SOME ASPECTS OF this tribute might at first blush resemble a eulogy; however, the gentleman of whom I speak is alive, well and has already celebrated his 90th birthday.
In Barbados there are few among us who live to celebrate our 90th birthday, and in political circles the average life expectancy is considerably shorter. As such, there is much to be learned from the story of Sir Frederick “Sleepy” Smith, who is now our oldest living parliamentarian. As we grow older there are fewer persons around who can tell our story, and persons like Sir Frederick will become all the more important.
Ironically, my first exposure to Sir Frederick was in the most non-political of environments since he was and continues to be a “local preacher” at the James Street Methodist Church, where I received my Christian grounding. Sir Frederick’s sermons were always highly anticipated because his content and presentation style were so very different from those of his ordained colleagues. His characteristic drone, which is presumably related to the nickname “Sleepy”, could hold your attention well beyond his allotted time and his subject matter was always compelling. The greater lesson for me as a person curious about politics from early was that there was a place in politics for people like Sir Frederick who were spiritually and morally grounded.
Curiously enough, Sir Frederick’s appearances in the pulpit were more frequent around the time that he went into his “political retirement”, which was an early retirement – a political lesson in and of itself. Sir Frederick was a contemporary of the Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow and since Barrow didn’t appear keen on retiring from politics, I wondered why Sir Frederick did. In retrospect, this presumption was entirely related to the fact that politicians of that era seemed more inclined to die wearing their political boots, instead of enjoying their life’s evening from the perch of a more comfortable armchair from which they could speak and write. Sir Frederick helped us to understand the benefit of his alternative.
The backstory as he revealed it: he left Jamaica and journeyed to Barbados to be part of Barrow’s project. Naturally, he had the ambition that every other politician has – to become leader – and he made his way up the ladder to the office of Attorney General and acted as Prime Minister from time to time. He was part of the Barrow Government that lost the 1976 election and was entrusted with the leadership of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) when Barrow went on his infamous sabbatical. One cannot help but love the genuineness and honesty of Sir Frederick, who explained that when Barrow returned and “took back” the leadership of the DLP, he had no choice but to leave politics, since there was no longer anywhere to go up the political ladder.
At the time I might have been inclined to think that Barrow was himself making the correct decision; however, one of the benefits of political maturity is that one begins to understand the extent to which the DLP’s and indeed Barbados’ politics might have been very different if Barrow had given way to Sir Frederick after having served three terms in 1976.
Nevertheless, we can appreciate the extent to which Smith’s decision was correct and indeed admirable since he left elective politics with both his integrity and credibility intact and, notably, did not attempt to either cross the floor or unleash political sour grapes.
Thereafter Sir Frederick returned to the law courts with some distinction before being promoted to the Appeal Court bench, which was another first for a former Attorney General. His appointment was controversial. His final retirement was also controversial since he left the bench after having been overlooked for the highest office in the land. Here too he was candid in explaining his reasons and while this offended many, perhaps his decision to ask for the job and retire (again) when he was denied it might be chronicled in later years with much reverence also.
Thankfully, Sir Frederick had the wisdom to write his story, which will be an enormous contribution to the body of political knowledge in this region.
Peter W. Wickham is a political consultant and a director of Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES). Email peter.w.wickham@gmail.com