His campaign style was meticulous and involved massive amounts of correspondence with individual party members to gather information and coordinate strategy.

[2] Farley made his entry into politics in 1908, working for Alex Sutherland during his unsuccessful campaign to become town clerk of Stony Point.

[7] Farley was appointed to the New York State Athletic Commission by Governor Smith with the support of Tammany boss Charles F. Murphy and Jimmy Walker.

[8] In 1926, Farley threatened to resign his post as Athletic Commissioner if boxing champion Jack Dempsey did not fight the mandatory challenger, African-American fighter Harry Wills.

Farley banned Dempsey from fighting Gene Tunney and publicly threatened to revoke Tex Rickard's Madison Square Garden license if he ignored the ruling of the commission.

[11] Farley served as a delegate to the 1924 Democratic National Convention, where he befriended Franklin D. Roosevelt, who would give his famous "Happy Warrior" speech for Smith.

[18] Although his efforts to build support for Roosevelt among urban machines in the northeast and midwest failed,[19] Farley became familiar with members of the Texas delegation.

He used his connections to secure Roosevelt's nomination on the fourth ballot at the 1932 Democratic National Convention by offering to make Texan leader John Nance Garner the running mate.

[20] For his previous work, Farley was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee and chosen by Roosevelt to be his campaign manager.

[21] During the 1932 presidential election, Farley befriended Indiana journalist Claude G. Bowers, whom Roosevelt had also recruited to work for the campaign.

The two would continue a correspondence during Roosevelt's presidency to keep each other informed on domestic and foreign developments, and Bowers would write many speeches for Farley.

[24] He continued his systematic approach to campaigning and maintained a massive correspondence list with party officials across the country, monitoring the situation on the ground and providing advice based on his experience in New York.

[25] The election marked the high point of Farley's political career when he correctly predicted that Roosevelt would win all but two states, Maine and Vermont.

[26] Following Roosevelt's election as president, Farley was appointed postmaster general, a cabinet position which oversaw patronage for over 100,000 civil service-exempt jobs.

[17] Farley used his position effectively to mediate disputes between different factions during Roosevelt's first term and avoided any major scandals around appointments.

When ordinary stamp collectors learned of that, they lodged strenuous protests, newspaper editorials leveled charges of corruption, and a heated Congressional investigation ensued.

[38] Farley also appeared as a featured speaker at the American Negro Exposition in Chicago in 1940 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States at the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865.

[39] As the 1940 presidential election approached, Farley joined forces with other Democrats who wished to prevent Roosevelt from seeking a third term.

He visited several countries and enjoyed an audience with Pope Pius XII, but the outbreak of war in Europe upon his return discouraged him from publicly announcing his presidential candidacy.

Farley took great interest in his ability to meet new voters, to the point that during a tour of the southern states in April 1940, he had someone count how many people he exchanged a handshake with.

[48] In 1943, knowing he would not be allowed to participate in the war effort, Farley moved with Bess to New York City, where he would live in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel for the remainder of his life.

He would make one final attempt to seek office in 1958 with an abortive campaign to run for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Irving Ives.

[55] On October 26, 1963, Tuskegee University conferred upon Farley the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws for his "many contributions to public life"[56] and for his "distinguished possession of the private personal virtues".

Farley failed to adapt to the New Deal and the introduction of political campaigns based on ideologies and issues, preferring to work as a broker of patronage and services for party members.