domestic violence cases.

Learn what Adam Smith says about finding common ground