Presidents Who Knew the Babe

nytimes.com - In September 1928, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, Babe Ruth refused to pose for a photograph with the Republican candidate for president, Herbert Hoover. “Nothing doing,” the Babe reportedly said. “I’m for Al Smith.” (Later Ruth issued a statement explaining his brushoff as a “misunderstanding” and said posing with Hoover would be an “honor.”)

When baseball’s most famous player publicly endorsed Smith, the governor of New York, that fall, he became one of the first American sports stars to attempt to lend his popularity to a presidential candidate.