Smith had previously made a quixotic bid for the Democratic nomination at the 1920 Democratic National Convention,[2][4] where his nomination received an invigorating seconding speech by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who also served as Smith's floor manager at the 1920 convention.

[2] Subsequently, that year, Smith lost his reelection campaign in the New York gubernatorial election.

Smith's political ally Robert Moses used his position in the New York State Association to boost Smith's candidacy, publishing partisan attacks on his opponent Nathan L. Miller in the Association's monthly publication (the State Bulletin).

Smith additionally managed to carry all the other Democrats running for statewide office to victory along with him.

[2] It was apparent that Smith's main opponent seemed to be Senator William Gibbs McAdoo of California, the son-in law of former president Woodrow Wilson.

With the Democratic National Convention scheduled to take place in Madison Square Garden, Al Smith and his supporters were hopeful that he might manage to secure the nomination before a hometown audience.

However, the rest of Smith's inner-circle disagreed with her assessment of Roosevelt, and instead viewed him as harmless and relatively naive.

In truth, while he acted loyally to Smith, Roosevelt was also using his role as a campaigner for a presidential candidate as a means to develop and maintain relationships with key party members across the nation that would be important to him when he would run for president himself, as he was already making plans to do.

[1] Roosevelt contacted Yankee slugger Babe Ruth, asking for his endorsement of Smith.

Proskauer, reportedly, told Smith, "you're a Bowery mick, and he's a Protestant patrician and he'd take some of the curse off you.

"[5][7] Smith also encountered criticism for his strong association with the Tammany Hall machine, and his anti-Prohibition stance.

In July, James Cannon Jr. of The Nation wrote, Governor Smith is personally, ecclesiastically, aggressively, irreconcilably Wet, and is ineradicably Tammany-branded, with all the inferences and implications and objectionable consequences which naturally follow from such views and associations.Heading into the convention, Smith was seen as a frontrunner for the nomination.

McAdoo was supported by the Ku Klux Klan, who at the time were a significant player in the Democratic Party.

[8] Smith stood for cities, immigrants, the repeal of prohibition, religious diversity, and new perspectives on governments role in society.

All of these were issues which elicited strong opposition from the Ku Klux Klan, helping ignite its members against his candidacy.

[2] The speech, delivered around noon on June 26, was Roosevelt's first public major appearance since he contracted polio in the summer of 1921.

Once he reached the stage, he grabbed a second crutch, and swung himself onto the speaker's platform, and then "stood", tightly holding onto the podium.

[5][8] Senator Oscar Underwood of Alabama, who was hoping to be a dark horse candidate if the convention deadlocked, joined with Smith's allies to champion the adoption of the anti-KKK plank.

[5] Underwood and Smith's allies refused to accept any compromise on the plank, demanding it be adopted without any softening of its stance.

[8] Amidst the many roll calls, William Jennings Bryan took to the podium requesting time to address the convention and explain his own vote.

[5] In response to jeers from Smith supporters, Bryan attacked them proclaiming that, "You do not represent the future of this country.

Smith would additionally seek the presidency in 1932, but would fail to garner the nomination that year, losing it to Franklin Roosevelt.