Alfred Emanuel Smith was an American politician who served four terms as the 42nd governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's presidential nominee in 1928.
Smith c. 1920s
Al Smith attended St. James school through the eighth grade, his only formal education.
Charles F. Murphy and Smith in 1915
Smith at his desk in the New York Assembly in 1913
1928 United States presidential election
The 1928 United States presidential election was the 36th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 1928. Republican former Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover defeated the Democratic nominee, Governor Al Smith of New York. After President Calvin Coolidge declined to seek reelection, Hoover emerged as his party's frontrunner. As Hoover's party opponents failed to unite around a candidate, Hoover received a large majority of the vote at the 1928 Republican National Convention. The strong state of the economy discouraged some Democrats from running, and Smith was nominated on the first ballot of the 1928 Democratic National Convention. Hoover and Smith had been widely known as potential presidential candidates long before the 1928 campaign, and both were generally regarded as outstanding leaders. Both were newcomers to the presidential race and presented in their person and record an appeal of unknown potency to the electorate. Both faced serious discontent within their respective parties' membership, and both lacked the wholehearted support of their parties' organization.
Image: Herbert Hoover NARA 532049
Image: Unsuccessful 1928
The incumbent in 1928, Calvin Coolidge. His second term expired at noon on March 4, 1929.
Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis after winning the presidential and vice-presidential nominations