America's First Catholic Presidential Candidate, Alfred Smith, Letters, Photograph -- Three Items

America’s First Catholic Presidential Candidate, Alfred Smith, Letters, Photograph—3 Items

ALFRED EMANUEL 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, the first Catholic ever to run for the highest office in the land.  His candidacy brought out women to vote, who had only recently received the right to vote, and the anti-Catholic vote.  Smith was anti-prohibition. Many protestants feared his candidacy believing that the Catholic Church and the Pope would dictate his policies. Smith lost in a landslide to Republican Herbert Hoover. He sought the nomination four years later but was defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Smith then entered business in New York City and became a vocal opponent of Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Offering a three-piece lot – two TLSs by Smith to Henry F. Wilson, Jr., of New York City, one regarding the distribution of an estate and the other thanking Wilson for sharing the reprint of an article.  The third item is a photograph of Smith, Calvin Coolidge and Wilson, signed by Wilson and Smith.  Three Smith autographs.

Letters have folds, toning, but are in overall excellent condition. Signatures on the photograph are in black ink but have been overwritten with white ink.

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