Smith, Alfred Emanuel (1873-1944): four-time governor of New York (1919-1920, 1923-1928). Defeated by Hoover for president in 1928, partly because he was Catholic. President of Empire State, Inc, a company organized to tear down the Waldorf-Astoria and build the Empire State Building. Then out of work, he accepted the job offered by John Jacob Raskob to become front-man and "mascot" for the project. After its opening, served primarily as publicity agent and rental manager for 13 years, at a salary of $50,000 a year, until he died in 1944. His task was to keep the building in the eye of the public - and of potential renters. He carried his role out with boundless enthusiasm. Nicknamed "The Happy Warrior" by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
