View below for the live video of the 75th Annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner.

In a tradition extending back to 1960 with then Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon, U.S. presidential nominees have served as the evening’s celebrated speakers at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, leaving political differences at the door for one night of collegiality and good humor before the election. The Al Smith Dinner has come to be regarded as one of our culture’s last bastions of non-partisan unity, where the political, business, and cultural leaders come together, regardless of political affiliations, to raise money for the most vulnerable members of society, underserved children.

This year, the legacy of Governor Alfred E. Smith takes on greater meaning. He was the last governor to lead our state through a pandemic. As such, the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation will dedicate this year’s event to the frontline and essential workers of New York who worked valiantly to keep the city running and the people of New York healthy and safe when the pandemic touched ground in our city.  Their lessons in compassion and heroism raised the bar for what can be accomplished when we come together as city and a country. This too was the message of the “Happy Warrior” Governor Alfred E. Smith, who worked diligently to protect the interests of those most in need, even when doing so meant reaching across the aisle.