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I'm sure he never took it seriously. There was something serious left out of his nature, though he was plenty smart. He had every advantage really and was kind of a tragic figure. Al Smith always said it was very tragic and there was more tragedy than there was blame about Jimmy. He never explained that. Al Smith certainly thought that Roosevelt had done the only thing that could be done and had done it with dignity and intelligence.
However, I don't think Roosevelt realized that this was going to be an asset to him, but it was. It became a great asset. It didn't particularly hurt him with Tammany. Tammany sort of accepted it. Once the Seabury report was out, the Tammany people knew it was true. They were more sure that it was true than the rest of the citizens were. As soon as Seabury began calling witnesses they knew it was true. They certainly supported Roosevelt in the campaign.
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