Effective progressive
Al Smith won fight for programs that improved lives
Acentury ago, on New Year’s Day 1919, Alfred E. Smith began his remarkable tenure as governor of the Empire State. The Manhattan Democrat’s sweeping reforms of state government and broadening of state services modernized life across New York. This was achieved through a potent blend of progressive vision and political acumen that equipped Smith to oversee an extraordinarily transformative period in the state’s history.
Al Smith came to power championing comprehensive investments in a substantial social welfare state—and achieved virtually nothing in his first term. His agenda was denounced as bolshevism by conservatives and roundly rejected by the Republican legislature. In 1920, he was defeated for reelection. Yet, two years later Smith was restored to office after campaigning to restructure state administration and enhance the state’s commitment to health, education, and workplace safety. Over the ensuing three terms (1923-1928), Smith enjoyed sustained political popularity and, eventually, a series of policy breakthroughs.
Republican control of the state Assembly — and usually the Senate as well — posed a daunting challenge to the governor’s ambitions, but Smith’s political skills were unparalleled. As hostile legislators blocked reforms, Smith took his program directly to the people. He highlighted park-building and school consolidation during his 1924 campaign and increased education funding and public hydroelectric development were featured in 1926, and always included calls to reform the executive bureaucracy. Each time, voters rallied to their governor’s banner. Indeed, Smith was able to succeed broadly because he communicated his complex agenda in popular terms and in a relatable way; rather than being theoretical or elitist, the reform program proffered by Smith was transformed by its sponsor into a people’s initiative — a fundamentally democratic formula for success.
Significantly, Smith was never shy about his progressive vision for the state; rather, he articulated an affirmative case for humane government and its tangible benefits for ordinary citizens. When denounced in 1920 as “paternalistic,” he inquired which of his “paternalistic” initiatives Republicans would eliminate: Aid to orphans? Hospital funding? Care for the mentally ill?
In 1926, when Rep. Ogden Mills skewered Smith’s proposed public power authority as “socialistic,” Smith invoked Empire State history, adducing the case of the Erie Canal and querying: “Does Congressman Mills suggest that Dewitt Clinton was a socialist?” When admonished for prof ligate spending in 1927, Smith cautioned: “When you hear our political friends talking about ‘the great spender at Albany,’ let’s stop and study the amount of money the State is spending for education.” Smith was remarkably frank in his prioritization of a robust social welfare regime for New York and his recognition of the concomitant costs.
Repeated reelections and partisan haggling led to Smith victories on recreation, conservation, education, rural health, maternal and infant welfare, labor regulations and a slew of other reforms. Moreover, when legislators refused to fund Smith’s initiatives as vigorously as the governor preferred, he turned again to the people, receiving popular endorsements of bonds for hospitals, parks, and state facilities.
Worse than miserly legislators was a lumbering, archaic state bureaucracy. To remedy this, Smith pursued a constitutional amendment for executive reorganization that streamlined administration and eventually instituted an executive budget — facilitating more flexible, efficient, and responsive governance.
In 1928, after four productive terms as governor, Smith ran for president on the merits of this New York resume. Indeed, asserted social work pioneer Lillian Wald, Smith had “done more to promote human welfare and social justice in New York than any other man in public life throughout the history of the state.” As we mark 100 years since his tenure began, New Yorkers still benefit by the legacies of the “Al Smith decade.”
Significantly, Smith was never shy about his progressive vision for the state; rather, he articulated an affirmative case for humane government and its tangible benefits for ordinary citizens.