Happy Warrior Playground

Happy Warrior Playground is named for a nickname once given to Alfred E. Smith, the four-term New York Governor who rose from a working-class Irish immigrant family to become a major figure in state politics. The moniker originated from a poem by William Wordsworth titled Character of the Happy Warrior, which celebrates perseverance and diligence. President Franklin D. Roosevelt popularized the title when he nominated Smith for the presidency in 1928, declaring him the happy warrior of the political battlefield.