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We went over the various things, where mistakes were made, if any, where we had misjudged the situation, where the Democratic party hadn't organized, the cause of the sellout in two or three southern states like Texas, the reasons for the defection in states like Ohio and Missouri which had so often been Democratic. I remember that we tried to think of every, every mistake that had been made in the campaign planning, every asset that Hoover had. He said finally, “Well, I'll tell you, I don't think that we can allege the reason anywhere, or put the reason at any of these things. To tell you the truth, Commissioner, the time hasn't come when a man can say his beads in the White House.” He accepted it as having been strictly a religious reaction, a reaction against a Roman Catholic.

Whether that was correct or not, I don't know. As I said on p. 48 of my book, The Roosevelt I Knew, of Smith, “It demonstrated his understanding of American life and politics, but that is another story.” What I meant by that was that he inclined to believe that where the people had all turned out for him, but voted against him, the Democratic party leaders had let him down in some of the states. He had lost in so many places where he thought he was ahead. He felt that the Democratic party organization hadn't worked hard enough. He felt that the opposition he had felt in his