From the 1924 Democratic convention, when Al Smith took on the Klan, to the 1920 conventions, when Irish Americans attempted to garner support from both parties for the Irish War of Independence, to the 1968 convention, held in the aftermath of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination, Irish America has been involved in a number of contentious conventions. Terry Golway will examine the impact of these conventions on US history, and how they shaped US politics for decades to come.

Terry Golway is an American writer, historian and journalist who served as a columnist and editorial board member for The New York Times and a long-time editor and writer at The New York Observer and Politico. His publications include Machine Made: Tammany Hall and the Creation of Modern American Politics; Frank and Al: FDR, Al Smith, and the Unlikely Alliance That Created the Modern Democratic Party; and For the Cause of Liberty: A Thousand Years of Ireland's Heroes.