and as i mentioned he sat way in the back row, he didn't even meet the speaker, fred nixon from chautauqua county until three days before the session adjourned. the speaker back then was almost regal. today it's more -- the power is more diffuse. there's more people -- more chairmen. it's not as arbitrary as it used to be. still the speaker has tremendous control over the bills that come to the floor, over the chairmen that are made chairmen, who's on what committees, what the program will be. it's still a key job. one of the three most powerful in the state, the senate leader, assembly leader and the governor. >> beverly gage, state politics in new york, 19 -- the teens, and today. >> well, as i said, new york is this key state nationally. but it has its own particular political culture. and i think in many ways reflects some of the same things we see today. the difference between your sort of urban core, your new york, at that time largely dominated although not exclusively by a tammany machine. upstate new york you've got cultural differences, you've got political differences there. and