With the Presidential elections of 2004 just around the corner, and the Democratic Party engaged in the selection process of a candidate to represent them next year, we are reminded how far we have come as a nation, proving the age old adage, “any one can become President in America.” That adage did not seem to apply in the Presidential election of 1928 when Herbert Hoover soundly defeated “The Happy Warrior,” Al Smith, by 357 electoral votes. Hoover received 444 electoral votes to Al Smiths 44. Many questions arose during the campaign relative to a number of issues to include Smith’s religion, Roman Catholic, his heritage, Irish emigrant stock, the bitter opposition from Protestant leaders and the fact that he was not a national figure. He may have been well known in New York politics, but to the rest of the country he was a mere local politician.
Long before Al Smith reached that plateau in his life, one would have to say he had a great run. It is said that Al Smith had one advantage over the other lads in the Bronx, his mother. Catherine Mulvihill Smith a strict and religious Kerry women, was to became the strongest influence in his life.
Born in New York City, December 30, 1873, it was expected Al would become a difficult young man following the premature death of his father. His mother made sure that this did not happen. She had to raise him without help and with very little spare money, and yet she somehow ensured he was the neatest, most courteous and best behaved lad in the area. Al did not excel or have a great love for school, but his mother encouraged him to listen, and pay careful attention to what the teachers said. With that advice in hand, he struggled through school leaving at the early age of fifteen. After leaving school he took a series of odd jobs, one of which was an attempt at an acting career, but in those days the opportunities for actors were far from plentiful. He did however take a job as a subpoena server. For his mother, the significance of the job was that it involved white-collar work for her son and now, just as she had done during his school years, she dressed him in style.
Another women was to enter Al’s life, a certain Katie Dunn. Her parents were not thrilled by their daughters choice of companion, as they considered themselves to be higher up in the Bronx social scale, than were the Smiths. Nevertheless, Katie and Al married in 1900 and became a very devoted pair for the rest of their lives. She bore him five children and was content to stay at home with the family while Al ascended further into the limelight.
In 1903, Al entered politics always remembering what his mother had taught him, listen and pay attention. The listening helped. His mentors among the Democratic Party in New York and particularly those of Irish extraction, were among the shrewdest politicians on earth. With knowledge learned from them he advanced in party circles.
He was elected to the State Assembly in 1903. After ten years in the Assembly he was elevated to Speaker of that prestigious body, and then, eight years later in 1918, Catherine Mulvihill Smith, a very proud Kerry women saw her son installed as Governor of New York, his first of four terms.
Marriage and success never interfered with his relationship with his mother. He never forgot what she had done for him and he spent every Sunday with her until her death in 1924.
The Happy Warrior, a name the newspapers gave him because of his witty speeches and his sense of humor, stuck, even through the bad times that lay ahead. In 1928 the Democratic Party nominated him as its standard bearer in the Presidential election. When the election process concluded, as previously alluded to,. it was a disaster for Al Smith.
Following his defeat, Al’s interest in politics, waned.. He spent more time at home with his wife and family. He also entered private business in which he became very successful, heading the effort to finish the Empire State Building.
Long after his death, October 4, 1944, the belief that no Roman Catholic would ever become President remained firmly rooted. Yet, such was the extent of the religious bitterness against Al Smith that the conscience of America was pricked. In the Presidential campaign of 1960, many Americans decided that this bitterness should be made a thing of the past directing their support to a young Roman Catholic Irish-American Senator from Massachusetts.
In that respect, it can be said that the Thirty-Fifth President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, owed a huge debt to the dapper well-dressed son of Catherine Mulvihill Smith.