biography
| name: |
Smith, Alfred E(manuel)
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also called Al Smith
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1873–1944)
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| biography:
| Political leader, born in New York City, New York, USA. Leaving school at age 12, he worked for the local Democratic organization and with its help was elected to the state assembly (1903), became assembly speaker (1913), and was elected governor of New York (1918). Losing his first re-election bid, he won back the state house for the next three two-year terms, and proved an able administrator, surprisingly liberal and internationalist for someone who had emerged from the Democratic machine. After nearly capturing the 1924 Democratic presidential nomination, he won it in 1928, but, handicapped in part by his Catholicism, lost the election overwhelmingly. After unsuccessfully battling Franklin D Roosevelt for the 1932 nomination, he came to oppose New Deal policies. He received many honours as a Catholic layman. |
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