ALFRED E. SMITH - EPHEMERA SIGNED CIRCA 1934 - HFSID 176010

ALFRED E. SMITH
This fascinating piece is a circle of purple cloth, which may have been intended as a panel for a quilt, which was signed by Smith. It's dated 1934, the year he became a leader of the American Liberty League, which led opposition to FDR's New Deal.
Cloth panel signed: "Alfred E Smith", 5x5¼ purple cloth. With "1934" written in brown ink in unknown hand. Smith, who supported Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1932 election, became one of his biggest political enemies. In 1934, he became, with other conservative Democrats and help from business leaders, a leader of the American Liberty League, which led opposition to FDR's new deal. This cloth panel may have been cut for a quilt. Alfred E. Smith (1873-1944), a vigorous reformer as Governor of New York (1919-1920, 1923-1928), was first suggested as a presidential possibility in 1920. His supporters were more numerous in 1924, when his name was placed in nomination by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who dubbed him the "happy warrior". Al Smith lost the nomination to John W. Davis on the 103rd ballot. As a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1928, he had no serious opposition and was nominated on the first ballot. In so doing, Smith became the first Roman Catholic presidential nominee of a major party. In the election, he was defeated by Herbert Hoover, winning only eight states and losing New York. After leaving politics, Smith became President of Empire State, Inc., the corporation that erected and operated the Empire State Building. Although he gave belated support to Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election, Smith soon broke with his old friend and supported Republicans Landon in 1936 and Willkie in 1940. A forceful opponent to Roosevelt's New Deal, Smith died a month before the 1944 election at the age of 70. Lightly toned and creased. Loose white threads around edges. Folded at least once vertically and horizontally and unfolded. Otherwise, fine condition.