From the Annals of Democracy –  In 1928, the Democratic National Convention began in Houston at Sam Houston Hall.  It was the first nominating convention to be held in a Southern city since 1860 when the Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas.  The 1928 convention resulted in the nomination of  Gov. Alfred E. Smith of New York for President and Sen. Joseph Robinson of Arkansas for Vice President.   The Democrats were the first to nominate a Roman Catholic for President. The Texas delegation, led by Gov. Dan Moody strongly opposed Smith.  After Smith was nominated, they rallied against his anti-prohibition sentiment by fighting for a “dry” platform. Ultimately, the convention pledged “honest enforcement of the Constitution”.

Smith became the first Democrat since Reconstruction to lose more than one southern state in the general election, due to his “wet” stance, his opposition to the Ku Klux Klan, and his Catholicism.