Alfred E. Smith was the first Roman Catholic nominated for the U.S. presidency by a major party. In 1928 Smith was nominated by the Democratic Party, after the 1924 convention was deadlocked between Smith and William McAdoo, and neither was nominated. Smith was elected to the New York state legislature in 1903 and became the assembly's majority leader in 1911.

A social reformer, he was influenced by New York City's 1911 Triangle Waist Co. fire, in which 146 workers--most of them women--were killed. Through Smith's urging, the legislature launched an investigation on factory conditions. Smith worked closely with other social reformers and sponsored bills to regulate the wages and hours of women and children, provide increased workers' compensation, and enforce sanitary, health, and fire standards. In 1918 he was elected to the first of his four terms as New York governor. In the 1928 presidential campaign, Smith encountered bitter opposition from Protestant leaders, prohibitionists, and the Ku Klux Klan.