What makes the 1928 election interesting is Alfred Smith, an Irish immigrant and a Catholic. Two things that most Americans frowned upon. When trying to get the nomination for the Democratic Party he wrote a letter called “Catholic and Patriot” where he made the argument that being a Catholic did not mean he was disloyal to the U.S. and that he would only follow the Pope on religious matters, not political. The public disagreed. Thirty-two years later JFK made a similar statement when he ran, this time successfully. Interestingly, sixty years later when the second Catholic president won, Biden, his religion was really not even a thing.
Historically Speaking 