Keywords

radio broadcasting, Alfred E. Smith, Ku Klux Klan, 1920s American political culture, new media, history of technology

Abstract

This thesis examines the intersection between radio broadcasting as the "new media" of the 1920s and American political culture of the period, using New York Governor and 1928 Democratic presidential candidate Alfred E. Smith as a case study. Smith entered 1925 as a political lone wolf and left the year as a triumphant victor set to take the presidency. Building on the work of Smithian scholars, this thesis illuminates how Smith’s radio use remained central to this political transformation. Smith found in radio an apt space to bypass Republican opposition and mobilize the body politic through direct engagement, which, in turn, created the public pressure he needed to pass an ambitious agenda against a legislative majority. His radio strategy reinforced idealized beliefs held by many broadcasters, reporters, and voters about the new mass communication technology—what historians call “radio exceptionalism.” This thesis builds on that framework by placing one of its central proponents—Smith—back into the historical narrative. Recentering Smith also brings into focus New York City radio station WHAP (“We Hold America Protestant”), a group of hooded broadcasters who supported the Ku Klux Klan and contested Smith’s rising power through the same medium in which he gained it. Station WHAP forced the radio public to question whether the medium truly possessed a special destiny from its predecessors, one meant to solve rather than worsen society’s existing issues, complicating scholarly assertions that radio exceptionalist ideas dominated the 1920s. As a result, Smith’s gubernatorial career from 1925 to 1928 offers an apt lens for understanding the relationship between new technology and political culture in 1920s America.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

Foster, Amy E.

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

History

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Identifier

DP0053236

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