Research Proposal on "Hypothetical Scenario: Repeal of Prohibition Under President Al Smith"

Research Proposal 3 pages (1285 words) Sources: 3

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Look around you, Mr. President. You see here a Baptist minister, an Episcopalian Dutchman, two Jews, and two progressive Quakers from California (ironically named Nixon and Hoover). Baptists may not use wine in religious ritual, but they are aware that Catholics do. So do Episcopalians like Mr. Roosevelt, so do Jews like Mr. Moses or your trusted aide Miss Moskowitz. There is a reason, however, why I mention these facts. The difficulty you will find is that embracing a reform of the Volstead Act without repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment is most easily done on First Amendment grounds. You must issue a Presidential Directive that the definition of "intoxicating liquors" in the Eighteenth Amendment needs to be re-defined for the purposes of the Volstead Act to issue broad religious-based exemptions to the interdicted substances. Why should you approach the issue in this fashion?

Well, take a lesson from the cynicism of your only Democratic predecessor in this century, Princeton's own Woodrow Wilson. Wilson in office gave his official imprimatur to the noxious motion picture entitled "Birth of a Nation." Why did Wilson do this? He wanted to reassure the Southern Democratic electoral bloc that -- despite the astonishing numbers of blacks, Jews, and Roman Catholics in the Democratic coalition -- the fundamental ideals of the Democratic Party offered tacit endorsement of the Ku Klux Klan. This is your chance to remake the party, at the possible risk of losing the south for the Democrats for a generation. This is where our distinguished guest, Dr. William Graham Cracker from the First Baptist Church of Atlanta, can be most useful. Do the Southern Democrats, who cleave to the party through hatred of Lincoln and Grant, truly wish to derail the Democratic Party's successes at a crucial moment in the party's history? If the Federal Government relaxes on issues of Volstead Act enforcement -- and basically permits a religious exemption allowing Jews and Roman Catholics to have free access to alcohol -- you will need to reassure the reverend doctor that you do not have an end to Jim Crow up your sleeve next. Let's face it, the only reason the eighteenth amendment was passed was because American women had organized so fervently as Temperance Crusaders. For them it was an identical issue to suffrage, almost -- when we consider the prominence of many early feminists like Susan B. Anthony in the Temperance Movement, and the fact that women's suffrage and prohibition have been adopted . These are pious women, but they are susceptible to persuasion: now that women have the vote, hysterial behavior like that of Carrie Nation is a thing of the past. But in order to successfully engineer a change in Volstead Act enforcement, you will need the votes of those women and those Southern Baptists. So let's talk about what we can offer -- increased legal protections for women, or a reassurance to Southern Baptists that President Smith endorses segregation now and segregation forever -- because if you can pull this off without fracturing the Democratic Coalition, you will surely be re-elected in '32. I suggest we allow our distinguished Baptist guest to meet with Vice President Robinson, and they can speak as two distinguished Southerners about what sort of concessions the South might require.

Works Cited

[Anonymous.] Cartoon charging Irish and German immigrants with stealing elections showing a keg of Irish whiskey and a barrel of German beer running off with the ballot box, circa 1840s. Getty Images. Retrieved from: http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/cartoon-charging-irish-and-german-immigrants-with-stealing-news-photo/96817567

Cooper, John Milton. Breaking the Heart of the World: Woodrow Wilson and the Fight for the League of Nations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. p.354.

Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition, and the Men Who Made It. New York: Vintage, 1989. READ MORE

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