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Alfred E. Smith: The Happy Warrior. By Christopher M. Finan. (New York: Hill & Wang, 2002. x, 396 pp. $26.00, ISBN 0-8090-3033-0.)
Between Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt stands Al Smith-the most important Democrat in an era dominated by Republicans. Smith won four terms as governor of New York, earning a national reputation for modernizing state government and promoting humane reform. In 1928, Smith became the first Catholic nominated by a major party for president, losing to Herbert Hoover in a campaign marked by scholarly and scurrilous attacks on his religion. Ironically, after his Democratic party regained power in 1932 Smith rejected the New Deal, became the right-wing Liberty League's brightest star, and supported FDR'S opponent, Alf Landon, in 1936.
For decades we lacked comprehensive biographies of Al Smith. Now there are...