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Alfred E. Smith campaigning for president in 1928.
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United States presidential candidate Alfred E. Smith (r) raises his hat in salute during a train trip to promote his bid for the 1928 presidency.

Credit: Image donated by Corbis-Bettmann

In 1928, New York Governor Al Smith mobilized a new generation of young, ethnic, working-class Americans who had previously felt little affinity with the Democratic party, including South Philadelphia's Anne Brancato. A working-class Irish American, Smith had dropped out of school at the age of fourteen, and was the first Roman Catholic to run for president.

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