Hello, and welcome back to another edition of Lace ‘Em Up’s Presidential Election series for today we will be going over the Election of 1928. The Republicans throwing Businessman, Herbert Hoover against on the Governor of New York and the Democratic Party’s pick for President, Alfred ‘Al’ Smith.

Herbert Hoover’s Presidential Bid

Following his victory in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge continued to oversee an impressive economy while also becoming a vocal supporter of rights for women, African and Native Americans.

Many believed that Coolidge was going to run for again, however in a move that shocked many at the time Silent Cal mentioned to the press in 1927 that he wouldn’t run for re-election in 1928 despite numerous pleas to do so by members of the GOP.

With Coolidge refusing to run for another term, this left the field open for others to go for the nomination with Frank Orren Lowden the former Governor of Illinois, Herbert Hoover the Secretary of Commerce, and Charles Curtis the Senate Minority Leader all taking the opportunity.

Despite a less than stellar showing in the some of the primaries, Hoover ended up getting the nomination which left Coolidge to comment on his former Secretary of Commerce saying: “For six years that man has given me unsolicited advice…All of it bad”.

Not exactly the kind of thing you want the incumbent of your party to say about you being chosen as the next nominee for president, even still Hoover was nominee with Charles Curtis as his running mate which made Curtis the first person of Native American ancestry to be nominated for a major party’s presidential ticket.

Al Smith’s Presidential Bid

Going into the 1928 election a few names attempted to make a run for the Democratic Party’s nomination with Alfred ‘Al’ Smith, the Governor of New York once again returning for that spot after his two failed attemptes back in 1920 and 1924.

Smith was famous for his support of social welfare reforms and public work programs in the state of New York from 1918-20 & 1922-26. In fact, it will be this work by Smith and ideas of helping the middle class that will help to propel names like Franklin Roosevelt and Frances Perkins, the future U.S. Secretary of Labor.

By the time of the Democratic National Convention, Al Smith finally won the nomination becoming the first Roman Catholic to ever be nominated as a candidate by one of the two major political parties.

The delegates within the convention nominated Arkansas Senator Joseph Taylor Robinson as his running mate even though both men differed when it came to policies, but many Democrats saw the idea of a Northern Governor and Southern Senator being on the same ballot could give the ticket some balance.

Peace and Prosperity

Thanks to his humanitarian efforts, his time working under the Harding and Coolidge Administrations and the fact that the economy was doing remarkably well…made the election look like it was going to be an easy win for Hoover and the Republicans. Nevertheless, many of Hoover’s advisors campaigned heavily with many promising to continue the conservative policies that had occurred previously and even ran on the campaign slogan: “A Chicken in Every Pot and a Car in Every Garage.” 

In an attempt to hamper his momentum, a charge was made by the Governor of Mississippi, Theodore Bilbo who claimed that Hoover was caught dancing with someone who worked at the Republican National Convention who just so happened to be a black woman…Whether true or not, the idea behind making this claim was to dismay many white voters from voting for Hoover as race relations in 1920’s America was horrific to say the least.

Some African Americans were also against the idea voting for Hoover on the basis that many blacks who were affected by the Mississippi Flood of 1927 were denied help and aid compared to their white counterparts and this outrage was mentioned predominately in black magazines, newspapers and even the NAACP filed complaints shortly after this was discovered.

Prohibition, Corruption & Catholicism

Al Smith’s campaign strategy in 1928 was less of a well oiled machine and more of a house of cards.

From using the song ‘Sidewalks of New York’ as his campaign song or incorporating the same type of charm that made him popular in New York…Wasn’t going to resonate well with people living in midwestern or Southern states nor was Smith’s opposition to prohibition as most of the country was in support of banning alcohol, which probably didn’t help that Smith’s campaign had buttons that read “VOTE FOR Al SMITH…and Make Your Wet Dreams Come True.”

And before you ask, a ‘wet’ back in those days meant that you were against prohibition while a person who was in support of prohibition was called a ‘dry’.

There were also connections to Al Smith and the corrupt political machine known as Tammany Hall which further hurt his chances with many Americans still having memories of the Teapot Dome Scandal under the Warren G. Harding.

But the biggest thing that’s going to be the most damaging to Al Smith in this election is going to be religion as Smith was a Roman Catholic and many Americans especially those who were Protestant were staunchly against Catholicism and even the KKK got involved making claims that Smith didn’t share same values as the rest of the country.

The idea thas being spread around at the time was that if Al Smith was elected as president, then he would be taking orders from the Pope and many folks who weren’t religous worried he’d be making decisions that were favorably to the religious cloth and not the people of the United States.

Election of 1928: The Results

On election day, Herbert Hoover easily defeated Al Smith to become the 31st President in U.S History; Hoover’s victory even saw him winning states like Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia most of which hadn’t vote for the Republicans since 1870’s.

Hoover got 444 electoral votes and 58.2% of the popular vote compared to Smith’s 87 electoral votes and 40.8% of the popular vote, making this third time since the inception of the Republican Party where the GOP won presidential elections back-to-back-to-back.

Despite his loss, Al Smith did make an impression in this election as he became the first Democrat since 1912 to win the state of Massachusetts which usually votes for the Republicans in previous elections. 

On top of all of that, Smith increased the number of Democratic votes in city states that usually go for the GOP, and he only lost the state of New York by just only 2% so if anything, it’s a clear indication that some changes are being made when comes to which party the American people are voting for, but it’s just not enough for Al Smith in this election.

One other thing to mention is that around the time of Hoover got the nomination, he gave a speech that would come back to haunt him in the not-so-distant future when he said: “We in American are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of this land…We shall soon by the help of God be insight of the day when poverty will be banished from this land.”

Why is that important you ask? Find out, in the next election article…..





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