Talk:Al Smith

Untitled
I removed the addition claiming he was born as "Alfred Emanuele Ferrara"; only one website claims so. Others say he had a grandfather named "Emanuele Ferrara"; that may be a mangling of that, so he may have had one Italian grandparent, not all four. More precice doccumented info on his ancestry would be welcome, but the version I reverted from seems contradicted by most biographies. -- Infrogmation 03:15, 9 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * yes--in early 2007 some vandal added a whole fraudulent section on Smith being Italian, based on the 195 New York Census (there was no New York census in 1915). I removed it. Rjensen 12:07, 26 January 2007 (UTC)


 * According to the 1855 NY state census (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-25847-12175-45?cc=1937366&wc=M99Q-NSQ:723368583), Emanuel Smith, wife Magdalena, and children Teresa, Alfred, and Mary, along with an orphan girl, were living in New York City, 4th Ward. It plainly lists Emanuel Smith as having been born in Genoa, and that he was a mariner; Magdalena is listed as being born in Germany. So Governor Alfred Emanuel Smith was never born "Alfredo Emanuele Ferraro," as his father and Genoese grandfather had already changed the name. But this is documented proof that he was paternally Italian and German. Lordmarmont (talk) 15:15, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

Al Smith in ficition
I think the account of the fictional Al Smith is rather long and only minimally relevent to the article on the real Al Smith. Perhaps we could merge it into the American Empire (Harry Turtledove) with a link to it here? Any comments, objections? -- Infrogmation 22:47, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC) Name: Alfonso Emmanueli (sp)  changed due to prejudice against Italians. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.234.68.246 (talk) 00:27, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Al Smith Dinner
No mention of the annual Al Smith Dinner.--Gkklein 18:29, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Original research tag
I've added an original research tag, since most of the article is unsourced, and there seems to be a lot of observation or POV claims. It's obvious from the cite list that there is a lot of scholarly information out there, but I think it would help if individual claims came with footnotes.

I've converted the citations into the cite template, so they should be easy to integrate inline. Mosmof 07:28, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I've added the requested cites. I spotted no OR in the article--everything seems based on excellent secondary sources, esp Slayton bio. Rjensen 12:08, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for citing and rewriting. Like I've said on your talk page, I didn't actually think any of the info was actual OR, but a there was a lot that needed to be verified and otherwise POV-ish. Mosmof 14:40, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Along the same lines, I wonder about the statement that "Smith swept the entire Catholic vote" in the 1928 presidential election. I feel confident that not every last Catholic vote went to him; there must have been at least a few Catholics who voted for Hoover. I will try to find actual figures (unless someone else already has them). Altgeld (talk) 22:52, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Legislative service
I revised the information regarding Gov. Smith's legislative leadership positions. At the time of Smith's service in the Assembly, the elections for that body occurred annually. The Democrats won control of the body in the 1910 elections for the 1911 session, but they lost it the following year, so Smith served as minority leader (not majority) for 1912. Later that year, the Democrats won back the majority and Smith was elevated to Speaker beginning in 1913. When the Democrats lost the majority again that November, Smith became minority leader again for the 1914 and 1915 sessions until his election as NYC Sheriff. This can be confirmed by the New York Times Archives. DJ Jones74 -- 30 April 2007

Article of the Day
I consider this gentleman one of the most forgotten and important politicians in US History and would like us to work to get this nominated as an Article of the Day - make it perfect. Any suggestions, if we're not there yet? It looks great the way it is. Melia Nymph (talk) 03:12, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

Business Plot mention?
I'm not sure whether this merits inclusion in the article, since reporting on the topic is so varied. However Smith was instrumental in forming the ALL, which was associated with the idea of that Plot for most of its 6 years of existence. I added a sentence about it next to the introduction of the ALL in the section of opposition to FDR, which seems appropriate enough; but perhaps it could be condensed into a clause and ref in the preceding sentence. +sj + 19:05, 18 July 2009 (UTC) My Grandfather, Frank Leddy, was Al Smith's chauffer/bodyguard, he was murdered on !25th st,in White Rose Restaurant(ground glass put in food)after he gave a soapbox speech in Smith's behalf.Any info on Frank Leddy, would be greatly apreciated, Jim Flaherty,(Irishsaratoga@yahoo.com) Saratoga Springs N.Y.(nnnn)74.76.127.240 (talk) 19:34, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Organized Crime connections
Why is there no mention of Al Smith being connected to the mafia? In Richard Hammer's book The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano, among others, makes this abundently clear. Smith is shown to be in tears at the news that the mob was backing Franklin Roosevelt in the 1932 campaign for the Democratic nomination, saying "I'd have killed that (S.O.B.) for you" meaning Roosevelt. Gus Russo's book The Outfit also tells the tale of the 1932 nomination fight, where both FDR's and Al Smith's people were going to mobsters for the support of NY delegates. Mafia figures at the convention included Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Long Zwillman, Moe Dalitz, Phil Kastel, Frank Costello, and KC machine boss and mobster Tom Pendergast--Harry Truman's patron. FDR, as governor of New York, said he'd get New York judge Samuel Seabury to call off, taper off, a civic investigation into mafia corruption. That got him the mobster's support, and the New York delegates whom both parties, Roosevelt and Smith, knew they controlled. You should mention this instead of trying to make this creep look like some kind of saint. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.18.9.50 (talk) 08:57, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

Oh good, we should base the article on the testimony of a few gangsters rather than 80 years of serious research. First of all, it is a well-established fact that crime organizations OPPOSED Smith nationally because they wanted to keep prohibition in place in order to keep a monopoly on the liquor trade. Second, Tammany Hall was not controlled by the mafia, they were their own brand of crooks, and they were the corrupt power brokers in New York City until the early '30s, with the Seabury investigations (which, incidentally, Roosevelt did not get 'called off'). This sounds like a few underworld has-beens trying to write themselves into history through personal fantasies of grandeur, and nothing more.Remclaecsec (talk) 15:28, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

First Irish-American
I have removed the statment in the opening that AES was the first Irish-American to seek the Presidency on a major-party ticket becase according to wikipedia, there were 13 Irish-American presidents prior to Smith's campaign. I am not married to this, however, so if someone has an argument against this change please feel free to reverse it. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish-American#Presidents_of_Irish_descent Remclaecsec (talk) 12:42, 30 March 2010 (UTC)

Relations with Hearst
How is that Smith during political career had an irreparable break with Hearst in 1919, but then later worked with him against Roosevelt/New Deal? Refs are not digital. What's up?Djflem (talk) 18:00, 24 January 2011 (UTC)
 * by 1933 both Hearst and Smith hated FDR. Rjensen (talk) 18:06, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

Betrayal of the Democratic Party
I notice there are zero references to his 1936 departure from the Democratic party, which he explained in his speech "Betrayal of the Democratic Party" where he accused the party leaders of becoming socialists, Marxists. Etc.
 * User: 75.144.181.105 07:23, 24 July 2015 (UTC) (Xb2u7Zjzc32 (talk) 00:26, 30 January 2017 (UTC))

ALFRED-E-SMITH-Autograph-ca-1930
http://www.ebay.com/itm/162353445165 00:21, 30 January 2017 (UTC)

Offices in infobox
Shouldn't we add his tenures as New York County sherrif and as speaker and minority leader in the state legislure to his infobox? SecretName101 (talk) 19:41, 17 May 2018 (UTC)

Confusing Sentence
In the article it says "As a committed "wet," or anti-Prohibition, candidate, Smith attracted not only drinkers but also voters angered by the corruption and lawlessness that developed alongside prohibition." This sentence is confusing. I assume the writer meant that Smith attracted non drinkers aswell as those anger by the lawlessness of prohibition however the sentence is worded in such a way that it sounds like he attracted drinkers and those anger by the lawlessness of prohibition. These two kinds of people are on opposite sides of the scale and so the sentence needed to reworded to make it sound not as confusing. I would do it myself yet I am not a expect on Smith and so would not know how to word it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by TheScottishElephant (talk • contribs) 22:10, 27 May 2018 (UTC)
 * voters who wanted the repeal of Prohibition supported Smith. There were two subgroups. One with people who miss their beer and wine and hard liquor. Second = voters who  thought that prohibition closed public saloons but opened illegals alone and opened up large and midsize cities to extremely dangerous criminal gangs. Rjensen (talk) 23:21, 27 May 2018 (UTC)