JAMES A. FARLEY
(James Aloysius Farley)
There was a political maxim—"As Maine goes, so goes the nation"—which originated from the fact that Maine presidential elections used to be held several weeks in advance of national elections. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Republicans won most of the presidential elections; thus the rest of the nation usually "agreed" with the Maine voters. However, in 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt swamped Alf Landon by winning every state except Maine and Vermont. FDR's campaign manager then quipped:
Commenting on the power of radio:
James Aloysius Farley was an American politician from New York. A member of the Democratic Party, he was one of the first Irish Catholic politicians in American history to achieve success on a national level. He simultaneously served as chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Postmaster General under the first two administrations of President Franklin Roosevelt. A business executive and dignitary and a Knight of Malta, Farley was commonly referred to as a political kingmaker, and he was responsible for Roosevelt's rise to the presidency. Farley was the campaign manager for New York State politician Alfred E. Smith's 1922 gubernatorial campaign and Roosevelt's 1928 and 1930 gubernatorial campaigns as well as Roosevelt's presidential campaigns of 1932 and 1936. Farley predicted large landslides in both, and revolutionized the use of polling data.
