Al Smith grew up on the lower East Side of New York. He quit school and began work at the age of fourteen, ofter his father's death. In his political career he emphasized his lowly beginnings, identified himself with immigrants, and campaigned as a man of the people. This is the story ofAl's rise f;om newsboy on the streets of New York to the Democratic presidential nomination in 1928.

He was considered by many to be the greatest candidate never to become president of the United States and widely regarded as the father and chief architect of the modern Democrat Party. Born into poverty, his measured rise to the pinnacle of American politics was nothing short of remarkable and hailed by no less an institution than the New York Times as having'no exact parallel in American history. This political anomaly was the rarest of species in politicians of any age: an incorruptible man of integrity whose sole reason for being in affairs of state was his undying love of the people and an intense desire to improve the lot of his fellow man. In fact, the quote claiming that 'we shall not soon see his like again' might easily have been applied to him and it is a tragedy that his rise was not cut short by any failing in the man, but rather the fact that he was born into the wrong religion at a time when a country that professed to proffer the American Dream to all its inhabitants, in fact, did anything but.

Alfred Smith was born in a tiny apartment at 174 South Street in Manhattan's Lower East Side, on December 30, 1873, to parents Alfred Emmanuel Smith and Catherine Mulvihill. Although both of his parents were born in New York City, the fact that their own parents were born in the Emerald Isle and the monolithic ethnic makeup of their neighborhood meant that they were intrinsically irish Catholics, who chose to bring their son and his single sibling, Mary, up as people who should be fiercely proud of both their roots and religious identity.

Alfred's early years, whilst impoverished by today's standards, were relatively serene given the fact that his father worked as a truck man, allowing the family to escape in large part the crushing poverty that affected most of their kith and kin in the area. Attending classes at St. James Parochial School, young Alfred appeared to display an astute mind and exhibited early signs of the strong work ethic that would guide his later life, when he took up a job as a newsboy, in order to supplement the family income. Life might have continued on this pleasantly languid, if uninspired, path were it not for the fact that Alfred senior died suddenly in 1885, leaving his young family on the brink of destitution. His son was forced to leave school immediately in order to find a job and he initially took a position as a clerk with the oil firm of Clarkson and Ford, but quit soon after he discovered that his paltry pay-packet·would barely feed himself, never mind his mother and sister.

The second watershed moment in Smith's young existence came when he found his next position of employ as a fishmonger in Fulton Fish Market, which offered slightly higher wages and a chance to mingle with many of his fellow Irishmen, who soon took the ainiable young lad under their wing. As is the case with many Irish people, political discourse was never far from any conversation and the shy young boy soon felt sufficiently emboldened to join in the often-heated debates about the plight of the city's poor. Indeed, after a short while, his colleagues became enamored by the youngster's moxie and often had to back down in debates in the face of his burning intellect, which was always backed by knowledge of the facts and intricacies of his subject matter that belied his scant years and boyish features. At a time when the Irish-dominated machine of Tammany Hall was at its political zenith, the young lad soon came to the attention of members of the Democrat Party and upon joining the party of the poor, he was given a position working as a clerk in the office of Commission of Jurors in 1895 Again, his ambition, intellect and a wit that made him virtually impossible to dislike, soon saw him come to the attention of party superiors and within eight years he was chosen to run for a seat on the State Legislature, which he won handily.

Amazingly, his first ever rime outside New York City was when he went to Albany to assume his new position at 30-years-old.

Albany acutely aware of his educational shortcomings and the fact that he was an innocent neophyte amongst a pool of political sharks, Smith worked relentlessly at familiarizing himself with the machinations of state legislation. At a time when it was common knowledge I that barely a handful of legislators read through the arduous 300 page annual state appropriation bill, he made sure to scrutinize the document from cover to cover, stopping frequently to consult a dictionary or consult a colleague if he was even mildly uncertain of a particular word or tenet. Within a few years, his humble beginnings were no longer a source of embarrassment but rather a badge of pride, as he became amongst the most knowledgeable of all of those vying for power in the state capital. His easy smile, effervescent personality, omnipresent cigar in one corner of his mouth and strong Lower East Side accent made him one of the true characters in state politics - and also one of its most formidable. Although at first a slave to the frequent directives that emanated from Tammany Hall when it came to matters of how to vote on a particular issue, he was soon irrevocably his own man; with an principled nature beyond reproach and the person most frequently called upon by others from all across the political spectrum, when they wished to thoroughly understand a particular bill or, indeed, how they should vote on it.

Such was his influence and ability that by his third term in office, he had assumed seats on the state Committee on Banking and Committee on Foresting, despite his astounding confession to colleagues that he had never even been to a forest in his life and the sole time that he had been in a bank was to conduct business for a friend.

Labor Law In the wake of the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 19ll(when 146 women died in less than 15 minutes as a direct result of their employer's cruelty and greed), Smith led a commission to investigate the conditions of industrial labor in New York and was utterly shocked and appalled by the plight of many workers who spent their working days with the very real threat of injury or death. Teaming up with political allies, Robert Wagner and Frances Perkins, he was instrumental in the re-coding of all of the state's industrial laws; once again proving his dedication to the causes of the common man, amongst whose number he always considered himself.

Such deeds, ability and charm made him one of the party's brightest lights and a seemingly perfect candidate for Mayor of New York. In fact, most felt that his election would be a mere formality. It appeared that Alfred Smith was about to do the unthinkable and trade in his East Side residence for the pristine opulence of the mayor's residence. Appearances, though, are not always what they seem.

Upon achieving the position of Sheriff of New York County in 1915, Al Smith used a potent combination of popularity and power to prime himself for the mayor's job in the Big Apple, but the commanding figures at Tammany Hall had decided otherwise. In a move mainly designed to please publishing giant, Randolph Hearst, Tammany figures determined that the mayor's job would have to go to someone from Brooklyn and so; John Hylan was ushered into office. His tenure was defined by his antagonism with Smith, who constantly harangued Hylan about what he perceived to be an incompetent and potentially crooked administration that cared little for the average citizens of the city whom they professed to serve.

After serving as president of the Board of Aldermen in New York from 1917, Smith once again sought to capitalize on his evergrowing popularity by putting his name forward for the for state governorship. Again, he found a vigorous opponent in Hearst but, due to his massively popular public profile, not even Tammany would dare contest Smith's candidacy, though they held out littie hope that he would defeat the imposing Republican incumbent, Charles Whitman, who was seeking his third term in the governor's office. The battle was indeed close, but it was Smith who triumphed against the odds by defeating his esteemed opponent by just under 15,000 votes, which arguably changed the course of US history, given the fact that Whitman was considered a virtual shoe-in as the Republican candidate at the next Presidential election.

The Governor Possessed with unbounded energy, Smith took to his new position with considerable aplomb, taking on the Republican dominated legislature on those social issues that remained close to his heart. Amongst other things, he vowed to end child labor and improve the lot of factory workers, all the while fighting a rearguard action against Hearst and his lackeys, who were resentful at Smith's stubborn refusal to hire their people in influential positions. Hearst's huge ego and vast power meant that he was not used to such resistance and Smith's rugged refusal to supplicate so enraged the mogul, that he allegedly ordered his minions to begin a vicious smear campaign against his nemesis. The governor dealt with the resulting attempts at character assassination with supreme gusto, providing highly credible and public explanations for all of Hearst's sordid accusations. Smith even challenged Hearst to a public debate but the magnate's refusal to accept finally cooled off tensions between the pair.

Despite his service, Smith narrowly lost the governorship in 1920 as a wave of Republican support swept the country and, for a while, he considered leaving the world of politics for good after taking up a position with United States Trucking Corporation. His temporary change of heart came to an end when he discovered that Hearst was being primed to run for governor on the next Democratic ticket, with victory virtually assuring him of the party's Presidential nomination. An infuriated Smith wrested the nomination away from his mortal enemy and steadfastly refused to even support Hearst's run for the Senate, despite considerable pressure from the highest echelons of the Democrat Party.

Upon retaking the governor's office, Smith set about continuing his socially progressive policies by building vast numbers of public parks, continuing his implementation of laws designed to better the lives of those occupying the lowest rungs on the economic ladder. He also poured over methods of making state government more efficient and amazingly managed to transform 187 bungling state agencies into 19 smooth running departments. His profile now began to rise on a national level and, upon being prompted by his friend and protegC, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he decided to put himself forward as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1924. Unfortunately, his Catholic faith and anti-Prohibition stance saw him become embroiled in a vicious battle with fellow candidate, William McAdoo, who enjoyed the support of the Temperance Movement and Ku Klux Klan.

In the end, both men lost out to John W Davis, but by 1928, Smith's profile had risen even further and he won a convincing 75% of votes at the Democratic Convention. Over the next several months, he traversed the country entering packed halls to the sound of his theme song,'The Sidewalks of New York,' delighting crowds as he preached his progressive policies in his character-laden Lower East Side drawl. Working with Roosevelt, Smith genuinely believed that he was in with more than a puncher's chance of beating the Republican, Herbert Hoover, but several faci tors stood resolutely in his way. Political analysts point to the fact that the Republican Party were enjoying a susrained wave of popularity borne of the prosperity that the country had enjoyed under their tenure and claim that they would have won the election regardless of what candidate they or the Democrats put forward. There were also other more sinister reasons, however.

As the first viable Catholic candidate to run for President, Smith was the victim of a sustained and spiteful campaign of lies and innuendo born of religious bigotry. Persistent rumors claimed that with him as president, the Pope would have an office in the White House and even that Protestant children would be fbrced to attend Catholic schools. Protestant religious leaders also adamantly opposed his anti-Prohibition stance. Despite repeated attempts by Smith to assuage the country's fears, the rumors were accepted as fact by many and even the rural - predominantly Protestant - elements of his own Democratic Party turned against him. He was accused of running on a platform of 'Rum, Rome and Rebellion' and the resulting election essentially brought his hitherto spectacular career to an unceremonious end.

Al Smith won only eight states in the election and failed to even carry New York, though, tellingly, he was the most popular candidate in all 12 of the nation's largest cities, proving that being a Catholic might not necessarily preclude one becoming President. He returned tentatively to the Democratic convention of 1932, believing that he would once again secure the nomination but was shattered when he was defeated by his one-time friend: Roosevelt. Many claim that the latter stabbed Smith in the back by using the anti-Catholic card to garner support from rural Democrats who had hated Smith purely because of his religious persuasion. Although he did reluctantly back Roosevelt in his successful campaign for President, the two would soon become enemies and Smith eventually became an outspoken opponent of FDR's New Deal, which many put down to his bitterness given the fact that the policies mirrored many of Smith's prior stances. In the Presidential elections of 1936 and 1940, he went one step further by actively campaigning for Republican candidates.

Outside of politics, Smith worked for the Liberty T~ust and Lawyers Trust Company, as well as being the motivational force behind the construction of the Empire State Building, though he was hurt by allegations that he had sold out to big business or 'traded in his famed Derby hat for a top hat.' He died in his beloved New York City on October 4, 1944, barely five months after the death of his beloved wife Catherine Dunn. ·