Smith, Alfred E

Smith, Alfred E(manuel)

(born Dec. 30, 1873, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Oct. 4, 1944, New York City) U.S. politician. After working in the Fulton fish market to help support his family, he began his political career with a job from Tammany Hall (1895). In the state assembly (1903–15), he rose to speaker, then served in city political posts. As governor of New York (1919–20, 1923–28) he worked for improved housing, child welfare, and efficient government. In 1928 he won the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party, the first Roman Catholic to do so, but he was easily defeated by Herbert Hoover. He later opposed the New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt and supported Republican presidential candidates for president in 1936 and 1940.