Robert Chiles

The Revolution of ’28 Al Smith American Progressive, and the Coming of the New Deal by Robert Chiles (audio book 11.5 hours). As we all know from high school history classes, the phrase Tammany Hall is a synonym for absolute political corruption. (For the record, I tend to think of myself as relatively well-read in American history, but every time I stumble upon a book like this one about New York politician Al Smith, I realize (again) how little I know.) If you’ve not heard of Tammany Hall, it was a New York Democratic political machine that wielded considerable clout from the mid-19th century through the early 1930s, with additional but sporadic success into the 1950s. It was known not just for power, but for corruption that is an inevitable handmaiden of political power. Al Smith was a product of Tammany Hall, serving four terms as the governor of New York before running for President in 1928 when he was soundly defeated by Herbert Hoover. What I was surprised to learn was that Mr. Smith, despite his political roots (and arguably trunk, branches, and leaves) was a Progressive in the mold of F.D.R., another New York Governor (1929 to 1932) who actually made it to the White House. Among the many things I learned, was that Smith was the first Catholic to win the Presidential nomination. Like JFK later, he faced heated and bigoted religious opposition. A sizable portion of his political base were urban working class immigrants, including many Catholics and newly enfranchised women voters. As Governor he instituted numerous social welfare programs, many of which were substantive progenitors of New Deal programs, though Chiles takes pains to deny a direct link between Smith’s programs and those enacted by F.D.R. He does not adhere to the popular belief FDRs New Deal was the direct result Smith’s work. Rather, he argues his programs and the people they served were influential but not determinative of what followed. His view of the evolution of Democratic progressives was more nuanced than what other historians have posited. What I found interesting, bordering on fascinating, was Smith’s compassionate interest in the welfare of the working poor, many of whom became the backbone of the modern Democratic Party, notwithstanding some seismic shifts in the electorate along the way. My greatest takeaway was how this remarkable politician pursued social programs that exist in one form or another to this day. Smith eventually lost a second run at the Presidency in 1932, losing to Roosevelt. Moving into the private sector, Smith evolved into a conservative who abandoned much of his earlier progressive beliefs and disassociated himself from the monumental successes of the New Deal. In doing so, he put himself on the backbench of history, at least for most of us with only a superficial understanding of Progressive politics. Bottom line: great book about an important character in American politics.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.




… (lisätietoja)

Al Smith is best remembered today as the first Catholic to win the nomination of a major political party. In doing so his campaign overcame considerable opposition from within his own prejudice-bound Democratic Party, and though he fell well short of winning the White House in 1928 he is credited with winning for them the support of the millions of ethnic voters who would go on to become an important part of the "New Deal coalition" that made the Democrats the dominant political party in America for a generation. While his appeal traditionally has been credited to their identification with his ethnic and religious background, in this book Robert Chiles makes the case that this obscures the real source of his appeal, which was the unabashedly progressive agenda he advocated in that race, one rooted in the policies he pursued throughout his career in New York politics.

As Chiles explains, Smith was drawn to progressivism through his interactions with settlement house activists in New York City in the 1910s. Though them he gained a greater awareness of the issues facing immigrants and urban workers, which he sought to address through government policy. As a state legislator and governor he pursued reforms on issues ranging from conservation to government efficiency, all of which were central to his platform as the Democratic presidential candidate. This won him the support of many ethnic voters, whose political identification at this time was in a state of flux. Drawn to the candidate of a party who addressed their concerns, they maintained their allegiance for his successor, Franklin Roosevelt, who drew upon much of Smith's progressive legacy when formulating the policies of his own administration during his time as president.

By highlighting Smith's progressivism, Chiles contributes both to our understanding of this important politician and his long-term impact upon American politics. In the process he also helps to explain the under-appreciated origins of a political shift that shaped the nation in which Americans live today. Together it makes for a book that no student of the era or of American political history more generally can afford to ignore.… (lisätietoja)