When a Warrior Meets a Knight: The Political Alliance between Al Smith and John Raskob and How It Affected the 1928 Presidential Elections

After Al Smith became the Democratic standard-bearer at the Democratic National Convention of 1928, Raskob was entrusted with the important position of chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Having a Catholic presidential nominee was unprecedented in the white, Protestant politics of the 1920s United States, and Smith doubled down on this by granting the Catholic capitalist Raskob an influential position in the Democratic Party. This led to a storm of anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant bigotry that began raging in the Southern and Western states, once Democratic strongholds. But their Catholicism was not the only unprecedented aspect of this political team, as Smith and Raskob were both also adamantly opposed to Prohibition. Raskob even was a board member of the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment (AAPA) in 1928 and played a crucial role in affecting Smith’s views on this issue, as this thesis argues and proves. Smith and Raskob shared the belief that it was anti...Show moreAfter Al Smith became the Democratic standard-bearer at the Democratic National Convention of 1928, Raskob was entrusted with the important position of chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Having a Catholic presidential nominee was unprecedented in the white, Protestant politics of the 1920s United States, and Smith doubled down on this by granting the Catholic capitalist Raskob an influential position in the Democratic Party. This led to a storm of anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant bigotry that began raging in the Southern and Western states, once Democratic strongholds. But their Catholicism was not the only unprecedented aspect of this political team, as Smith and Raskob were both also adamantly opposed to Prohibition. Raskob even was a board member of the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment (AAPA) in 1928 and played a crucial role in affecting Smith’s views on this issue, as this thesis argues and proves. Smith and Raskob shared the belief that it was anti-Catholic bigotry and opposition to immigrant communities that had been heavily influential in creating the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the one that banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors within the country. Their ideas proved to be correct. In fact, when the Eighteenth Amendment was enforced through the famous Volstead Act of 1920, Catholic, immigrant, African-American, and lower-class communities in urban areas were disproportionately targeted. These ethnic and religious aspects of American Prohibition helped shape and cement the alliance of Smith and Raskob and impacted both Republican and Democratic voting blocs greatly when Smith ran for president in 1928.Show less

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When a Warrior Meets a Knight: The Political Alliance between Al Smith and John Raskob and How It Affected the 1928 Presidential Elections