Smith, Alfred Emanuel, 1873-1944

<p>Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928.</p>

<p>Smith was the foremost urban leader of the Efficiency Movement in the United States and was noted for achieving a wide range of reforms as governor in the 1920s. The son of an Irish-American mother and a Civil War veteran father, he was raised in the Lower East Side of Manhattan near the Brooklyn Bridge, where he resided for his entire life. Like many other New York politicians of his era, he was also linked to the notorious Tammany Hall political machine that controlled New York City's politics, although he remained personally untarnished by corruption. Smith was a strong opponent of Prohibition, which he did not think could be enforced, and viewed it as an over-extension of the government's constitutional power. He was also the first Catholic to be nominated by a major party. His candidacy mobilized Catholic votes, especially from women, who had only recently received federal suffrage. It also brought out the anti-Catholic vote, which was especially strong among white conservative Democrats in the South, although Smith was still successful within the states of the Deep South.</p>

<p>As a committed "wet" who opposed the prohibition laws, Smith attracted two groups: those who wanted their beer, wine and liquor and did not like dealing with criminal bootleggers, and those who were outraged that new criminal gangs had taken over the streets in most large and medium-sized cities. Many Protestants feared his candidacy, including German Lutherans and Southern Baptists, believing that the Pope in Rome would dictate his policies. Incumbent Republican Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover was greatly aided by national prosperity and the absence of American involvement in war; Smith lost in a landslide to him, losing six southern states but carrying the Deep South. Four years later, Smith sought the 1932 nomination but was defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, his former ally and successor as Governor of New York. Smith entered business in New York City, became involved in the construction and promotion of the Empire State Building, and became an increasingly vocal opponent of Roosevelt's New Deal.</p>

ALFRED E. SMITH, the forty-fifth and forty-seventh governor to serve New York, was born in New York City on December 30, 1873. His education was limited due to the death of his father. In an effort to help support his family, he went to work in a fish market at the age of fourteen. Smith first entered politics in 1903, serving as a member of the New York House of Representatives, a position he held twelve years. He also served as speaker of the house in 1913; was elected sheriff of New York County in 1915; and served as president of the New York board of alderman in 1917. Smith next secured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, and was elected governor on November 5, 1918. He lost his 1920 reelection bid, but was successful in his 1922, 1924, and 1926 campaigns. During his tenure, women and children’s labor regulations were improved; the workmen’s compensation law was revised; a vehicular tunnel between New York and New Jersey was planned; and waterpower development was promoted. In 1928 Smith won the Democratic presidential nomination, but lost in the general election to Herbert Hoover. Smith, who was a rival of Franklin D. Roosevelt, became a leader of the American Liberty League in 1934, and openly denounced the liberal policies of Roosevelt. Smith eventually became involved in the planning of the Empire State Building, and was named as president of the Empire State, Inc, a corporation that ran the operations of the new building. Governor Alfred E. Smith passed away on October 4, 1944, and was buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Long Island City, New York.