Question: The man whom Franklin Delano Roosevelt christened “The Happy Warrior" in a nominating speech would later become a thorn in Roosevelt's side. Some thought the switch in loyalties was sour grapes, but others saw Alfred E. Smith as the epitome of William Wordsworth's "happy warrior" and therefore a man who "makes his moral being his prime care"-one who never made a move without consulting his conscience.
Alfred E. Smith was both a successful politician and an unsuccessful one. A fourterm governor of New York State, he seemed a sure candidate for president, and indeed he ran three times for that position, only to lose each time.
He had several strikes against him. He was the Catholic son of Irish and ItalianGerman immigrants, making him anathema to nativists, the xenophobes who underwent a resurgence in the 1920s. He was from New York City, viewed even in the early twentieth century as disconnected from the national character. He was a progressive, which made conservatives of all stripes nervous. And he favored the repeal of Prohibition, a position that lost him the backing of many party leaders.
Who was this unlikely candidate? Born Alfred Emanuel Smith in 1873, Smith grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His father died when Smith was young, and the boy dropped out of school to take care of the family. At age 21, Smith supported a losing candidate in a local race and came to the attention of New York politicos, who took him under their wing. Nine years later, he ran successfully for the New York State Assembly, where he rapidly rose in the ranks to become Majority Leader and finally Speaker. He played a pivotal role in the revamping of New York's constitution, was elected sheriff of New York County, and then ran for governor in 1918, winning handily. Although he lost a re-election bid two years later, he surged back in 1922 and would remain in the governor's seat for six more years. His terms were marked by unparalleled improvements in labor laws and laws protecting civil liberties, for Smith's goal was to support those he saw as most in need of government's assistance.
In this goal, he was allied with Franklin Roosevelt, and the two were close enough that Roosevelt nominated Smith for president in 1924. The Drys, or Prohibitionists, backed William McAdoo, a son-in-law of former President Woodrow Wilson. Smith's supporters and McAdoo's supporters were so far apart that finally a compromise candidate, John Davis, was nominated and promptly lost the general election to Calvin Coolidge.
In 1928, Smith received his party's nomination on the second ballot, but along with his anti-Prohibition leanings, his religion became a major issue during the campaign, paving the way for Herbert Hoover to win the general election. Meanwhile, Smith had arranged for the nomination of his New York colleague, Franklin Roosevelt, to be governor of New York. Although Smith lost his bid, Roosevelt did not. Then came the Depression and the election of 1932. Backroom dealings ensured that Franklin Roosevelt won the nominating process, with another would-be presidential candidate in the vice-presidential spot on the ticket. Smith was left out in the cold on his third try for the presidency. Despite his former regard for Roosevelt, he began to work hard, if unsuccessfully, to defeat the New Deal. He supported two Republicans rather than Roosevelt in the 1936 and 1940 elections, and he died in 1944, a man who had never reached his desired goal, yet had inspired many of the changes for which his rival is now known.
One important argument of the final paragraph is that:

Options:
A. Roosevelt would have done better with Smith at his side.
B. The New Deal was anathema to someone with Smith's ideals.
C. Smith's background made him an improbable candidate.
D. Smith deserves credit for many of Roosevelt's successes.
Answer: You are asked to find the main idea of the last paragraph. In the last paragraph, the author states that Smith "had inspired many of the changes for which his rival is now known." His rival was Roosevelt, and the implication is that Roosevelt took credit for many ideas that began with Smith. There is no indication that Roosevelt would have done better on a ticket with Smith (choice A), and Smith's background is not a topic of this paragraph (choice C). Contrary to choice B, many of Smith's ideals were those that formed the foundation of the New Deal. The correct answer is D.