--- description: Find out why Jack Smith is one of the 100 most influential people of 2024. title: Jack Smith: The 100 Most Influential People of 2024 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fa95145f2c9325f/698a55929d83e8dc3ab99f69/time-100-2024-jack-smith.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 17, 2024 # Jack Smith by Neal Katyal  WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 01: Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former U.S. President Donald Trump on August 1, 2023 in Washington, DC. Trump was indicted on four felony counts for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 01: Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former U.S. President Donald Trump on August 1, 2023 in Washington, DC. Trump was indicted on four felony counts for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)Drew Angerer—Getty Images Jack Smith is the rarely-seen-in-public special counsel overseeing two different prosecutions of former President Donald Trump, one for allegedly mishandling national security information, another for his actions surrounding the [2020 election](https://time.com/6300550/trump-third-indictment-jack-smith-history/ "undefined"). Until a year ago, prosecuting a former President wasn’t a thing, but Smith (along with Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and Fulton County, Georgia, DA Fani Willis) has made it so. Attorney General Merrick Garland technically oversees Smith, but Smith has day-to-day independence under the special-­counsel regulations. He has been dealt a difficult hand: strict time constraints, a tough judge, an unending wave of attacks from Trump, and intense public pressure. But as a man who built his career prosecuting powerful public officials accused of major crimes, he is better equipped for this than most. Time and again, he has met the challenges with an aggressive and decisive approach befitting his position. _Katyal, former Acting U.S. Solicitor General, drafted the special-­counsel regulations in 1999_ _Order your copy of the 2024 TIME100 issue_ [_here_](https://magazineshop.us/TIME%5F100 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965197/jack-smith/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965197/jack-smith/"},"headline":"Jack Smith","datePublished":"2024-04-17T11:06:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:29:21.372Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965197/jack-smith/","keywords":["TIME100","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades","2024TIME100","T100Leaders2024"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fa95145f2c9325f/698a55929d83e8dc3ab99f69/time-100-2024-jack-smith.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fa95145f2c9325f/698a55929d83e8dc3ab99f69/time-100-2024-jack-smith.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965197/jack-smith/","name":"Jack Smith"}}]}] ```