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Alfred E Smith or Al Smith, 42nd new york governor Alfred E Smith or Al Smith 

Alfred E Smith or Al Smith full name Alfred Emanuel Smith, Jr., 

known in private and public life as Al Smith, (December 30, 1873 - October 4, 1944) 

was elected Governor of New York four times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential 

candidate in 1928. 

Alfred E Smith or Al Smith  was the first Roman Catholic and Irish-American to run 

for President as a major party nominee. 

Alfred E Smith or Al Smith  lost the election to Herbert Hoover. 

Alfred E Smith or Al Smith then became president of the Empire State, Inc. and was 

instrumental in getting the Empire State Building built during the Great Depression.

Alfred E Smith or Al Smith was born to Alfred Emanuel Smith and Catherine Mulvihill, 

and initially grew up in the multiethnic Lower East Side of Manhattan, on Oliver 

Street, within sight of the Brooklyn Bridge, then under construction. 

Alfred E Smith or Al Smith 's four grandparents were Irish, German, Italian, and English, 

but Alfred E Smith or Al Smith identified with the Irish American community and became 

its leading spokesman in the 1920s.

Alfred E Smith or Al Smith was thirteen when his father Alfred died; he was a Civil War 

veteran who owned a small trucking firm. 

At fourteen Alfred E Smith or Al Smith had to drop out of parochial school, St. James 

School in Manhattan located at 37 James Street, to help support the rest of his family. 

Alfred E Smith or Al Smith never attended high school or college, and claimed that he 

learned about people by studying them at the Fulton Fish Market, a job for which he 

was paid $12 per week. An accomplished amateur actor, Alfred E Smith or Al Smith

 became a notable speaker. 

On May 6, 1900, Alfred E Smith or Al Smith married Catherine A. Dunn, with whom he 

had five children.