What does "putting him smack" mean? Making him a focus?

You've highlighted the wrong part of the phrase. It should be 'smack in the centre,' or 'smack in the middle.' It means at the very heart of something.

In the debate on immigration Obama has decided to take sides, as opposed to doing nothing about it until after the election.

"Smack" is an adjective that means "directly." In your sentence it's modifying the substantive, "in the center."

Smack is a great word.
You can smack (hit)someone with your hand or something else.
You can smack your lips when you see something tasty you'd like to eat. (Make a noise by pressing and releasing your lips quickly)
You can give your sweetheart a little smack (kiss) on the lips. (Very casual kiss)
and
You can run smack (directly) into the edge of a table.

You can also smack yourself on the forehead, if you forget what smack means.

Joe(Ow!)Nation

Thank you all.

smack also means heroin but I believe that's a bit of a dated use.

You can add 'dab' to 'smack in the middle/center' to give extra emphasis.

smack dab in the middle/center

Or bang.

In this sense, the word smack means exactly: Placing him exactly ...............

Thank you.
I think you are correct.

Or placing him directly...