Al Smith was many things during his political career: reform champion after the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, four-time governor of New York State, the first Catholic presidential candidate. But he was always a New York City boy at heart.

On this episode we talk with another New York City native, Dr. Robert A. Slayton. His book, Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith (Free Press 2001), documents Smith’s rise from the Lower East Side to the top of the Democratic Party ticket in the “dirtiest presidential election in history.” Along the way we learn more about progressive reforms in the early 20th century, the career path of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the influence of the KKK in 1920s America. We also touch on Smith’s influence on Long Island history, mostly through his elevation of Robert Moses in state government.

Further Research

• Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith by Robert Slayton (Find in a Library via WorldCat)
• Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (OSHA)
• “The Fourth Ward Boy Who Became Governor” (Chronicling America)
• Mapping the Second Ku Klux Klan, 1915-1940 (VCU Libraries)
• Empire State Building History
• Al Smith at the end of Prohibition (British Pathe, YouTube)
• History of Central Park Zoos (NYC Parks)