The Ku Klux Klan had surged in popularity after World War I , due to its leadership 's connections to passage of the successful Prohibition Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . This made the Klan a political power throughout many regions of the United States , and it reached the apex of its power in the mid-1920s , when it exerted deep cultural and political influence on both Republicans and Democrats . Its supporters had successfully quashed an anti-Klan resolution before it ever went to a floor vote at the 1924 Republican National Convention earlier in June , and proponents expected to exert the same influence at the Democratic convention . Instead , tension between pro- and anti-Klan delegates produced an intense and sometimes violent showdown between convention attendees from the states of Colorado and Missouri . Klan delegates opposed the nomination of New York Governor Al Smith because Smith was a Roman Catholic and an opponent of Prohibition , and most supported William Gibbs McAdoo . Non-Klan delegates , led by Sen. Oscar Underwood of Alabama , attempted to add condemnation of the organization for its violence to the Democratic Party 's platform . The measure was narrowly defeated , and the anti-KKK plank was not included in the platform
1924 Republican National Convention
1924 Republican National Convention
1924 Democratic National Convention