In 1922, Republican New York Congressman Fiorello La Guardia ran for reelection and was opposed by a Tammany-backed Jewish candidate. Sensing the opportunity to drive a wedge between La Guardia and his Jewish supporters, the opposition circulated a flier in the Jewish tenements calling La Guardia “a pronounced Jew hater.”

La Guardia fought back in a most unusual manner. He imposed one condition, namely, that the entire debate be spoken exclusively in Yiddish. Completely stunned, his opponent could not accept the proposal. La Guardia, nicknamed the Little Flower (he was 5’2”) won reelection. La Guardia was born in 1882 in Greenwich Village to his parents of different religions. His Catholic father was Achille Luigi Carlo La Guardia and his observant Jewish mother was Irene Lazzato Coen.