Al Smith
Encyclopedia
Alfred Emanuel Smith. known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic
U.S. presidential candidate in 1928
. He was the foremost urban leader of the efficiency-oriented
Progressive Movement, and was noted for achieving a wide range of reforms as governor in the 1920s. He was also linked to the notorious Tammany Hall
machine that controlled Manhattan politics; he was a strong opponent of prohibition.
Smith was the first Catholic to run for President. As a committed "wet" (anti-Prohibition candidate), he attracted millions of voters of all backgrounds, particularly those concerned about the corruption and lawlessness brought about by the Eighteenth Amendment
. However he was unpopular among certain segments, including Southern Baptists and German Lutherans, who believed the Catholic Church and the Pope
would dictate his policies. Most importantly, this was a time of national prosperity under a Republican Presidency, and Smith lost in a landslide to Republican Herbert Hoover
. Smith attempted the 1932 nomination, but was defeated by his former ally Franklin D. Roosevelt
. Smith entered business in New York City, and became an increasingly vocal opponent of Roosevelt's New Deal
.
of Manhattan
, and it was here he would spend his entire life. His mother, Catherine Mulvihill, was from County Westmeath
, Ireland
, and his father, Alfred E. Smith, was an Italian-German immigrant. Al Smith. was their first son.
Al Smith grew up in the Gilded Age
as New York itself matured. The Brooklyn Bridge
was being constructed nearby. "The Brooklyn Bridge and I grew up together," Smith would later recall. His four grandparents were Irish
, German
, Italian
and Anglo-Irish
,
but Smith identified with the Irish American
community and became its leading spokesman in the 1920s.
His father Alfred, a Civil War veteran who owned a small trucking firm, died when the boy was 13; at 14 he had to drop out of St. James parochial school to help support the family. He never attended high school or college, and claimed he learned about people by studying them at the Fulton Fish Market
, where he worked for $12 per week. He became a notable speaker. On May 6, 1900, Al Smith married Catherine Ann Dunn, with whom he had five children.
political machine
, particularly to its boss, "Silent" Charlie Murphy
, he remained untarnished by corruption and worked for the passage of progressive legislation.
Smith's first political job was in 1895 as clerk in the office of the Commissioner of Jurors. In 1903 he was elected to the New York State Assembly
. He served as vice chairman of the commission appointed to investigate factory conditions after 146 workers died in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
. Smith crusaded against dangerous and unhealthy workplace conditions and championed corrective legislation.
In 1911 the Democrats obtained a majority of seats in the State Assembly. Smith became chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. In 1912, following the loss of the majority, he became the minority leader. When the Democrats reclaimed the majority in the next election, he was elected Speaker
for the 1913 session. He became minority leader again in 1914 when the Republicans reclaimed the majority, and remained in that position until 1915, when he was elected sheriff of New York County. By now he was a leader of the Progressive movement
in New York City and state. His campaign manager and top aide was Belle Moskowitz
, a daughter of Prussian-Jewish immigrants.
After serving in the patronage-rich job of sheriff of New York County, Smith was elected President of the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York in 1917. Smith was elected Governor of New York in 1918 with the help of Murphy and James A. Farley, who brought Smith the upstate vote. Smith is sometimes erroneously said to have been the first Irish-American elected governor of a state. There had been many, Catholics included, in other states, e.g. Edward Kavanagh
of Maine. Nor was Smith the first Catholic to govern New York. Lord Thomas Dongan had governed the Province of New York
in the 1680s, and Martin H. Glynn
served from 1913-1914 after Governor William Sulzer
was impeached.
In 1919, Smith gave the famous speech, "A man as low and mean as I can picture", making an irreparable break with William Randolph Hearst
. Newspaperman Hearst, known for his notoriously sensationalist and largely (except on some economic matters) right-wing newspaper empire, was the leader of the populist wing of the Democratic Party in the city, and had combined with Tammany Hall in electing the local administration. Hearst had attacked Smith for starving children by not reducing the cost of milk.
Smith lost his bid for re-election in 1920, but was again elected governor in 1922, 1924 and 1926 with James A. Farley managing his campaign. As Governor, Smith became known nationally as a progressive who sought to make government more efficient and more effective in meeting social needs. Smith's young assistant Robert Moses
built the nation's first state park system and reformed the civil service, later gaining appointment as Secretary of State of New York
. During Smith's term New York strengthened laws governing workers' compensation, women's pensions, and children and women's labor with the help of Frances Perkins
, soon to be President Franklin D. Roosevelt
's Labor Secretary
.
At the 1924 Democratic National Convention
, Smith unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president, advancing the cause of civil liberty by decrying lynching
and racial violence. Roosevelt made the nominating speech in which he saluted Smith as "the Happy Warrior of the political battlefield". Smith represented the urban, east coast wing of the party, while his main rival for the nomination, California
Senator
William Gibbs McAdoo
, stood for the more rural tradition. The party was hopelessly split between the two and an increasingly chaotic convention balloted 100 times before both accepted they would not be able to win the two-thirds majority required to win, and so withdrew. The exhausted party then nominated the little-known John Davis
of West Virginia
. Davis went on to lose the election by a landslide to the Republican Calvin Coolidge
. Undeterred, Smith fought a determined campaign for the party's nomination in 1928.
It was reporter Frederick William Wile who made the oft-repeated observation that Smith was defeated by "the three P's: Prohibition, Prejudice and Prosperity". The Republican Party was still benefitting from a economic boom and a failure to reapportion congress and the electoral college with the results of the 1920 census which registered a 15 percent increase in the urban population. Their presidential candidate Herbert Hoover did little to alter these events.
The Republican Party was benefitting from a economic boom and historians agree that the prosperity along with anti-Catholic sentiment made Hoover's election inevitable. He defeated Smith by a landslide in the 1928 election
.
Smith was the first Catholic to win a major-party presidential nomination. (See also John F. Kennedy
, the first Catholic elected U.S. President, and Charles O'Conor
, first Catholic nominee for President.) Smith’s Catholic beliefs played a key role in his loss of the election of 1928. Many feared that he would answer to the pope and not the constitution. His close association with Tammany Hall
, the Democratic machine in New York, opened the issue of tolerating corruption in government. Another major controversial issue was the continuation of Prohibition
. Smith was personally in favor of relaxation or repeal of Prohibition laws despite its status as part of the nation's Constitution, but the Democratic Party split north and south on the issue. During the campaign Smith tried to duck the issue with noncommittal statements.
Smith was an articulate exponent of good government and efficiency, as was Hoover. Smith swept the entire Catholic vote, which had been split in 1920 and 1924, and brought millions of Catholics to the polls for the first time, especially women. He lost important Democratic constituencies in the rural north and in southern cities and suburbs. He did carry the Deep South, thanks in part to his running mate, Senator Joseph Robinson
from Arkansas
, and he carried the ten most populous cities in the United States. Some of Smith's losses can be attributed to fear that as president, Smith would answer to the Pope rather than to the Constitution, to fears of the power of New York City, to distaste for the long history of corruption associated with Tammany Hall
, as well as to Smith's own mediocre campaigning. Smith's campaign theme song, "The Sidewalks of New York", was not likely to appeal to rural folks, and his city accent on the "raddio" seemed slightly foreign. Although Smith lost New York state, his fellow Democrat Roosevelt
was elected to replace him as governor of New York. James A. Farley left Smith's camp to run Franklin D. Roosevelt's successful campaign for Governor, and later Roosevelt's successful campaigns for the Presidency in 1932 and 1936.
of Franklin D. Roosevelt. As one political scientist explains, "...not until 1928, with the nomination of Al Smith, a northeastern reformer, did Democrats make gains among the urban, blue-collar, and Catholic voters who were later to become core components of the New Deal coalition and break the pattern of minimal class polarization that had characterized the Fourth Party System
." However, Allan Lichtman's quantitative analysis suggests that the 1928 results were based largely on religion and are not a useful barometer of the voting patterns of the New Deal era.
Finan (2003) says Smith is an underestimated symbol of the changing nature of American politics in the first half of the last century. He represented the rising ambitions of urban, industrial America at a time when the hegemony of rural, agrarian America was in decline. He was connected to the hopes and aspirations of immigrants, especially Catholics and Jews. Smith was a devout Catholic, but his struggles against religious bigotry were often misinterpreted when he fought the religiously inspired Protestant morality imposed by prohibitionists.
. At the convention, Smith's animosity toward Roosevelt was so great, he put aside longstanding rivalries and managed to work with William McAdoo
and William Randolph Hearst
to try to block FDR's nomination for several ballots. This unlikely coalition fell apart when Smith refused to work on finding a compromise candidate, and instead maneuvered to make himself the nominee. After losing the nomination, Smith eventually campaigned for Roosevelt in 1932, giving a particularly important speech on behalf of the Democratic nominee at Boston on October 27 in which he "pulled out all the stops."
Smith became highly critical of Roosevelt's New Deal
policies and joined the American Liberty League
, an anti-Roosevelt group. Smith believed the New Deal was a betrayal of good-government Progressive ideals, and ran counter to the goal of close cooperation with business. The Liberty League was an organization that tried to rally public opinion against Roosevelt's New Deal. Conservative Democrat
s who disapproved of Roosevelt's New Deal measures founded the group. In 1934, Smith joined forces with wealthy business executives, who provided most of the league's funds. The league published pamphlets and sponsored radio programs, arguing that the New Deal was destroying personal liberty. However, the league failed to gain support in the 1934 and 1936 elections, and it rapidly declined in influence. The league was officially dissolved in 1940.
Smith's antipathy of Roosevelt and his policies was so great that he supported Republican presidential candidates Alfred M. Landon (in the 1936 election
) and Wendell Willkie
(in the 1940 election
). Although personal resentment was one motivating factor in Smith's break with Roosevelt and the New Deal, Smith was consistent in his beliefs and politics. Finan (2003) argues Smith always believed in social mobility, economic opportunity, religious tolerance, and individualism. Strangely enough, Smith and Eleanor Roosevelt
remained close. In 1936, while Smith was in Washington making a vehement radio attack on the President, she invited him to stay at the White House. To avoid embarrassing the Roosevelts, he declined.
After the 1928 election, Smith became the president of Empire State, Inc., the corporation which built and operated the Empire State Building
. Construction for the building was commenced symbolically on March 17, 1930, per Smith's instructions. Smith's grandchildren cut the ribbon when the world's tallest skyscraper—built in only 13 months—opened on May 1, 1931--May Day
. As with the Brooklyn Bridge, which Smith witnessed being built from his Lower East Side boyhood home, the Empire State Building was a vision and an achievement constructed by combining the interests of all rather than being divided by interests of a few.
Smith was elected as President of the Board of Trustees of the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University
, in 1929.
Like most New York City businessmen, Smith enthusiastically supported World War II
, but was not asked by Roosevelt to play any role in the war effort.
In 1939 he was appointed a Papal Chamberlain of the Sword and Cape, one of the highest honors the Papacy bestowed on a layman, which today is styled a Gentlemen of His Holiness
.
Smith died at the Rockefeller Institute Hospital
on October 4, 1944 of a heart attack
, at the age of 70, broken-hearted over the death of his wife from cancer five months earlier, on May 4, 1944. He is interred at Calvary Cemetery.
Source (Electoral Vote):
Note: This was the last time the running mate of the elected governor was defeated, Democrat Smith having Republican Lowman as lieutenant for the duration of this term.
Notes:
History of the United States Democratic Party
The history of the Democratic Party of the United States is an account of the oldest political party in the United States and arguably the oldest democratic party in the world....
U.S. presidential candidate in 1928
United States presidential election, 1928
The United States presidential election of 1928 pitted Republican Herbert Hoover against Democrat Al Smith. The Republicans were identified with the booming economy of the 1920s, whereas Smith, a Roman Catholic, suffered politically from Anti-Catholic prejudice, his anti-prohibitionist stance, and...
. He was the foremost urban leader of the efficiency-oriented
Efficiency Movement
The Efficiency Movement was a major movement in the United States, Britain and other industrial nations in the early 20th century that sought to identify and eliminate waste in all areas of the economy and society, and to develop and implement best practices. The concept covered mechanical,...
Progressive Movement, and was noted for achieving a wide range of reforms as governor in the 1920s. He was also linked to the notorious Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
machine that controlled Manhattan politics; he was a strong opponent of prohibition.
Smith was the first Catholic to run for President. As a committed "wet" (anti-Prohibition candidate), he attracted millions of voters of all backgrounds, particularly those concerned about the corruption and lawlessness brought about by the Eighteenth Amendment
Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established Prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition...
. However he was unpopular among certain segments, including Southern Baptists and German Lutherans, who believed the Catholic Church and the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
would dictate his policies. Most importantly, this was a time of national prosperity under a Republican Presidency, and Smith lost in a landslide to Republican Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
. Smith attempted the 1932 nomination, but was defeated by his former ally Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
. Smith entered business in New York City, and became an increasingly vocal opponent of Roosevelt's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
.
Early life
Alfred Emanuel Smith. was born and raised in the fourth ward on the Lower East SideLower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, and it was here he would spend his entire life. His mother, Catherine Mulvihill, was from County Westmeath
County Westmeath
-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, and his father, Alfred E. Smith, was an Italian-German immigrant. Al Smith. was their first son.
Al Smith grew up in the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
as New York itself matured. The Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
was being constructed nearby. "The Brooklyn Bridge and I grew up together," Smith would later recall. His four grandparents were Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
, German
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
, Italian
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
and Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
,
but Smith identified with the Irish American
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
community and became its leading spokesman in the 1920s.
His father Alfred, a Civil War veteran who owned a small trucking firm, died when the boy was 13; at 14 he had to drop out of St. James parochial school to help support the family. He never attended high school or college, and claimed he learned about people by studying them at the Fulton Fish Market
Fulton Fish Market
The Fulton Fish Market is a fish market in The Bronx, New York, United States. It was originally a wing of the Fulton Market, established in 1822 to sell a variety of foodstuffs and produce...
, where he worked for $12 per week. He became a notable speaker. On May 6, 1900, Al Smith married Catherine Ann Dunn, with whom he had five children.
Political career
In his political career, Smith traded on his working-class beginnings, identifying himself with immigrants and campaigning as a man of the people. Although indebted to the Tammany HallTammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
political machine
Political machine
A political machine is a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses , who receive rewards for their efforts...
, particularly to its boss, "Silent" Charlie Murphy
Charles Francis Murphy
Charles Francis "Silent Charlie" Murphy was a U.S. political figure, head of New York City's Tammany Hall.-Biography:...
, he remained untarnished by corruption and worked for the passage of progressive legislation.
Smith's first political job was in 1895 as clerk in the office of the Commissioner of Jurors. In 1903 he was elected to the New York State Assembly
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
. He served as vice chairman of the commission appointed to investigate factory conditions after 146 workers died in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and resulted in the fourth highest loss of life from an industrial accident in U.S. history...
. Smith crusaded against dangerous and unhealthy workplace conditions and championed corrective legislation.
In 1911 the Democrats obtained a majority of seats in the State Assembly. Smith became chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. In 1912, following the loss of the majority, he became the minority leader. When the Democrats reclaimed the majority in the next election, he was elected Speaker
Speaker of the New York State Assembly
The Speaker of the New York State Assembly is the highest official in the New York State Assembly, customarily elected from the ranks of the majority party....
for the 1913 session. He became minority leader again in 1914 when the Republicans reclaimed the majority, and remained in that position until 1915, when he was elected sheriff of New York County. By now he was a leader of the Progressive movement
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
in New York City and state. His campaign manager and top aide was Belle Moskowitz
Belle Moskowitz
Belle Moskowitz was the political advisor to New York Governor and 1928 presidential candidate Al Smith.-Biography:...
, a daughter of Prussian-Jewish immigrants.
Edward Kavanagh
Edward Kavanagh was a United States Representative and the 17th Governor of Maine. Born in Newcastle, Maine, he attended Montreal Seminary and Georgetown College, He graduated from St. Mary's College in 1813. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Damariscotta, Maine...
of Maine. Nor was Smith the first Catholic to govern New York. Lord Thomas Dongan had governed the Province of New York
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
in the 1680s, and Martin H. Glynn
Martin H. Glynn
Martin Henry Glynn was an American politician. He was the 40th Governor of New York from 1913 to 1914, the first Irish American Roman Catholic head of government of what was then the most populated state of the US....
served from 1913-1914 after Governor William Sulzer
William Sulzer
William Sulzer was an American lawyer and politician, nicknamed Plain Bill Sulzer. He was the 39th Governor of New York and a long-serving congressman from the same state. He was the first and so far only New York Governor to be impeached...
was impeached.
In 1919, Smith gave the famous speech, "A man as low and mean as I can picture", making an irreparable break with William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
. Newspaperman Hearst, known for his notoriously sensationalist and largely (except on some economic matters) right-wing newspaper empire, was the leader of the populist wing of the Democratic Party in the city, and had combined with Tammany Hall in electing the local administration. Hearst had attacked Smith for starving children by not reducing the cost of milk.
Smith lost his bid for re-election in 1920, but was again elected governor in 1922, 1924 and 1926 with James A. Farley managing his campaign. As Governor, Smith became known nationally as a progressive who sought to make government more efficient and more effective in meeting social needs. Smith's young assistant Robert Moses
Robert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
built the nation's first state park system and reformed the civil service, later gaining appointment as Secretary of State of New York
Secretary of State of New York
The Secretary of State of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York.The current Secretary of State of New York is Cesar A...
. During Smith's term New York strengthened laws governing workers' compensation, women's pensions, and children and women's labor with the help of Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins , born Fannie Coralie Perkins, was the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition...
, soon to be President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's Labor Secretary
United States Secretary of Labor
The United States Secretary of Labor is the head of the Department of Labor who exercises control over the department and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all other issues involving any form of business-person controversies....
.
At the 1924 Democratic National Convention
1924 Democratic National Convention
The 1924 Democratic National Convention, also called the Klanbake, held at the Madison Square Garden in New York City from June 24 to July 9, took a record 103 ballots to nominate a presidential candidate. It was the longest continuously running convention in United States political history...
, Smith unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president, advancing the cause of civil liberty by decrying lynching
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
and racial violence. Roosevelt made the nominating speech in which he saluted Smith as "the Happy Warrior of the political battlefield". Smith represented the urban, east coast wing of the party, while his main rival for the nomination, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
William Gibbs McAdoo
William Gibbs McAdoo
William Gibbs McAdoo, Jr. was an American lawyer and political leader who served as a U.S. Senator, United States Secretary of the Treasury and director of the United States Railroad Administration...
, stood for the more rural tradition. The party was hopelessly split between the two and an increasingly chaotic convention balloted 100 times before both accepted they would not be able to win the two-thirds majority required to win, and so withdrew. The exhausted party then nominated the little-known John Davis
John Davis
- American politicians:*John Davis , Massachusetts state representative and federal judge*John Davis , U.S. Representative from Kansas...
of West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. Davis went on to lose the election by a landslide to the Republican Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
. Undeterred, Smith fought a determined campaign for the party's nomination in 1928.
The 1928 election
The Republican Party was benefitting from a economic boom and historians agree that the prosperity along with anti-Catholic sentiment made Hoover's election inevitable. He defeated Smith by a landslide in the 1928 election
United States presidential election, 1928
The United States presidential election of 1928 pitted Republican Herbert Hoover against Democrat Al Smith. The Republicans were identified with the booming economy of the 1920s, whereas Smith, a Roman Catholic, suffered politically from Anti-Catholic prejudice, his anti-prohibitionist stance, and...
.
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, the first Catholic elected U.S. President, and Charles O'Conor
Charles O'Conor
Charles O'Conor was an American lawyer who ran in the U.S. presidential election, 1872.-Biography:...
, first Catholic nominee for President.) Smith’s Catholic beliefs played a key role in his loss of the election of 1928. Many feared that he would answer to the pope and not the constitution. His close association with Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
, the Democratic machine in New York, opened the issue of tolerating corruption in government. Another major controversial issue was the continuation of Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
. Smith was personally in favor of relaxation or repeal of Prohibition laws despite its status as part of the nation's Constitution, but the Democratic Party split north and south on the issue. During the campaign Smith tried to duck the issue with noncommittal statements.
Smith was an articulate exponent of good government and efficiency, as was Hoover. Smith swept the entire Catholic vote, which had been split in 1920 and 1924, and brought millions of Catholics to the polls for the first time, especially women. He lost important Democratic constituencies in the rural north and in southern cities and suburbs. He did carry the Deep South, thanks in part to his running mate, Senator Joseph Robinson
Joseph Taylor Robinson
Joseph Taylor Robinson was an American politician from Arkansas, of the Democratic Party. He was a state representative, U.S. Representative, 23rd Governor of Arkansas, U.S...
from Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, and he carried the ten most populous cities in the United States. Some of Smith's losses can be attributed to fear that as president, Smith would answer to the Pope rather than to the Constitution, to fears of the power of New York City, to distaste for the long history of corruption associated with Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
, as well as to Smith's own mediocre campaigning. Smith's campaign theme song, "The Sidewalks of New York", was not likely to appeal to rural folks, and his city accent on the "raddio" seemed slightly foreign. Although Smith lost New York state, his fellow Democrat Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
was elected to replace him as governor of New York. James A. Farley left Smith's camp to run Franklin D. Roosevelt's successful campaign for Governor, and later Roosevelt's successful campaigns for the Presidency in 1932 and 1936.
Voter realignment
Some political scientists believe that the 1928 election started a voter realignment that helped develop the New Deal coalitionNew Deal coalition
The New Deal Coalition was the alignment of interest groups and voting blocs that supported the New Deal and voted for Democratic presidential candidates from 1932 until the late 1960s. It made the Democratic Party the majority party during that period, losing only to Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952...
of Franklin D. Roosevelt. As one political scientist explains, "...not until 1928, with the nomination of Al Smith, a northeastern reformer, did Democrats make gains among the urban, blue-collar, and Catholic voters who were later to become core components of the New Deal coalition and break the pattern of minimal class polarization that had characterized the Fourth Party System
Fourth Party System
The Fourth Party System is the term used in political science and history for the period in American political history from about 1896 to 1932 that was dominated by the Republican party, excepting the 1912 split in which Democrats held the White House for eight years. History texts usually call it...
." However, Allan Lichtman's quantitative analysis suggests that the 1928 results were based largely on religion and are not a useful barometer of the voting patterns of the New Deal era.
Finan (2003) says Smith is an underestimated symbol of the changing nature of American politics in the first half of the last century. He represented the rising ambitions of urban, industrial America at a time when the hegemony of rural, agrarian America was in decline. He was connected to the hopes and aspirations of immigrants, especially Catholics and Jews. Smith was a devout Catholic, but his struggles against religious bigotry were often misinterpreted when he fought the religiously inspired Protestant morality imposed by prohibitionists.
Opposition to Roosevelt and the New Deal
Smith felt slighted by Roosevelt during the latter's governorship. They became rivals for the 1932 Democratic presidential nominationUnited States presidential election, 1932
The United States presidential election of 1932 took place as the effects of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, the Revenue Act of 1932, and the Great Depression were being felt intensely across the country. President Herbert Hoover's popularity was falling as...
. At the convention, Smith's animosity toward Roosevelt was so great, he put aside longstanding rivalries and managed to work with William McAdoo
William McAdoo (New Jersey)
William McAdoo was an American Democratic Party politician who represented New Jersey's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1883 to 1891, and served as New York City Police Commissioner in 1904 and 1905.-Biography:McAdoo was born in Ramelton, County Donegal,...
and William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
to try to block FDR's nomination for several ballots. This unlikely coalition fell apart when Smith refused to work on finding a compromise candidate, and instead maneuvered to make himself the nominee. After losing the nomination, Smith eventually campaigned for Roosevelt in 1932, giving a particularly important speech on behalf of the Democratic nominee at Boston on October 27 in which he "pulled out all the stops."
Smith became highly critical of Roosevelt's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
policies and joined the American Liberty League
American Liberty League
The American Liberty League was an American political organization formed in 1934 by conservative Democrats to oppose the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was active for just two years...
, an anti-Roosevelt group. Smith believed the New Deal was a betrayal of good-government Progressive ideals, and ran counter to the goal of close cooperation with business. The Liberty League was an organization that tried to rally public opinion against Roosevelt's New Deal. Conservative Democrat
Conservative Democrat
In American politics, a conservative Democrat is a Democratic Party member with conservative political views, or with views relatively conservative with respect to those of the national party...
s who disapproved of Roosevelt's New Deal measures founded the group. In 1934, Smith joined forces with wealthy business executives, who provided most of the league's funds. The league published pamphlets and sponsored radio programs, arguing that the New Deal was destroying personal liberty. However, the league failed to gain support in the 1934 and 1936 elections, and it rapidly declined in influence. The league was officially dissolved in 1940.
Smith's antipathy of Roosevelt and his policies was so great that he supported Republican presidential candidates Alfred M. Landon (in the 1936 election
United States presidential election, 1936
The United States presidential election of 1936 was the most lopsided presidential election in the history of the United States in terms of electoral votes. In terms of the popular vote, it was the third biggest victory since the election of 1820, which was not seriously contested.The election took...
) and Wendell Willkie
Wendell Willkie
Wendell Lewis Willkie was a corporate lawyer in the United States and a dark horse who became the Republican Party nominee for the president in 1940. A member of the liberal wing of the GOP, he crusaded against those domestic policies of the New Deal that he thought were inefficient and...
(in the 1940 election
United States presidential election, 1940
The United States presidential election of 1940 was fought in the shadow of World War II as the United States was emerging from the Great Depression. Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt , a Democrat, broke with tradition and ran for a third term, which became a major issue...
). Although personal resentment was one motivating factor in Smith's break with Roosevelt and the New Deal, Smith was consistent in his beliefs and politics. Finan (2003) argues Smith always believed in social mobility, economic opportunity, religious tolerance, and individualism. Strangely enough, Smith and Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
remained close. In 1936, while Smith was in Washington making a vehement radio attack on the President, she invited him to stay at the White House. To avoid embarrassing the Roosevelts, he declined.
Business life and later years
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
. Construction for the building was commenced symbolically on March 17, 1930, per Smith's instructions. Smith's grandchildren cut the ribbon when the world's tallest skyscraper—built in only 13 months—opened on May 1, 1931--May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
. As with the Brooklyn Bridge, which Smith witnessed being built from his Lower East Side boyhood home, the Empire State Building was a vision and an achievement constructed by combining the interests of all rather than being divided by interests of a few.
Smith was elected as President of the Board of Trustees of the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University
History of the New York State College of Forestry
The New York State College of Forestry, the first professional school of forestry in North America, opened its doors at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, in the autumn of 1898. After just a few years of operation, it was defunded in 1903, by Governor Benjamin B. Odell, in response to public...
, in 1929.
Like most New York City businessmen, Smith enthusiastically supported World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but was not asked by Roosevelt to play any role in the war effort.
In 1939 he was appointed a Papal Chamberlain of the Sword and Cape, one of the highest honors the Papacy bestowed on a layman, which today is styled a Gentlemen of His Holiness
Papal Gentlemen
The Papal Gentlemen, also called the Gentlemen of His Holiness, are the lay attendants of the pope and his papal household in Vatican City. They serve in the Apostolic Palace near St. Peter's Basilica...
.
Smith died at the Rockefeller Institute Hospital
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
on October 4, 1944 of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, at the age of 70, broken-hearted over the death of his wife from cancer five months earlier, on May 4, 1944. He is interred at Calvary Cemetery.
Namesake
- Alfred E. Smith BuildingAlfred E. Smith BuildingThe Alfred E. Smith Building, known officially as the Alfred E. Smith State Office Building and sometimes called simply the Smith Building, is a structure located in downtown Albany, New York across the street from the New York State Capitol and One Commerce Plaza...
, a 1928 skyscraper in Albany, New YorkAlbany, New YorkAlbany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River... - Governor Alfred E. Smith Houses, a public housingPublic housingPublic housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
development in Lower ManhattanLower ManhattanLower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
, near his birthplace - Governor Alfred E. Smith Park, a playground in the Two BridgesTwo Bridges, ManhattanTwo Bridges is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Although the exact boundaries of the neighborhood are not clearly defined, it is the East River waterfront area, roughly between the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge at the southern end of the...
neighborhood in Manhattan, near his birthplace - Governor Alfred E. Smith, a former front line and current reserve fireboatFireboatA fireboat is a specialized watercraft and with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipment....
in the New York City Fire DepartmentNew York City Fire DepartmentThe New York City Fire Department or the Fire Department of the City of New York has the responsibility for protecting the citizens and property of New York City's five boroughs from fires and fire hazards, providing emergency medical services, technical rescue as well as providing first response...
fleet. - Governor Alfred E. Smith Sunken Meadow State ParkSunken Meadow State ParkGovernor Alfred E. Smith/Sunken Meadow State Park and Governor Alfred E. Smith/Sunken Meadow State Park Beach are located in the Town of Smithtown in Suffolk County, New York in the USA on the North Shore of Long Island...
, a state park on Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban... - Alfred E. Smith Recreation Center, a youth activity center in the Two Bridges neighborhood, Manhattan.
- PS 163 Alfred E. Smith School, a school on the Upper West SideUpper West SideThe Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
of ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York... - PS 1 Alfred E. Smith School, a school in Manhattan's Chinatown.
- Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High SchoolAlfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High SchoolAlfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School is a vocational high school in the Melrose section of South Bronx, Bronx, New York. It was originally built in the early 20th Century as the "Bronx Continuation School" for students who left the school system. The school eventually became...
in the South Bronx. - Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation DinnerAlfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation DinnerThe Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is an annual white tie charity fundraiser for Catholic charities, held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York on the third Thursday of October . It is organized by the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation in honor of former New York Governor Al Smith,...
, a fundraiser held for Catholic Charities and a stop on the presidential campaign trail - Smith Hall, a residence hall at Hinman College, SUNY Binghamton.
- Camp Smith, a State owned military installation of the New York Army National Guard in Cortlandt Manor near Peekskill, NY, about 30 miles (48.3 km) north of New York City, at the northern border of Westchester County, and consists of 1900 acres (7.7 km²).
- Alfred E. Smith IVAlfred E. Smith IVAlfred E. Smith IV, born May 24, 1951, served as Chairman of the Board of Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center. In December 2006, after 35 years on Wall Street, he retired from his position as Managing Director of Bear Wagner Specialists LLC, a specialist and member firm of the New York Stock...
, former member of the New York Stock ExchangeNew York Stock ExchangeThe New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
, philanthropist, Chairman of the Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical CenterSaint Vincent's Catholic Medical CenterSaint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers ' was a healthcare system, anchored by its flagship hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan, locally referred to as "St. Vincent's". St. Vincent's was founded in 1849 and closed in 2010...
United States presidential election, 1928
Source (Popular Vote):Source (Electoral Vote):
New York gubernatorial elections, 1918-1926
| Governor candidate | Running Mate Running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates, such as "Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were... |
Party | Popular Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred E. Smith | Edwin Corning Edwin Corning Edwin Corning was an American businessman and politician from New York. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1927 to 1928.-Life:... |
Democratic | 1,523,813 | (52.13%) |
| Ogden L. Mills Ogden L. Mills Ogden Livingston Mills was an American businessman and politician.-Biography:The son of Ogden Mills and Ruth T. Livingston, he had twin sisters Beatrice Mills and Gladys Livingston Mills. Odgen L. Mills was the grandson of Darius O... |
Seymour Lowman Seymour Lowman Seymour Lowman was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1925 to 1926.-Life:... |
Republican | 1,276,137 | (43.80%) |
| Jacob Panken Jacob Panken Jacob Panken was an American socialist politician, best remembered for his tenure as a New York municipal judge and frequent candidacies for high elected office on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:... |
August Claessens August Claessens August "Gus" Claessens was an American socialist politician, best known as one of the five New York Assemblymen expelled from that body during the First Red Scare for their membership in the Socialist Party of America... |
Socialist Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization... |
83,481 | (2.87%) |
| Charles E. Manierre | Ella McCarthy | Prohibition Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement... |
21,285 | (0.73%) |
| Benjamin Gitlow Benjamin Gitlow Benjamin "Ben" Gitlow was a prominent American socialist politician of the early twentieth century and a founding member of the Communist Party USA. From the end of the 1930s, Gitlow turned to conservatism and wrote two sensational exposés of American Communism, books which were very influential... |
Franklin P. Brill | Workers Workers Party of America The Workers Party of America was the name of the legal party organization used by the Communist Party USA from the last days of 1921 until the middle of 1929. As a legal political party the Workers Party accepted affiliation from independent socialist groups such as the African Blood Brotherhood,... |
5,507 | (0.19%) |
| Jeremiah D. Crowley | John E. DeLee | Socialist Labor | 3,553 | (0.12%) |
| Governor candidate | Running Mate Running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates, such as "Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were... |
Party | Popular Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred E. Smith | George R. Lunn George R. Lunn George Richard Lunn was an American clergyman and politician from New York. He was the first Socialist mayor in the State of New York, and was a U.S... |
Democratic | 1,627,111 | (49.96%) |
| Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. Theodore D. Roosevelt, Jr. , was an American political and business leader, a Medal of Honor recipient who fought in both of the 20th century's world wars. He was the eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt from his second wife Edith Roosevelt... |
Seymour Lowman Seymour Lowman Seymour Lowman was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1925 to 1926.-Life:... |
Republican | 1,518,552 | (46.63%) |
| Norman Mattoon Thomas Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:... |
Charles Solomon Charles Solomon (politician) Charles "Charley" Solomon was a socialist politician from New York City, elected to the New York State Assembly in 1919 and expelled with four of his fellows on the first day of the legislative session, one week after the sensational Palmer Raids... |
Socialist Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization... |
99,854 | (3.07%) |
| James P. Cannon James P. Cannon James Patrick "Jim" Cannon was an American Trotskyist and a leader of the Socialist Workers Party.Born on February 11, 1890 in Rosedale, Kansas, he joined the Socialist Party of America in 1908 and the Industrial Workers of the World in 1911... |
Franklin P. Brill | Workers Workers Party of America The Workers Party of America was the name of the legal party organization used by the Communist Party USA from the last days of 1921 until the middle of 1929. As a legal political party the Workers Party accepted affiliation from independent socialist groups such as the African Blood Brotherhood,... |
6,395 | (0.20%) |
| Frank E. Passonno | Milton Weinberger | Socialist Labor | 4,931 | (0.15%) |
Note: This was the last time the running mate of the elected governor was defeated, Democrat Smith having Republican Lowman as lieutenant for the duration of this term.
| Governor candidate | Running Mate Running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates, such as "Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were... |
Party | Popular Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred E. Smith | George R. Lunn George R. Lunn George Richard Lunn was an American clergyman and politician from New York. He was the first Socialist mayor in the State of New York, and was a U.S... |
Democratic | 1,397,670 | (55.21%) |
| Nathan L. Miller Nathan L. Miller Nathan Lewis Miller was an American lawyer and politician who was the 43rd Governor of New York from 1921 to 1922.-Life:... |
William J. Donovan | Republican | 1,011,725 | (39.97%) |
| Edward F. Cassidy | Theresa B. Wiley | Socialist Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization... , Farmer-Labor Farmer-Labor Party The first modern Farmer–Labor Party in the United States emerged in Minnesota in 1918. Economic dislocation caused by American entry into World War I put agricultural prices and workers' wages into imbalance with rapidly escalating retail prices during the war years, and farmers and workers sought... |
109,119 | (4.31%) |
| George K. Hinds | William C. Ramsdell | Prohibition Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement... |
9,499 | (0.38%) |
| Jeremiah D. Crowley | John E. DeLee | Socialist Labor | 9,499 | (0.38%) |
| Governor candidate | Running Mate Running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates, such as "Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were... |
Party | Popular Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nathan L. Miller Nathan L. Miller Nathan Lewis Miller was an American lawyer and politician who was the 43rd Governor of New York from 1921 to 1922.-Life:... |
Jeremiah Wood Jeremiah Wood Jeremiah Wood was an American lawyer and politician. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1921 to 1922.-Life:He was admitted to the bar in 1900, and practiced in New York City.... |
Republican | 1,335,878 | (46.58%) |
| Alfred E. Smith | George R. Fitts | Democratic | 1,261,812 | (44.00%) |
| Joseph D. Cannon | Jessie Wallace Hughan Jessie Wallace Hughan Jessie Wallace Hughan was an American educator, a socialist activist, and a radical pacifist. During her college days she was one of four co-founders of Alpha Omicron Pi, a national sorority for university women. She also was a founder and the first Secretary of the War Resisters League,... |
Socialist Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization... |
159,804 | (5.57%) |
| Dudley Field Malone Dudley Field Malone Dudley Field Malone was an attorney, politician, liberal activist and actor.-Biography:The son of Tammany Democratic official William C... |
Farmer-Labor Farmer-Labor Party The first modern Farmer–Labor Party in the United States emerged in Minnesota in 1918. Economic dislocation caused by American entry into World War I put agricultural prices and workers' wages into imbalance with rapidly escalating retail prices during the war years, and farmers and workers sought... |
69,908 | (2.44%) | |
| George F. Thompson | Edward G. Deltrich | Prohibition Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement... |
35,509 | (1.24%) |
| John P. Quinn | Socialist Labor | 5,015 | (0.17%) | |
- List of candidates, (.pdf) in The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
of September 13, 1920
| Governor candidate | Running Mate Running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates, such as "Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were... |
Party | Popular Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred E. Smith | Harry C. Walker Harry C. Walker Harry Clay Walker was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1919 to 1920.-Life:... |
Democratic | 1,009,936 | (47.37%) |
| Charles S. Whitman Charles S. Whitman Charles Seymour Whitman served as the 41st Governor of New York from January 1915 to December 1918. He was also a delegate to Republican National Convention from New York in 1916.-Biography:... |
Edward Schoeneck Edward Schoeneck Edward Schoeneck was an American lawyer and politician. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1915 to 1918.-Life:... (Republican), Mamie W. Colvin (Prohibition) |
Republican, Prohibition Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement... |
995,094 | (46.68%) |
| Charles Wesley Ervin | Ella Reeve Bloor Ella Reeve Bloor Ella Reeve "Mother" Bloor was an American labor organizer and long-time activist in the socialist and communist movements.-Early years:... |
Socialist Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization... |
121,705 | (5.71%) |
| Olive M. Johnson Olive Johnson Olive Malmberg Johnson was an American socialist, newspaper editor and political activist. She is best remembered as a long-time editor of the weekly English-language newspaper of the Socialist Labor Party of America.-Biography:... |
August Gillhaus | Socialist Labor | 5,183 | (0.24%) |
Notes:
- This was the first time women voted for governor of New York, and Alfred E. Smith was the first governor elected with more than 1 million votes. However given the much-expanded electorate, his historic total won him only a plurality of votes.
- For comparison, in the New York Gubernatorial Election of 1916New York gubernatorial election, 1916The 1916 New York state election was held on November 7, 1916, to elect the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of State, the State Comptroller, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, the State Engineer, a U.S...
, Charles S. Whitman (whom Smith defeated in 1918) had won a 52.63% majority with only 850,020 votes. - The total ballots cast for governor was 2,192,970. Besides the votes for the above candidates, there were 43,630 blank votes, 16,892 spoilt voteSpoilt vote'Bold text'In voting, a ballot is considered to be spoilt, spoiled, void, null, informal or stray if it is regarded by the election authorities to be invalid and thus not included in the tally during vote counting. This may be done accidentally or deliberately...
s, and 530 scattering votes.
In fiction and film
- In Harry TurtledoveHarry TurtledoveHarry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
's alternate history Southern Victory Series, in which the Confederate States of AmericaConfederate States of AmericaThe Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
wins the American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Al Smith becomes the third Socialist President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in 1936. In 1941, during his second term, the Confederacy invades the US, starting World War II. Smith is killed by a Confederate bomber in 1942 in his bunkerBunkerA military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...
in Philadelphia, then functioning as the nation's capitol. - Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt were filmed by Lee DeForest in his DeForest PhonofilmPhonofilmIn 1919, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patent on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm, which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines. These parallel lines photographically recorded electrical waveforms from a microphone, which were translated back...
sound-on-filmSound-on-filmSound-on-film refers to a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying picture is physically recorded onto photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog sound track or digital sound track,...
process during the 1924 Democratic Convention, which ran from June 21 to July 9. This film is now in the Maurice Zouary collection at the Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
. - In a flashback scene in Frank CapraFrank CapraFrank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
's 1946 classic movie It's a Wonderful LifeIt's a Wonderful LifeIt's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
, the character of Bert can be seen with a newspaper whose front page headline reads "Smith Wins Nomination." - Smith was portrayed by Alan Bunce in the 1960 film Sunrise at CampobelloSunrise at CampobelloSunrise at Campobello is a 1960 American biographical film made by Dore Schary Productions and Warner Bros. It tells the story of the initial struggle by future President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his family when he was stricken with paralysis at the age of 39 in August...
. - Smith is featured in several chapters of Michael Chabon'sMichael ChabonMichael Chabon born May 24, 1963) is an American author and "one of the most celebrated writers of his generation", according to The Virginia Quarterly Review....
2000 novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & ClayThe Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & ClayThe Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a 2000 novel by American author Michael Chabon that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001. The novel follows the lives of two Jewish cousins before, during, and after World War II. They are a Czech artist named Joe Kavalier and a Brooklyn-born...
, in his role as "President" of the Empire State Building.
See also
- List of people on the cover of Time Magazine: 1920s
- Business PlotBusiness PlotThe Business Plot was an alleged political conspiracy in 1933. Retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler claimed that wealthy businessmen were plotting to create a fascist veterans' organization and use it in a coup d’état to overthrow United States President Franklin D...
- Alfred E. Smith IVAlfred E. Smith IVAlfred E. Smith IV, born May 24, 1951, served as Chairman of the Board of Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center. In December 2006, after 35 years on Wall Street, he retired from his position as Managing Director of Bear Wagner Specialists LLC, a specialist and member firm of the New York Stock...
Primary sources
- Alfred E. Smith. Progressive Democracy: Addresses & State Papers. (1928) online edition