Smith, Alfred E. (1873-1944)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1944 Oct 12 p. 1

Birth date: 1873

text of obituary:

DEATH CLAIMS FORMER GOV. ALFRED E. SMITH

In the Rockefeller Institute hospital in New york City, Former Governor Alfred E. Smith died Wednesday, Oct. 4. Smith, one of the country's most colorful political figures, was four times governor of New York state and Democratic candidate for the presidency in 1928. Smith's name was placed in nomination at that time by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who four years later became the party's candidate and was elected president. In 1936 the close personal friendship between Roosevelt and Smith cooled and Smith supported Alf Landon and again in 1940 Wendell L. Willkie for the presidency.

Smith's friends frequently attributed his failure to attain his highest political aspirations to the fast [sic] that he was a Catholic. At the time of his death he was manager of the towering Empire State Building in New York.