Author

Ron Smith

Ron Smith

Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war historian. He has written a variety of historical articles about 19th century lawyers for the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association and a biography of Thomas Ewing Jr., the state’s first chief justice, published by the University of Missouri Press. His Civil War novel, “The Wastage” was released in 2018.

OPINION
President Warren G. Harding and other men gathered around a conference table

With Kansas election season winding down, consider the benefits of being a mugwump
By: - November 23, 2022

Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war […]

OPINION

Frontier Kansas lawyers plied their trade ‘on grounds of general intelligence’
By: - October 27, 2022

Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war […]

OPINION
U.S. Supreme Court members

An absence of malice: Free speech precedent could be up for grabs in shifting media landscape
By: - October 13, 2022

Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war […]

OPINION
The 2020 Kansas Legislature rebuffed an attempt in the House to revise a state law blocking anyone from receiving unemployment benefits for five years if accused of intentional or inadvertent fraud of the system. (Nick Krug for Kansas Reflector)

In electing lawmakers, Kansans might want to look past active-verb artists
By: - June 28, 2022

Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war […]

OPINION

Want to find real election fraud? Look at the history of Kansas, United States in 1800s
By: - May 8, 2022

Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war […]

OPINION

In supporting Ukrainians’ struggle, let’s not go crazy by canceling Russia’s rich culture
By: - March 17, 2022

The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil […]

OPINION
U.S Sen. Birch Bayh. an Indiana Democrat, and Sen. Bob Dole, a Kansas Republican, worked together 40 years ago to author the Bayh-Dole Act, which created opportunity for a surge in product development inspired by federally financed research. This image shows the men in 1985. (Dole Photograph Collection, University of Kansas)

Remembering Kansas’ own Bob Dole: Will we see his like again?
By: - December 6, 2021

The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil […]

OPINION
Cutting the sales tax on groceries would save Kansas families $500 or more a year on their grocery bills and improve food insecurity, according to the governor's office. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Removing sales tax on food creates a mess — why not add tax holidays instead?
By: - November 27, 2021

The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil […]

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