The Al Smith Dinner Has Been Attended by Presidential Candidates for Decades

The presidential campaign has long been defined by a series of rituals that happen every four years, regardless of who is on the ticket. The Al Smith Dinner is one such tradition, and it has been attended by both major-party candidates every four years for decades.

The event is designed to promote collegiality in the midst of a heated campaign, but news broke in late September that Kamala Harris would be skipping the event, which is set to take place on Oct. 17, 2024. Following the news that Harris would be skipping the event, many wanted to know more about what exactly it is.

The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is hosted every year in New York and raises millions of dollars for Catholic Charities. The fundraiser occurs every year, but it comes to national attention every four years when both presidential candidates attend and attempt to prove that they can get along even though they are fighting for the hearts and minds of voters.

The dinner first became a campaign tradition after John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon both attended the event in 1960. In 1996, the Archdiocese of New York decided not to invite President Bill Clinton and his challenger Bob Dole after Clinton vetoed a bill banning late-term abortion. Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden attended the event in 2020, but it was virtual because of the pandemic, and the usual jokes were dispensed with in favor of sincere appeals to Catholic voters.

The Al Smith Dinner is named after the former governor of New York. He was noted for achieving many reforms for New York during his time as governor and was nominated for president in 1928; he handily lost to Herbert Hoover. He was the first Roman Catholic to be nominated for president by either party, and his candidacy was feared by many protestants who worried that he might be controlled by the pope.

Smith sought to regain the nomination for president in 1932 but lost out to his former ally Frankly Delano Roosevelt, who had succeeded him as governor of New York. Smith then became involved in the construction of the Empire State Building and was an increasingly vocal supporter of FDR's New Deal policies. He resided in Manhattan all of his life.

This year's Al Smith Dinner will be held on Oct. 17, 2024, and Donald Trump is set to attend the event. According to sources speaking to the AP, Harris declined to attend because her team believes her focus should be on winning the battleground states needed to claim the presidency. She also offered to attend the event if she was elected.

Timothy Dolan, who plays a crucial role in the event, has been critical of Democrats for some time. The ostensibly non-partisan event has become increasingly partisan, which may help explain Harris's decision not to leave the battleground states for New York.