Gerard C. Smith, who advised four presidents on nuclear and disarmament issues, has died of cancer at age 80.
He died Monday at Easton Memorial Hospital in Maryland.Smith was director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during the Nixon administration and chief U.S. negotiator for the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks from 1969 to 1973.
He was ambassador at large for nuclear nonproliferation in the Carter administration and also served in the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations.
Carter awarded him the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award.
Smith is credited with coming up with the idea of establishing a special hotline between Moscow and Washington to lessen the chances of an accidental nuclear confrontation.
He also was known for a 1982 article, with co-authors McGeorge Bundy and Robert S. McNamara, urging the United States to pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict with the Soviet Union.
On leaving government service, Smith became a limited partner in Alex. Brown & Sons Inc., a brokerage company, and founded Consultations International Group in 1981.
He retired to Easton in 1989, two years after the death of his wife, Bernice Latrobe Smith.