. >> then the great political battle of 1924 where with alfred e. smith and john w. davis he stood out as a leader. there never was a political convention to match the democratic national gathering of 1924 in new york. mcadoo against al smith. day after day a fruitless -- terrific storms of passion shaping the delegates and convulsing the thousands in the gallery. franklin d. roosevelt's presentation of the name of alfred e. smith. the happy warrior. democratic convention in the lone star state. once more franklin d. roosevelt took the stage to praise as only he could do. the man for whom he has always had such affection and respect, naming him again the happy warrior, his friend, alfred e. smith. the governor of new york. al smith who will always have his own place in the hearts of the american people. but events were moving fast. al smith is candidate for president in 1928. wanted a good man to run for governor. her persuade franklin roosevelt to make the race. although mr. smith lost the state by a narrow vote, franklin roosevelt elected to his first term as govern

invitation, and i feel right at home here because it's often been said that i share the politics of alfred e. smith and the ears of alfred e. newman. it is an honor to be here with al smith. i obviously never knew your great grandfather. from everything senator mccain has told me -- [ laughter ] the two of them had a great time together before prohibition. >> of course i am delighted but not surprised by the final repeal of the 18th amendment. i felt all along that when this matter was properly submitted to the rank and file of our people, they would readily see that it had no place in our constitution. it would be very difficult, if not impossible to estimate the benefits that would come to this country from the lessons taught to the coming generations to make it their business to see that no such matter as this is ever again made the subject of federal constitutional law. >> and you've been listening to the 2008 presidential nominees talking at that year's annual al smith dinner followed by al smith himself talking about the lifting of prohibition in 1933. hello and welcome to "the contender" ser

. >> that is probably one of the lasting legacies of alfred e. smith. and when governor cuomo entered office, he put smith's portrait behind the rostrum so that all the press conferences will see al smith. and he replaced teddy roosevelt who was there for the last three governors. and then governor cuomo also instituted a sage commission which would investigate government and try to make it more efficient which is also like smith's reconstruction commission. the point that smith is probably being emulated the most for is efficiency in government. smith took 187 massive rolling bureaus, boards, commissions, departments and rolled them into the 20 departments of government and had the legislature pass the constitutional amendments, and then they were ratified by the people to make the governor a strong governor. and this is prior to fdr reforming the executive office of the presidency in d.c. smith wanted to make sure that if i appoint a commissioner, i want him answerable to me. prior to smith's reforms, commissioners' terms overlapped. the health commis