By Max McCarthy
Buffalo News Washington Columnist
The New York State Democratic Party was divided into warring factions in 1931. One was led by then-Gov, Franklin D, Roosevelt; the other by former Gov, Alfred E, Smith.
Buffalo’s William H. Fitzpatrick, longtime Erie County Democratic chairman and a power in state politics, played a central role in the drama that affected the course of history.
Roosevelt and Smith earlier had been allies. FDR dubbed Gov. Smith the “Happy Warrior.” He nominated him for president at the 1928 convention. When Smith went down to defeat at the hands of President Herbert Hoover, Fitzpatrick and other Irish Catholic Democratic leaders were bitterly disappointed.
As they saw it, the once solidly Democratic and Protestant South had turned against Smith because he was an Irish-Catholic from Brooklyn. Wild rumors about the Pope preparing to come to Washington if Smith were elected circulated during the bitterly contested race.
Fitz, as he was known to friends and foes alike, felt that Al Smith deserved a second shot at the White House. After all, he recalled, William Jennings Bryan had three chances at the presidency. Smith and his cohorts reasoned that the prospects for the Democrats were much better in 1932 than in 1928 because of the 1929 Stock Market crash and its aftermath.
But Franklin Roosevelt wanted to run for president himself in 1932. Factions quickly formed. And while the fight in 1931 concerned the presidency, it was much deeper in its essence as its history shows.
William H, Fitzpatrick was born on Sept. 28, 1865 in the family home at Bailey Avenue and Seneca Street. His first job, after early schooling, was as a milkman. To it he attributed the physical strength that helped him in his rise in business and politics. He entered the construction industry, built scores of homes in South Buffalo and formed a realty firm bearing his name. At the same time he moved up the ladder in politics and was elected chairman of the Erie County Democratic Committee. He headed it for a large part of the first third of the 20th century.
In 1911 Fitzpatrick backed Buffalo’s William F. “Blue Eyed Billy” Sheehan, then New York's lieutenant governor, for the U.S, Senate. At that time, U.S. senators were chosen by the state legislatures, rather than by the electorate.
Only a few weeks after taking his seat in the Legislature, young Roosevelt led a band of rebel lawmakers in a campaign to keep Sheehan out of the Senate. FDR said the issue was “bossism” and that Sheehan was a tool of New York City's Tammany Hall. That Democratic organization was widely thought to be corrupt.
Sheehan, in fact, was backed by Tammany chief Charles F, Murphy and his aide, John C. Sheehan –“Blue Eyed Billy’s” older brother and mentor. Roosevelt’s group prevailed. The experience made Fitzpatrick a strong ally of Murphy and a lifetime foe of FDR.
Two years later, during the impeachment proceedings against Gov. William Sulzer, Fitzpatrick met the then speaker of the Assembly, Smith. They became fast friends and political allies. They formed a strong statewide organization that included William H. Kelly of Syracuse and Daniel O’Connell of Albany.
William Fitzpatrick’s influence grew when he played important roles in the election of Buffalo Mayors Louis P. Fuhrmann and J.N. Adam. When Tammany’s Murphy died, Fitzpatrick assumed many of the duties of a statewide leader. Later, as chairman of Buffalo's Grade Crossing Commission, he was hailed as the “father” of the New York Central Terminal in Buffalo’s East Side. It was opened in 1929.
Two years later, with the forces of Fitzpatrick and his allies strongly opposed to him, Roosevelt turned to the legendary James A. Farley for help. Farley wrested control of the state Democratic chairmanship from M. William Bray of Oneida County. In Buffalo, Oliver Cabana Jr. led the pro-Roosevelt forces. They elected a future mayor of Buffalo, George M. Zimmermann, Erie County Democratic chairman. Rival slates were fielded in the Democratic primary elections by the Fitzpatrick and Cabana factions.
During the first week of 1932, as the Smith-Roosevelt contest entered its final and climactic phase, Fitzpatrick was in New York City. On Wednesday of that week he suffered a heart attack and died the next morning.
Without mentioning “Blue Eyed Billy” Sheehan, Roosevelt in a style for which he would become famous, said: “I've known Fitz since the legislative session of 1911 and personally I always have been very fond of him. I am deeply sorry to hear of his sudden death.”
With Fitzpatrick’s passing, the Smith forces suffered the loss of an aggressive leader. They were demoralized. With Farley’s aid, Roosevelt went on to win the Democratic nomination, the presidency and, with the New Deal and his leadership in World War II, change the course of American and world history.
Copyright The Buffalo News, reprinted with permission
July 5, 1992