he wears very starchy collars, and these two men in 1928 as they go up for the presidential election really encapsulate some of the most important cultural and political clashes of that moment, clashes over prohibition, to some degree clashes over the economy. but in many ways this turns out to be a cultural election that hinges on which of these two americas is the america that's going to be voted into office. >> it's been said the three ps influenced this election, in 1928, prohibition, prejudice and prosperity. >> i think the three ps really do capture it. on prohibition, we have al smith who is one of the nation's most outspoken opponents of prohibition. prohibition has been in effect by 1928 for almost a decade. it has been a real problem for most of that time, and throughout al smith, like many urban politicians, has said that it's a bad idea, not only because it infringes on americans' freedoms, but because it's causing a law enforcement crisis and there are many people who are quite concerned about this by 1928. so what's going to happen to prohibition is one of the big quest