How does smoking cause heart disease?

I've heard that smoking causes heart disease. I understand lung cancer is caused by mutations the genetic code of structures such as the alveoli, but I'm not too clear on how smoking may contribute to heart disease. Of course, as a stimulant that taxes the heart and lungs, nicotine may not exactly be the most healthful thing affecting the cardiovascular system, but no one blames caffeine for their cardiovascular maladies. What's the deal with smokes and heart disease?

It hardens the arteries, making the passage of the blood alot harder to travel...this is one of the reasons why heart patients take aspirin, since aspirin thins the blood, and allows it to pass through those hardened arteries...

My father died of CHD (Coronary Heart Disease) and he was an otherwise healthy man...He had an angina attack and 2 heart attacks...2 of his arteries were severely hardened and clogged...His cholesterol was normal as was his blood pressure and everything else...so what caused it? According to doctors it was his smoking!

If you are or know a smoker, learn from others' tragedies.

It leads mostly to atherosclerosis (thickening of the arteries), plaque buildup, and thickened blood. All of which can contribute to cardivascular disease.
Wow!
Primarily, it suffocates all of your tissues for lack of oxygen, because carbon monoxide clings more tenaciously to hemoglobin than oxygen does, for some reason. Also, it causes inflammation of your tissues due to irritation and from immune suppression. Inflammation of coronary arteries leads to the build-up of fatty plaques as the body tries to protect itself from the irritant. When arteries are narrowed enough, the heart works harder and harder to provide oxygen to your tissues, and when they get narrow enough, heart attack, and death...
it constricts your arteries and veins, robs your whole system of oxygen, it's full of poisons.... go to american heart association for a full in depth look at it
When you smoke your blood takes carbon monoxide into it. ( a similar situation would be to get into your car and put the exaust pipe in through the window! ) It is not the nicotine that is the killer but the CO. When you sleep your body renews its self. BUT if theres CO in your blood however much you rest your heart will not. It will be working super hard to rid your body of that poisionous CO, pumping so hard to get it out when it should be resting, So if you smoke for a long time just think of all the extra work your heart will have to do.then think hy it may fail 20-40 yrs down the line!
It causes vasoconstriction of the coronary arteries (heart's arteries). It contributes to atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. Both of these increase the odds of one or more of the coronary arteries becoming clotted off by either build up of plaque or by a clot.