Huey Long


Huey Pierce Long Jr., nicknamed "The Kingfish," was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a member of the United States Senate from 1932 until his assassination in 1935. A populist member of the Democratic Party, he rose to national prominence during the Great Depression for his vocal criticism of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal from the left. As the political leader of Louisiana, he commanded wide networks of supporters and was willing to take forceful action. Celebrated as a populist benefactor or conversely denounced as a fascistic demagogue, Long remains a controversial figure.
Long was born in the poor north of Louisiana in 1893. After working as a traveling salesman and attending multiple colleges, Long entered the bar in Louisiana. Following a brief private legal career, in which he represented poorer plaintiffs against corporations, Long was elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission. As Commissioner, Long often prosecuted large corporations, such as Standard Oil. After successfully arguing before the US Supreme Court, Chief Justice William Howard Taft praised Long as "the most brilliant lawyer who ever practiced before the United States Supreme Court."
After a failed 1924 campaign, Long was elected Governor of Louisiana in 1928. Accused of abuses of power, he was impeached in 1929, but acquitted by the Louisiana Senate. During Long's years in power, he gained major state expansion in investments in infrastructure, education, and health care. Long was notable among southern politicians for avoiding race baiting and white supremacy. Under Long's leadership, hospitals and educational institutions were expanded, a system of charity hospitals was set up that provided health care for the poor, and massive highway construction and free bridges brought an end to rural isolation. Long's opponents attested that his actions and methods were unconstitutional, communist, fascist, and even dictatorial.
Long successfully ran for the US Senate in 1930, although he did not assume his seat until 1932. Largely to spite the Democratic establishment, Long successfully helped elect the first woman to the Senate, Hattie Caraway. Long was integral in securing Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1932 nomination and was a supporter through Roosevelt's first 100 days in office. However, Long split with Roosevelt in June 1933, becoming a prominent critic of his New Deal. As an alternative, he proposed the Share Our Wealth program in 1934. To stimulate the economy, Long advocated massive federal spending, a wealth tax, and wealth redistribution. These proposals drew wide support, with millions joining local Share Our Wealth clubs. Poised to perform well in a 1936 presidential bid, Long was assassinated in 1935 at the age of 42. Although originally blamed on a lone assassin, many now believe Long was accidentally shot by his own bodyguards.
Although Long's movement faded, Roosevelt adopted many of his proposals in the Second New Deal. In Louisiana, Long permanently altered the political landscape. Elections would be organized along anti- or pro-Long factions until the 1960s. He also left behind a political dynasty, which included his wife, Senator Rose McConnell Long; his son, Senator Russell B. Long; and his brothers, Governor Earl Long and U.S. Representative George S. Long, among others.

Early life (1893–1915)

Childhood

Long was born on August 30, 1893, near Winnfield, a small town in the north-central part of Louisiana and the seat of Winn Parish. He was the son of Huey Pierce Long Sr. and the former Caledonia Palestine Tison, and the seventh of the couple's nine surviving children. He would later claim that his heritage was a mixture of Dutch, English, French, Scottish, and Welsh. When he was young, Winn Parish was a deeply impoverished region whose residents, mostly modest Southern Baptists, were often outsiders in Louisiana's political system. During the Civil War, Winn Parish had been a stronghold of Unionism in an otherwise solidly Confederate state. At Louisiana's 1861 convention on secession, the delegate from Winn voted to remain in the union: “Who wants to fight to keep the Negroes for the wealthy planters?” In the 1890s it likewise was a bastion of the Populist Party, and in 1912 a plurality voted for the Socialist presidential candidate, Eugene V. Debs.
The degree of poverty in Winn Parish was extreme, but was relatively wealthy compared to others in Louisiana. According to the 1930 census, one-fifth of white Louisianans were illiterate, with rates for black Louisianans being much higher because of underfunding of their education by racial discrimination. Having grown up in Winn Parish, Long absorbed all of the resentments of its people against the elite. While Long often told his followers that he came from the lowest possible social and economic stratum, Long's family were well-off compared to others in the largely destitute community of Winnfield.
For people of their time and socioeconomic standing, Long's parents were well-educated, and stressed often to their child the importance of learning. For many years, Long was home-schooled; he started attending local schools at about age 11. During his time in the public system, he earned a reputation as an excellent student with a remarkable memory. After growing bored with the required schoolwork, he eventually convinced his teachers to let him skip seventh grade. When he was a student at Winnfield High School, he and his friends formed a secret society, advertising their exclusivity by wearing a red ribbon. According to Long, his club's mission was "to run things, laying down certain rules the students would have to follow." The teachers at the school eventually learned of Long's antics and warned him to obey the school and its faculty's rules. Long continued to rebel, eventually writing and distributing a flyer that criticized both his teachers and the necessity of a recently state mandated twelfth grade. As a consequence, he was expelled in 1910. Long drafted a petition calling for the principal of Winnfield High School to be removed from his post. He convinced enough people in his town to sign it to gain the firing of the principal. Despite this success, Long never returned to high school, although he was awarded a diploma posthumously.
In high school, Long proved himself to be a capable debater. At a statewide debating competition in Baton Rouge, he won a tuition scholarship to Louisiana State University. However, because the award did not cover textbooks or living expenses, he was unable to attend, as his family could not afford it. Long would later regret that he had been unable to pursue an education at LSU. Instead of trying to gain higher education, he spent most of the early 1910s as a traveling salesman in the rural south.

Education and marriage

In September 1911, Long began attending seminary classes at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma at the urging of his mother, a devout Baptist. While living with his brother George, Long attended for only one semester, rarely appearing at lectures. After deciding he was not suited to preaching, Long instead began to focus on law. Borrowing one hundred dollars from his brother, he attended the University of Oklahoma College of Law in Norman, Oklahoma for a semester in 1912. To earn money while studying law part-time, he worked as a salesman for the Dawson Produce Company. Of the four classes Long took, he received one incomplete and three C's. He later confessed that he "didn't learn much law there" because there was "too much excitement, all those gambling houses and everything." He was arrested in 1912, reportedly for creating a disturbance in a brothel. In Long's version of events, the police mistakenly arrested him after one man shot at another, but Long was able to prove he had been attending a play with girlfriend Rose McConnell at the time of the incident and he was released.
In 1913, Long married McConnell. She was a stenographer who had won a baking contest which he promoted to sell "Cottolene," a popular vegetable shortening. The two began a two-and-a-half year courtship and married on April 12, 1913 at the Gayoso Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. On their wedding day, Long had no cash with him and had to borrow $10 from his fiancée to pay for the officiant. Shortly after their marriage, Long explained to his wife his aspirations to run for a state-wide office, the governorship, the U.S. Senate, and ultimately the presidency. The Longs had a daughter, also named Rose, and two sons: Russell B. Long, who subsequently became a long-term U.S. senator, and Palmer Reid Long, who became an oilman in Shreveport.
Long enrolled at Tulane University Law School in New Orleans in the fall of 1914. After a year of study that concentrated on the courses necessary for the bar exam, he successfully petitioned the Louisiana Supreme Court for permission to take the test before its scheduled June 1915 date. He was examined in May, passed, and received his license to practice. According to Long: "I came out of that courtroom running for office."

Legal career (1915–1923)

In 1915, Long established a private practice in Winnfield, through which he typically represented small plaintiffs, "the small man - the under-dog" according to Long. These were usually workers' compensation cases. He often said proudly that he never took a case against a poor man. He was noted for successfully defending an impoverished widow against the Winnfield Bank. Around this time, Long evaded fighting in World War I, claiming "I was not mad at anybody over there," and successfully defended a state senator from prosecution under the Espionage Act of 1917. In 1918, Long invested $1,050 in an oil well that eventually struck oil. But the well was unable to generate any income because the powerful Standard Oil Company refused to accept any of its oil in its pipelines, costing Long his investment. This episode served as the catalyst for Long's lifelong hatred of Standard Oil, which he later denounced as an "invisible empire" run by "petroleumites."
That same year, Long entered into the race to serve on the three-seat Louisiana Railroad Commission. According to historian William Ivy Hair, Long's political message:
... would be repeated until the end of his days: he was a young warrior of and for the plain people, battling the evil giants of Wall Street and their corporations; too much of America's wealth was concentrated in too few hands, and this unfairness was perpetuated by an educational system so stacked against the poor that only fourteen out of every thousand children obtained a college education. The way to begin rectifying these wrongs was to turn out of office the corrupt local flunkies of big business... and elect instead true men of the people, such as .

In the Democratic primary, Long came in second behind incumbent Burk Bridges. Since no candidate garnered a majority of the votes, a run-off election was held, for which Long campaigned tirelessly across the whole north of the state. The race was incredibly close: Long managed to defeat Burk by just 636 votes. Although the returns revealed wide support for Long in rural areas, Long performed poorly in the urban areas of Alexandria, Shreveport, and Monroe. The Louisiana Railroad Commission and its members were known for largely having yielded to businesses and their owners. However, once sworn in to office, Long refused to conform to their norms. He forced utilities to lower rates, ordered railroads to extend service to small towns, and demanded that Standard Oil cease the importation of Mexican crude oil and use more oil from Louisianian wells.
In the gubernatorial election of 1920, Long campaigned heavily for John M. Parker; today Long is often credited with helping Parker to win in the northern Louisiana parishes. But after Parker was elected, the two became bitter rivals. This break was largely the result of Long demanding that Parker declare the state's oil pipelines to be public utilities, and Parker refusing to do so. In particular, Long was infuriated when Parker allowed the oil companies, led by the legal team of Standard Oil, to assist in writing the state's severance tax laws, which decreed the amount corporations such as Standard Oil had to pay the state for the extraction of natural resources. Long denounced Parker as corporate "chattel". The feud climaxed in 1921, when Parker tried, unsuccessfully, to have Long ousted from his position on the Commission.
By 1922, the Railroad Commission had been renamed the "Public Service Commission" and Long had gained the more powerful position of chairman. That year, Long prosecuted the Cumberland Telephone & Telegraph Company for unfair rate increases; he successfully argued the case on appeal before the United States Supreme Court, resulting in cash refunds totaling $440,000 being sent to 80,000 overcharged customers. After the decision, Chief Justice William Howard Taft praised Long as "the most brilliant lawyer who ever practiced before the United States Supreme Court."

Gubernatorial campaigns (1924–1928)

1924 election

On August 30, 1923, his thirtieth birthday, Long announced his candidacy for the governorship of Louisiana. Long stumped throughout the state, personally distributing circulars and nailing posters to trees. He denounced Governor Parker as a corporate stooge, vilified Standard Oil, and assailed local political bosses.
Long campaigned in rural areas disenfranchised by the New Orleans-based political establishment, known as the "Old Regulars" or "the Ring." They controlled much of the state through alliances with sheriffs and other local officials. Louisiana was also one of the least developed states in the nation: the entire state had just 300 miles of cement roads. A poll tax kept many poor whites from voting; of the two million residents, only 300,000 could afford to register to vote.
Despite an enthusiastic campaign, Long came in third, missing the runoff by 7,400 votes. Long still performed well, especially for a man of his age. Despite polls predicting only a few thousand votes for Long, he attracted almost 72,000 votes, around 31% of the electorate. He carried 28 parishes, more than either opponent. However, he was limited to sectional appeal, performing best in the poorer and less populous rural north.
The Ku Klux Klan's prominence in Louisiana was the primary issue of the campaign. While the two other candidates either strongly opposed or supported the Klan, Long attempted to remain neutral on the topic, alienating both sides. Long also failed to attract Catholic voters, limiting his chances in the South. This was clearly seen in the majority Catholic New Orleans, where he polled 12,000 votes, just 17%. Long also blamed heavy rain on election day for suppressing voter turnout among his base in rural north Louisiana, where voters were unable to reach the polls over the dirt roads that had turned to mud. It was the only election that Long ever lost.

1928 election

Long spent the intervening four years building his reputation and political organization, particularly in the more urban South, which was heavily Roman Catholic due to its French and Spanish heritage. Despite disagreeing with their politics, Long endorsed and campaigned for Catholic US Senators in 1924 and 1926. He officially launched his campaign in 1927, campaigning with the slogan, "Every man a king, but no one wears a crown," a phrase adopted from Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. By 1928, Long had gained such momentum, that he became one of the major talking points of his opponents; opposing political conventions chanted "It won't be Long now."
Long developed novel campaign techniques, including the use of sound trucks at mass meetings and radio commercials. Long was a fervent critic of a toll bridge being constructed across Lake Pontchartrain by incumbent Governor Oramel H. Simpson, instead promising a toll-free bridge. The campaign sometimes descended into brutality. When the 60-year-old Simpson called Long a liar during a chance encounter in the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel, Long punched him in the face.
as his campaign headquarters. He would spend much of his life at the Roosevelt, essentially living there.
On January 17, 1928, Long won the Democratic primary election but failed to secure a majority of the vote. He polled 126,842 votes. Representative Riley J. Wilson earned 81,747 votes, and the incumbent Simpson garnered 80,326. At the time, Long's margin was the largest in state history, and neither opponent chose to face him in a runoff election. After earning the Democratic nomination, he was easily elected governor in the general election on April 17, 1928, with 92,941 votes, to 3,733 for the Republican candidate, Etienne J. Caire. Caire's running mate, John E. Jackson, a New Orleans lawyer who later took over the state Republican chairmanship, ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor against Paul N. Cyr, with whom Long later had an irreconcilable break. At age 35, Long remains the youngest person ever elected governor of Louisiana.
Some fifteen-thousand Louisianians travelled to Baton Rouge to witness Long's inauguration. Long set up large tents, free drinks, and jazz bands on the capitol grounds, evoking Andrew Jackson's 1829 inaugural festivities. Long's victory was widely seen as a public backlash against the urban establishment; journalist Hodding Carter described it as a "fantastic vengeance upon the Sodom and Gomorrah that was called New Orleans." While previous election were normally divided culturally and religiously, Long highlighted the sharp economic divide in the state and built a new coalition based on class. Long's strength, said the contemporary novelist Sherwood Anderson, relied on “the terrible South… the beaten, ignorant, Bible-ridden, white South. Faulkner occasionally really touches it. It has yet to be paid for."

Louisiana Governorship (1928–32)

First year

Once in office as governor on May 21, 1928, Long moved quickly to consolidate power, firing hundreds of opponents in the state bureaucracy, at all ranks from cabinet-level heads of departments to state road workers. Like previous governors, he filled the vacancies with patronage appointments from his own network of political supporters. Every state employee who depended on Long for a job was expected to pay a portion of their salary at election time directly into Long's campaign fund, which raised $50,000 to $75,000 each election cycle. The funds were kept in a famous locked "deduct box" to be used at Long's discretion for political and personal purposes. It was rumored that this box contained over a million dollars.
Once his control over the state's political apparatus was strengthened, Long pushed a number of bills through the 1929 session of the Louisiana State Legislature to fulfill campaign promises. His bills met opposition from many legislators, wealthy citizens, and the media, but Long used aggressive tactics to ensure passage of the legislation he favored. He would show up unannounced on the floor of both the House and Senate or in House committees, corralling reluctant representatives and state senators and bullying opponents. When an opposing legislator suggested that Long was not familiar with Louisiana's Constitution, he declared "I'm the Constitution around here now."
One of the programs which Long had approved was a free textbook program for schoolchildren. Long's free school-books angered Catholics, who usually sent their children to private schools. Long assured them that the books were to be granted directly to all children, regardless of whether they attended public-school. However, this was criticized by conservative constitutionalists who claimed it was a violation of the separation of church and state and sued Long. The case ultimately went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Long.
Irritated by what he saw as immoral gambling in New Orleans, Long sent the National Guard to raid these establishments with orders to "shoot without hesitation." Gambling equipment was burned, prostitutes were arrested, and over $25,000 was confiscated for government funds. Local newspapers ran photos of nude women being forcibly searched by National Guardsmen. City authorities had not requested military force and martial law had not been declared. The state's Attorney General denounced Long's actions as illegal, but was rebuked by Long: "Nobody asked him for his opinion."
Despite wide disapproval, Long had the Governor's Mansion, built in 1887, razed by convicts from the State Penitentiary under his personal supervision. In its place, Long had a much larger Georgian mansion built. It bore a strong resemblance to the White House, as he reportedly wanted to be familiar with the residence when he became president.

Impeachment

In 1929, Long called a special session of both houses of the legislature to enact a new five-cent per barrel "occupational license tax" on production of refined oil, to help fund his social programs. The bill was met with fierce opposition from the state's oil interests. Opponents in the legislature, led by freshman lawmakers Cecil Morgan of Shreveport and Ralph Norman Bauer of Franklin in St. Mary Parish, introduced an impeachment resolution against Long. Nineteen charges were listed. They ranged from blasphemy to abuses of power, bribery, and the misuse of state funds. However, the most serious was subornation of murder. One of Long's subordinates claimed in an affidavit that an intoxicated Long had told him to kill Representative J. Y. Sanders Jr., also the son of a former governor, and "leave him in the ditch where nobody will know how or when he got there." Long allegedly promised him "a full pardon and many gold dollars."
Concerned by the progression of the impeachment trial, Long attempted to shut down the session. Pro-Long Speaker John B. Fournet called for a vote to adjourn. Despite a majority of representative opposing adjournment, the voting board showed 67 ayes and 13 nays. This sparked confusion until it was realized that one pro-Long congressman had rigged the electric voting-machine to turn a "yes" into a "no" and vice versa. This sparked a brawl across the floor of the state legislature, later known as "Bloody Monday". In the scuffle, inkwells were thrown, several legislators attacked others with brass knuckles, and Long's brother Earl bit a legislator on the neck. Following the fight, the legislature voted to remain in session and proceed with the impeachment. A trial in the house took place with dozens of witnesses, including a hula dancer who claimed that Long had been "frisky" with her. Impeached on 8 of the 19 charges, Long was the first Louisiana governor to be charged in the state's history under four different nations.
In response to his impeachment, Long took his case to the people using his characteristic speaking tours. He argued that Standard Oil, the corporate interests, and conservative political opponents were conspiring to stop him from providing roads, books, and other programs to develop the state and to assist the poor and downtrodden. He claimed that Standard Oil had used up to $25,000 to bribe the legislature, which he called "enough money to burn a wet mule". The House referred the charges to the Senate. Conviction required a two-thirds majority in the Senate, but Long produced a round robin statement signed by fifteen senators pledging to vote "not guilty" regardless of the evidence. These senators claimed that the trial was illegal, and even if proved, the charges did not warrant impeachment. The impeachment process, now futile, was suspended. It has been alleged that both sides used bribes to buy votes, and that Long later rewarded the Round Robin signers with state jobs or other favors.
Following the failed impeachment attempt in the Senate, Long became ruthless when dealing with his enemies. He fired their relatives from state jobs and supported candidates to defeat them in elections. After impeachment, Long concluded that extra-legal means would be needed to accomplish his goals: "I used to try to get things done by saying 'please'," said Long. "Now... I dynamite 'em out of my path." He had his bodyguards "let go" on reporters, assaulting photographers, smashing cameras, and evicting them from government buildings. He became a persistent critic of the press, denouncing the "lying newspapers". In March 1930, Long established his own newspaper: the Louisiana Progress. The paper was extremely popular, widely distributed by policeman, highway workers, and government truckers. To receive lucrative state contracts, companies were first expected to buy advertisements in Long's newspaper. Long attempted to pass laws placing a surtax on newspapers and forbidding the publishing of "slanderous material," but these efforts were defeated. After the impeachment attempt, Long received death threats. Fearing for his personal safety, he surrounded himself with armed bodyguards at all times.

Senate campaign

Shortly after the failed impeachment, Long suddenly announced his intention to run for the U.S. Senate in the 1930 Democratic primary. He portrayed his campaign as a referendum on his programs: if he won he would take it as a sign that the public supported his programs over the opposition of the legislature, and if he lost he promised to resign.
His opponent was incumbent Senator Joseph E. Ransdell, the Catholic senator whom Long had endorsed in 1924. At 72 years old, Ransdell had been in the Senate since Long was four years old. Ransdell was anti-Long, aligned with the Constitutional League, whom Long mocked as the "Constipational League", and the New Orleans Ring. Ransdell also had the support of all 18 of the state's daily newspapers. Although initially promising not to issue personal attacks, Long seized on the issue of Ransdell's age. He claimed that Ransdell was senile and too old to purchase life-insurance, donning him "Old Feather Duster." Long purchased two new $30,000 sound trucks and had inmates paint campaign signs. He also distributed over two million circulars attacking his opponent. The campaign became increasingly vicious, with The New York Times calling it "as amusing as it was depressing." Long critic Sam Irby, who was set to testify on Long's corruption, was abducted by Long's bodyguards shortly before the election. Irby emerged after the election, having been missing for four days. Surrounded by Long's guards, he gave a radio address in which he "confessed" that he had actually asked Long for protection. The New Orleans mayor labelled it "the most heinous public crime in Louisiana history."
Ultimately, on September 9, 1930, Long defeated Ransdell by 149,640 to 111,451. There were wide accusations of voter fraud. Voting records showed people voting in alphabetical order, among them celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin, Jack Dempsey, and Babe Ruth.
Although his Senate term began on March 4, 1931, Long completed most of his four-year term as governor, which did not end until May 1932. He declared that leaving the seat vacant for so long would not hurt Louisiana; "with Ransdell as Senator, the seat was vacant anyway." By not leaving the governor's mansion until January 25, 1932, Long prevented Lieutenant Governor Paul N. Cyr, a former ally, from succeeding to the office. Cyr had broken with Long and had been threatening to roll back his reforms if he succeeded to the governorship. In October 1931, Lieutenant Governor Cyr, by then Long's avowed enemy, argued that the Senator-elect could no longer remain governor. Cyr declared himself the state's legitimate governor. In response, Long ordered state National Guard troops to surround the State Capitol and fended off Cyr's attempted "coup d'état," as Long labelled it. Long then went to the Louisiana Supreme Court to have Cyr ousted as lieutenant governor. He argued that the office of lieutenant-governor was vacant because Cyr had resigned when he attempted to assume the governorship. His suit was successful and Cyr was ejected from office.

Renewed strength

Now governor and senator-elect, Long returned to completing his legislative agenda with renewed strength. He continued his intimidating practice of presiding over the legislature; when congressman voiced their concerns, Long would shout "Shut up!" or "Sit down!" In a single night, Long was able to pass 44 bills in just two hours, or one every 3 minutes. He later explained his tactics: "The end justifies the means." Long strengthened his power, endorsing pro-Long candidates and wooing others with favors; he often joked that his legislature was the "finest collection of lawmakers money can buy." Concerned by these tactics, Long's opponents charged that he had become virtual dictator of the state.
As governor, Long was not popular among the "old families" of Baton Rouge society or indeed in most of the state. He instead held gatherings of his leaders and friends who listened to the popular radio show Amos 'n' Andy. One of Long's followers dubbed him "the Kingfish" after the master of the Mystic Knights of the Sea lodge to which the fictional Amos and Andy belonged. The character of the "Kingfish" was a stereotypical, smooth-talking black conman who was forever trying to trick Amos and Andy into various get-rich schemes. The nickname stuck with Long's encouragement.
In addition to the new nickname, Long further cultivated his mass-appeal, publicly declaring himself to be a common-man. He espoused the merit of "potlikker," the leftover water from boiling vegetables and meat. He declared it the "poor folks' staple - the food of the gods." He would often conduct government business barefoot in his pajamas. On one occasion, he sported stripe pajamas while he boarded a visiting German warship carrying a German commander. Long's attire and the outraged German response became national news. Long was showered with pajamas by supporters, and some campaign posters would even feature pajamas in reference to the event. Long repeated this crude reception when, only wearing underwear, he received a United States general and his aides. The Baton Rouge State-Times reflected, "If General McCoy is loath to believe that he had a narrow escape, and that the governor does not receive visitors in the nude, he is just not acquainted with our governor."

Accomplishments as governor

Long was unique among southern populist leaders in that he achieved tangible progress. T. Harry Williams concluded that "the secret of Long's power, in the final analysis, was not in his machine or his political dealings but in his record - he delivered something." Robert Penn Warren stated it more bluntly: "Dictators, always give something for what they get."
As Governor, Long created a public works program for Louisiana that was unprecedented in the South, constructing numerous roads, bridges, hospitals, schools and state buildings that have endured into the 21st century. During his four years as governor, Long increased paved highways in Louisiana from, plus an additional of gravel roads. By 1936, the infrastructure program begun by Long had completed some of new roads, doubling the size of the state's road system. He built 111 bridges and started construction on the first bridge over the Mississippi entirely in Louisiana, the Huey P. Long Bridge in Jefferson Parish, near New Orleans. All of these projects provided thousands of much-needed jobs during the Great Depression, including 22,000—or 10 percent—of the nation's highway workers. Including the Airline Highway between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Long's road network gave Louisiana some of the most modern roads in the country and formed the state's highway system. Long also constructed the Charity Hospital in New Orleans. Long also built a new
State Capitol, which at 450 feet tall remains the tallest capitol, state or federal, in the United States. Upon its completion, Long claimed, "Only one building compares with in architecture. That’s St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome, Italy." Long's massive infrastructure spending greatly increased the state government's debt. From 1928 to 1935 it rose from 11 million to 150 million.
Long also became an ardent supporter of the state's primary public university, Louisiana State University. Having been unable to attend, Long now regarded it as "his" university. He greatly increased LSU's state funding, expanded its enrollment, and authorized financial support for poorer students. He also intervened in the university's affairs, choosing its president and expelling seven students who criticized him in the school newspaper. Long constructing several new buildings, including a field-house which reportedly contained the longest pool in the United States at the time. Long also founded a LSU Medical School in New Orleans. Although he claimed it was to educate poor doctors, it may have been based on a personal vendetta against Tulane University, which had declined to grant him an honorary degree. To generate excitement for the university, he converted the school's military marching band into a flashy "Show Band of the South". Quadrupling the band's size, he also hired Costa Rican composer Castro Carazo as the band director. Long worked with Carazo on several new songs, many of which are still played today. Long expressed his avid support for the school's football program, nearly doubling the size of the stadium. He would often tread the sidelines during football games and give locker-room talks to the team, even having the football team run a play he created on one occasion. He also arranged for lowered train-fares so students could travel to out-of-town games. Long's contributions resulted in LSU gaining a class A accreditation from the Association of American Universities.
Long's free textbooks, school-building program, and school busing improved and expanded the public education system. His night schools taught 100,000 adults to read. His provision of free textbooks resulted in a 20% increase in school enrollment. He is also credited with establishing the first penitentiary-rehabilitation program in Louisiana history.

U.S. Senate (1932–1935)

Senator Long

In January 1932, Long traveled to the United States Senate in Washington, D.C., where he took his oath and seat, which once belonged to John C. Calhoun. At the time of Long's arrival, America was in the throes of the Great Depression, worsened by Republican President Herbert Hoover's handling of the crisis. With this backdrop, Long made characteristically fiery speeches that denounced the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. He also criticized the leaders of both parties for failing to address the crisis adequately, most notably attacking conservative Senate Democratic Leader Joseph Robinson of Arkansas for his apparent closeness with President Herbert Hoover and ties to big business. Long launched personal attacks, deriding Robinson's appearance: "he doesn't look really as well with his hair dyed."
In the presidential election of 1932, Long became a vocal supporter of New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He believed Roosevelt to be the only candidate willing and able to carry out the drastic redistribution of wealth that Long believed was necessary to end the Great Depression. At the 1932 Democratic National Convention, Long was instrumental in keeping the delegations of several wavering southern states in the Roosevelt camp. His appeal for the delegates to support Roosevelt was noted for its eloquence. The New York Times' Washington correspondent described Long's speech as "the finest legal argument that anybody has ever heard—or that I ever heard—at a national convention." Senator Burton Wheeler of Montana claimed that, "Roosevelt would never have won the Democratic nomination in 1932, in my opinion, but for Huey Long." Bronx County boss Edward J. Flynn shared a similar sentiment: "There is no question in my mind... that without Long’s work Roosevelt might not have been nominated." Due to this, Long expected to be featured prominently in Roosevelt's campaign, but he was disappointed with a peripheral speaking tour limited to four Midwestern states.

Not discouraged after being snubbed, Long found other venues for his populist message. He endorsed Senator Hattie Caraway of Arkansas, a widow and the underdog candidate in a crowded field, and conducted a whirlwind, seven-day tour of that state. During the campaign, Long gave 39 speeches, traveled 2,100 miles, and spoke to over 200,000 people. In an upset win over a Robinson-endorsed candidate, Caraway became the first woman elected to the Senate, largely thanks to Long. Caraway told Long, however, that she would continue to use independent judgment and not allow him to dictate how she would vote on Senate bills. She also insisted that he stop attacking Robinson.
Returning to Washington, Long gave theatrical speeches which drew wide attention. Public viewing areas were crowded with onlookers, among them a young Lyndon B. Johnson, who later claimed he was "simply entranced". Long sometimes spent weeks obstructing bills, launching hour-long filibusters and having the Senate registrar read superfluous documents. Long antics, one editorial claimed, had made the Senate "impotent". By May 1932, the Washington Post called for his resignation. Outside the Capitol, his vulgar behavior was well publicized at a 1933 charity dinner in Long Island, to which he arrived already intoxicated. According to Time, "Spotting a plump girl with a full plate before her, he marched to her table, snatched the plate from her, yapped: 'You're too fat already. I'll eat this.'" Long's night culminated in him urinating on a man in the restroom. The man punched Long, giving him a black-eye. When asked about the injury, Long claimed that four men had ambushed him. This and Long's radical rhetoric did little to endear him to his fellow senators. Not one of his proposed bills, resolutions or motions was passed during his three years in the Senate despite an overwhelming Democratic majority. During one debate, another senator told Long, "I do not believe you could get the Lord's Prayer endorsed in this body." Fellow Senator Carter Glass said of Long, "I understand that in the ultimate decadence of Rome they elected a horse to the Senate. At least it was a whole horse." Long's flamboyant ways and populist style made him one of the best known senators in the nation. Regarding his unrefined behavior, historian David M. Kennedy wrote that
"... Long strode into the national arena in the role of the hillbilly hero and played it with gusto. He wore white silk suits and pink silk ties, womanized openly, swilled whiskey in the finest bars, swaggered his way around Washington, and breathed defiance into the teeth of his critics. The president's mother called him 'that awful man'. His friends called him 'the Kingfish', after a character on the radio program Amos 'n' Andy The New York Times called him 'a man with a front of brass and lungs of leather'."

Roosevelt and the New Deal

During the critical 100 days of Roosevelt's presidency in spring 1933, Long was generally a strong supporter of the New Deal, but differed with the president on patronage. Roosevelt wanted control of the patronage, and Long wanted to control it for his state. The two men publicly split in late 1933. Long mocked Roosevelt's patrician background, calling him "Prince Franklin, Knight of the Nourmahal," a reference to the yacht of Roosevelt's billionaire friend Vincent Astor. Aware that Roosevelt had no intention to radically redistribute the country's wealth, Long became one of the few national politicians to oppose Roosevelt's New Deal policies from the left. He considered them inadequate in the face of the escalating economic crisis. Long still sometimes supported Roosevelt's programs in the Senate, explaining: "Whenever this administration has gone to the left I have voted with it, and whenever it has gone to the right I have voted against it."
Long opposed the National Recovery Act, denouncing it as a sellout to big business. On the Senate floor, he attacked the bill as having "every fault of socialism" yet not "one of its virtues." He claimed, correctly, that that its wage and price codes would be created by, and in the favor of, industrialists. In an attempt to prevent its passage, Long held a lone filibuster, speaking for 15 hours and 30 minutes, the second longest filibuster at the time. His attempts were in vain, and the act established the National Recovery Administration, which Long quickly nicknamed "Nuts Running America". He also criticized Social Security, calling it inadequate and expressing his concerns that states would administer it in a way discriminatory to blacks. In 1933, he was a leader of a three-week Senate filibuster against the Glass banking bill for favoring the interests of national banks over state banks. He later supported the Glass–Steagall Act, after provisions were made to extend government deposit insurance to state banks as well as national banks.
Roosevelt considered Long a radical demagogue. The president told economic advisor Rexford Tugwell that Long, along with General Douglas MacArthur, "was one of the two most dangerous men in America." In June 1933, Long visited the White House to meet President Roosevelt, but the meeting was a disaster: Long was flagrantly disrespectful, refusing to take off his straw hat and addressing Roosevelt as "Frank", instead of the normal "Mr. President".
Shortly thereafter, in June 1933, in an effort to undermine Long's political dominance, Roosevelt cut him out of consultation on the distribution of federal funds or patronage in Louisiana and placed Long's opponents in charge of federal programs in the state. Roosevelt also supported a Senate inquiry into the election of Long ally John H. Overton to the Senate in 1932. The Long machine was charged with election fraud and voter intimidation, but the inquiry came up empty, and Overton was seated. To discredit Long and damage his support base, Roosevelt had Long's finances investigated by the Internal Revenue Service in 1934. Although they failed to link Long to any illegality, some of his lieutenants were charged with income tax evasion. Only one had been convicted by the time of Long's death. Roosevelt's son would later note that in this instance, his father "may have been the originator of the concept of employing the IRS as a weapon of political retribution".

Chaco War and foreign policy

On May 30, 1934, Long took to the Senate floor to debate the abrogation of the Platt amendment. However, instead of debating the amendment, Long declared his stance on the Chaco War. He proclaimed support for Paraguay against Bolivia, as he maintained that US President Hayes had awarded the Chaco to Paraguay in 1878. Long blamed the entire war on "the forces of imperialistic finance", claiming that Paraguay was the rightful owner of the Chaco. He said that Standard Oil, whom Long called "promoter of revolutions in Central America, South America and Mexico," had "bought" the Bolivian government and started the war because Paraguay was unwilling to grant them oil concessions. Long ended his speech by claiming the entire Chaco War was due to the machinations of Wall Street, called the American arms embargo to both sides as subservience to the "big papa" of Wall Street and stated: "Well should we begin on Memorial Day, the hour of mourning, to understand that the imperialistic principles of the Standard Oil Company have become mightier than the solemn treaties and pronouncements of the United States government".
Long's speech made him a national hero in Paraguay while leading to protests from the Bolivian legation in Washington. Long's thesis that the U.S. policy toward Latin America was dictated solely by the selfish concerns of oil companies, and that the U.S. was maintaining a pro-Bolivian neutrality only because that is what Standard Oil wanted, attracted much attention in Latin American newspapers. The State Department was greatly concerned about the damage Long was inflicting on the reputation of the U.S. Throughout the summer of 1934, American diplomats waged a sustained public relations campaign against Long throughout Latin America.
In a second speech given on June 7, 1934, in response to the Bolivian protests, Long again supported Paraguay and attacked Standard Oil as "domestic murderers", "foreign murderers", "international conspirators," and "rapacious thieves and robbers". Besides abusing Standard Oil, Long announced that since Bolivia was taking the Chaco dispute to the World Court, he was opposed to the United States joining the World Court, saying:
"Bolivia has run over to the famous World Court and the League of Nations. So here is the Standard Oil Company of the United States sailing under the title of Bolivia, putting one of their emissaries on a boat, and skyrocketing him to Geneva to renounce the Hayes award of the United States".
In July 1934, after capturing a Bolivian fort, the Paraguayans renamed it Fort Long. Thanks to Long's outspoken stance on the war, he had established himself as one of the most ardent isolationists in the Senate. He further argued that the United States involvement in the Spanish–American War and the First World War had been deadly mistakes conducted on behalf of Wall Street. Consequently, Long demanded the immediate independence of the Philippines, which had been occupied by the United States since 1899. He also opposed American entry into the World Court.

Share Our Wealth

In March 1933, Long offered a series of bills collectively known as "the Long plan" for the redistribution of wealth. The first bill proposed a new progressive tax code designed to cap personal fortunes at $100 million. Fortunes above $1 million would be taxed at 1 percent; fortunes above $2 million would be taxed at 2 percent, and so forth, up to a 100 percent tax on fortunes greater than $100 million. The second bill limited annual income to $1 million, and the third bill capped individual inheritances at $5 million.
In February 1934, Long introduced his Share Our Wealth plan over a nationwide radio broadcast. He proposed capping personal fortunes at $50 million and repeated his call to limit annual income to $1 million and inheritances to $5 million. The resulting funds would be used to guarantee every family a basic household grant, or "household estate" as Long called it, of $5,000 and a minimum annual income of $2,000–3,000, or one-third of the average family homestead value and income. Long supplemented his plan with proposals for free college education, with admission based on an IQ test, and vocational training for all able students, old-age pensions, veterans' benefits, federal assistance to farmers, public works projects, greater federal regulation of economic activity, a month's vacation for every worker, and limiting the work week to thirty hours to boost employment. He proposed a $10 billion land reclamation project to end the Dust Bowl. Long also promised free medical service and what he called a "war on disease" led by the Mayo brothers. In his speech, Long used populist language depicting the U.S. past as a lost paradise stolen by the rich, saying:
God invited us all to come and eat and drink all we wanted. He smiled on our land and we grew crops of plenty to eat and wear. He showed us in the earth the iron and other things to make everything we wanted. He unfolded to us the secrets of science so that our work might be easy. God called: 'Come to my feast.' Then what happened? Rockefeller, Morgan, and their crowd stepped up and took enough for 120 million people and left only enough for 5 million for all the other 125 million to eat. And so many millions must go hungry and without these good things God gave us unless we call on them to put some of it back.

Long's plans for the "Share Our Wealth" program attracted much criticism from economists at the time, who stated that Long's plans for redistributing wealth would not result in every American family receiving a grant of $5,000 per year, but rather $400/per year, and that his plans for confiscatory taxation would cap the average annual income at about $3,000. In 1934, Long held a public debate with Norman Thomas, the leader of the Socialist Party of America, on the merits of Share Our Wealth versus socialism.
With the Senate unwilling to support his proposals, in February 1934 Long formed a national political organization, the Share Our Wealth Society. A network of local clubs led by national organizer Reverend Gerald L. K. Smith, the Share Our Wealth Society was intended to operate outside of and in opposition to the Democratic Party and the Roosevelt administration. By 1935, the society had over 7.5 million members in 27,000 clubs across the country. Long's Senate office received an average of 60,000 letters a week, resulting in Long hiring 48 stenographers to type responses. Long's newspaper, now renamed American Progress, averaged a circulation of 300,000, with some issues reaching over 1.5 million. Long's radical programs were very attractive to union-members; Teamsters president Daniel J. Tobin expressed his growing concerns to Roosevelt. Long also drew international attention: writer H. G. Wells traveled across the Atlantic just to interview Long. Wells noted that Long was "like a Winston Churchill who has never been at Harrow. He abounds in promises."
Some historians believe that pressure from Long and his organization contributed to Roosevelt's "turn to the left" in the Second New Deal. Roosevelt enacted the Second New Deal, including the Social Security Act, the Works Progress Administration, the National Labor Relations Board, Aid to Dependent Children, and the Wealth Tax Act of 1935. Roosevelt's National Youth Administration provided part-time employment to the country's youth, counteracting the appeal for Long's free college proposal. Roosevelt reportedly admitted to trying to "steal Long's thunder."

Continued control over Louisiana

Long continued to maintain effective control of Louisiana while he was a senator, blurring the boundary between federal and state politics. Long chose his childhood friend, Oscar K. Allen, to succeed King in the January 1932 election. With the support of Long's voter base, Allen won easily, permitting Long to resign as governor and take his seat in the U.S. Senate in January 1932. Though he had no constitutional authority to do so, Long continued to draft and press bills through the Louisiana State Legislature, which remained in the hands of his allies. He finally passed the five cents per barrel tax for which he had been impeached.
Long's loyal lieutenant, Governor Oscar K. Allen, dutifully enacted Long's policies. Long berated the governor in public and took over the governor's office in the State Capitol when visiting Baton Rouge. On occasion, he even entered the legislative chambers, going so far as to sit on representatives' and senators' desks and sternly lecture them on his positions. He also retaliated against those who voted against him and used patronage and state funding to maneuver Louisiana toward what opponents called a "dictatorship". Having broken a second time after earlier reconciliation with the Old Regulars and Mayor Walmsley in the fall of 1933, Long inserted himself into the New Orleans mayoral election of 1934. A second rift hence developed with the city government that lasted even until after Long's assassination.
In 1934, Long and James A. Noe, an independent oilman and member of the Louisiana Senate from Ouachita Parish, formed the controversial Win or Lose Oil Company. The firm was established to obtain leases on state-owned lands so that its directors might collect bonuses and sublease the mineral rights to the major oil companies. Although ruled legal, these activities were done in secret, and the stockholders were unknown to the public. Long made a profit on the bonuses and the resale of those state leases and used the funds primarily for political purposes.
By 1934, Long began a reorganization of the state government that reduced the authority of local governments in anti-Long strongholds New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Alexandria. It further gave the governor the power to appoint all state employees. Long also passed what he called "a tax on lying" and a 2 percent tax on newspaper advertising revenue.

1935: Long's final year

Presidential ambitions

Popular support for Long's Share Our Wealth program raised the possibility of a 1936 presidential bid against incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt. When questioned by the press, Long gave conflicting answers on his plans for 1936. While promising to support a progressive Republican like Sen. William Borah, Long also claimed that he would only support a Share Our Wealth candidate. At times, he even expressed the wish to retire: "I have less ambition to hold office than I ever had." However, in a later Senate speech, he admitted that he "might have a good parade to offer before I get through". Long's son Russell B. Long believed that his father would have run on a third party ticket in 1936. This is evidenced by the fact that Long wrote a speculative book, My First Days in the White House, which laid out his plans for the presidency after the 1936 election.
Long biographers T. Harry Williams and William Ivy Hair speculated that Long planned to challenge Roosevelt for the Democratic nomination in 1936, knowing he would lose the nomination but gain valuable publicity in the process. Then he would break from the Democrats and form a third party using the Share Our Wealth plan as its basis. He also hoped to have the public support of Father Charles Coughlin, a Catholic priest and populist talk radio personality from Royal Oak, Michigan; Iowa agrarian radical Milo Reno; and other dissidents like Francis Townsend and the remnants of the End Poverty In California movement. Diplomat Edward M. House warned Roosevelt "many people believe that he can do to your administration what Theodore Roosevelt did to the Taft administration in '12."
In spring 1935, Long undertook a national speaking tour and regular radio appearances, attracting large crowds and increasing his stature. At a well attended Long rally in Philadelphia, a former mayor told the press "There are 250,000 Long votes" in this city. Regarding Roosevelt, Long boasted to the New York Times' Arthur Krock: "He's scared of me. I can out promise him, and he knows it." While addressing reporters in late summer of 1935, Long proclaimed:
As the 1936 election approached, the Roosevelt administration grew increasingly concerned by Long's popularity. Democratic National Committee Chairman James Farley commissioned a secret poll in early 1935 "to find out if Huey's sales talks for his 'share the wealth' program were attracting many customers". Farley's poll revealed that if Long ran on a third-party ticket, he would win about 4 million votes. In a memo to Roosevelt, Farley wrote: "It was easy to conceive of a situation whereby Long by polling more than 3,000,000 votes, might have the balance of power in the 1936 election. For example, the poll indicated that he would command upwards of 100,000 votes in New York State, a pivotal state in any national election and a vote of that size could easily mean the difference between victory and defeat... That number of votes would mostly come from our side and the result might spell disaster".
In response, Roosevelt in a letter to his friend William E. Dodd, the US ambassador in to Germany, wrote: "Long plans to be a candidate of the Hitler type for the presidency in 1936. He thinks he will have a hundred votes at the Democratic convention. Then he will set up as an independent with Southern and mid-western Progressives... Thus he hopes to defeat the Democratic Party and put in a reactionary Republican. That would bring the country to such a state by 1940 that Long thinks he would be made dictator. There are in fact some Southerners looking that way, and some Progressives drifting that way... Thus it is an ominous situation".

Increased tensions in Louisiana

By 1935, Long's most recent consolidation of personal power led to talk of armed opposition from his enemies in Louisiana. Opponents increasingly invoked the memory of the Battle of Liberty Place of 1874, in which the White League staged an uprising against Louisiana's Reconstruction-era government. In January 1935, an anti-Long paramilitary organization called the Square Deal Association was formed. Its members included former governors John M. Parker and Ruffin G. Pleasant and New Orleans Mayor T. Semmes Walmsley.
On January 25, 1935, armed Square Dealers took over the courthouse of East Baton Rouge Parish. Long had Governor Allen call out the National Guard, declare martial law, ban public gatherings of two or more persons, and forbid the publication of criticism of state officials. The Square Dealers left the courthouse, but there was a brief armed skirmish at the Baton Rouge Airport. Tear gas and live ammunition were fired; one person was wounded but there were no fatalities.
In the summer of 1935, Long called for two more special sessions of the legislature; bills were passed in rapid-fire succession without being read or discussed. The new laws further centralized Long's control over the state by creating several new Long-appointed state agencies: a state bond and tax board holding sole authority to approve all loans to parish and municipal governments, a new state printing board which could withhold "official printer" status from uncooperative newspapers, a new board of election supervisors which would appoint all poll watchers, and a State Board of Censors. They also stripped away the remaining lucrative powers of the mayor of New Orleans, to cripple the entrenched opposition. Long boasted that he had "taken over every board and commission in New Orleans except the Community Chest and the Red Cross."
Long had previously acknowledged the possibility of his own death, reportedly even having a morbid fascination with it. In a 1935 speech, he claimed that his political enemies had a plot to kill him with "one man, one gun, one bullet." Long also sensationally claimed that Chicago gangsters were trying to kill him. His own right-hand-man Gerald L. K. Smith declared that "the only way they will keep Huey Long from the White House is to kill him." In spring 1935, one of the last office-holding Long opponents in Louisiana warned, "I am not gifted with second sight. … But I can see blood on the polished floor of this Capitol. For if you ride this thing through, you will travel with the white horse of death."

Assassination

On Sunday morning, September 8, 1935, Long travelled to the State Capitol in order to pass a re-redistricting plan which would oust political opponent Judge Benjamin Henry Pavy. At 9:20 p.m., just after passage of the bill effectively removing Pavy, Pavy's son-in-law Carl Weiss approached Long, and, according to the generally accepted version of events, fired a single shot with a handgun from four feet away, striking Long in the torso. Long's bodyguards, nicknamed the "Cossacks" or "skullcrushers", responded by firing at Weiss with their own pistols, killing him; an autopsy found that Weiss had been shot at least sixty times. Long was able to run down a flight of stairs and across the capitol grounds, hailing a car to take him to the Our Lady of the Lake Hospital. Long was rushed to the operating room, where emergency surgery attempted to close perforations in his intestines, but ultimately failed in trying to stop his internal bleeding. Long died at 4:10 a.m. on September 10, 31 hours after being shot. According to different sources, his last words were either, "I wonder what will happen to my poor university boys," or "God, don’t let me die. I have so much to do".
Over 200,000 people travelled to Baton Rouge to attend Long's funeral. His remains were buried on the grounds of the State Capitol, and a statue at his grave depicts his achievements. Although Long's allies claimed that he was assassinated by political opponents, a federal probe found no evidence of a conspiracy. Long's death brought relief to the Roosevelt administration, which would win in a landslide in the 1936 election. Farley publicly admitted his apprehension of campaigning against Long: "I always laughed Huey off, but I did not feel that way about him." Roosevelt's close economic advisor Rexford Tugwell would later write: "When he was gone it seemed that a beneficent peace had fallen on the land. Father Coughlin, Reno, Townsend, et al., were after all pygmies compared with Huey. He had been a major phenomenon." Tugwell also wrote that Roosevelt regarded Long's assassination as a "providential occurrence".
Recent evidence has led some to claim that Long was accidentally shot by his bodyguards. Proponents of this theory assert that Long was caught in the cross fire as his bodyguards shot Weiss, and was hit by one of the bullets which ricocheted off the marble walls.

Legacy

Memorials and honors

A testament to Long's contributions to the state's infrastructure, two bridges crossing the Mississippi River have been named "Huey P. Long Bridge": one in Baton Rouge and one in Jefferson Parish. There are also four bridges named in honor of both Long and his successor and supporter, O.K. Allen: the Long-Allen Bridge over the Atchafalaya River between Morgan City and Berwick, one on US Route 84, one on Highway 4, and the Long-Allen Bridge/Texas Street Bridge over the Red River between Downtown Shreveport and Bossier City. Long's contributions to LSU are recorded in multiple monuments and plaques. Illustrative of his divisive legacy, a plaque featuring his name was defaced with the word "Fascist" in March 2020.
In 1941, Louisiana donated a statue of Long to the Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol. The statue was accepted in the collection by Senator Allen Ellender on April 25. At that time Ellender said, "He was a doer of things for the benefit of the masses; and his philosophy of distribution of wealth, his advocacy of pensions for the aged, shorter work hours for labor and his continued fight for the masses... marked him for death."
Long's birthday, August 30, was a paid state holiday in Louisiana from 1936 through 1971. This practice was ended by Governor Edwin Edwards when he took office in 1972.

Politics

Long's assassination turned him into a near legendary figure in some parts of Louisiana. In 1938, Swedish sociologist Gunnar Myrdal encountered rural children who not only insisted Long was alive, but that he was president. Although no longer personally governing in the state, Long's policies continued to be enacted in Louisiana by his political machine, which remained a powerful force in state politics until the election of 1960. Within the dominant Louisiana Democratic party, Long set in motion two durable factions—"pro-Long" and "anti-Long"—which diverged meaningfully in terms of policies and voter support. Typically, anti-Longite candidates would promise to continue popular social services delivered in Long's administration and criticized Longite corruption without directly attacking Long himself. The Long platform of social programs and populist rhetoric created the state's main political division. For several decades after his death, Long's personal political style inspired imitation among Louisiana politicians who borrowed his colorful speaking style, vicious verbal attacks on opponents, and promises of social programs.
After Long's death, a family dynasty emerged: his brother Earl was elected lieutenant-governor in 1936, and governor in 1948 and 1956. Long's widow, Rose McConnell Long, was appointed to replace him in the Senate, and his son Russell B. Long, was a U.S. senator from 1948 to 1987. As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Russell shaped the nation's tax laws. He was an advocate of low business taxes, but also passed the Earned Income Credit and other tax legislation beneficial to the poor. In addition to Long's brother Earl K. Long becoming governor, brother Julius Long was a Winn Parish District Attorney, and brother George S. Long was elected to Congress in 1952. Other more distant relatives, including Gillis William Long and Speedy O. Long, represented Louisiana in the U.S. Congress. Gerald Long holds the distinction of being the first office-holder to be a registered Republican among the Long Democratic dynasty.

Historical reputation

Academics and historians have found difficulty categorizing Long and his ideology. His platform has been compared to everything from European Fascism, Stalinism, to the later McCarthyism. When asked about his own philosophy, Long simply replied: "Oh, hell, say that I’m sui generis and let it go at that." A majority of academics, biographers, and writers who have examined Long view him negatively. Henry C. Dethloff described Long as "one of the most controversial modern American political figures." The American historian David Kennedy wrote that Long's regime in Louisiana was "the closest thing to a dictatorship that America has ever known". Journalist Hodding Carter described him as "the first true dictator out of the soil of America". Peter Viereck categorized Long's movement as "chauvinist thought control". Victor Ferkiss described Long's beliefs as "incipient fascism". One of the only biographers to praise Long was T. Harry Williams, who classified Long's ideas as modified or neo-populism. He also labeled Long a democratic "mass leader" rather than a demagogue. Besides Williams, leftist intellectual Gore Vidal expressed admiration for Long, even naming him as his favorite politician.
Beginning in the 2016 presidential race, many publications, including The Advocate, NPR, and The Saturday Evening Post, have noted similarities between Long and US President Donald Trump. Huey Long has been called a "Trumpian figure" by The Atlantic, which noted similarities between their anti-establishment populism and aggressive use of executive power. However, others have claimed that Long is more akin to socialist Senator Bernie Sanders.

Media

In popular culture, Long has served as a template for multiple populist, or fascistic, fictional politicians. He is widely believed to be the inspiration for Buzz Windrip in Sinclair Lewis' novel It Can't Happen Here.
Windrip is a populist, big business-bashing senator who wins the 1936 election by promising every American family $5,000 per year. Written with the goal of hurting Long's chances in the 1936 election, a stage adaptation was performed in theaters across the country by the WPA, beginning in 1935.
After his assassination, Long continued to inspire novelists. One of the earliest was John Dos Passos' Number One. Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer prize-winning novel All the King's Men featured demagogue Willie Stark, whom many believe was based on Long. However, Warren did not encourage association of his character with Long. In a 1964 interview, he told Charles Bohner: "Willie Stark was not Huey Long. Willie was only himself, whatever that self turned out to be." The novel has been adapted into a 1949 movie, which won Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actress from the Academy Awards. Adria Locke Langley's 1945 novel A Lion Is in the Streets featured the Huey Long-like populist politician Hank Martin. The 1953 film adaption also won three Oscars.
Long's cultural influence is not limited to literature. In Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley Kowalski cites Long while claiming that he is "king" of his New Orleans apartment. Two made-for-TV docudramas about Long have also been produced: The Life and Assassination of the Kingfish, starring Ed Asner, and ', starring John Goodman. Long was also the subject of a 1985 Ken Burns-directed documentary. In music, singer-songwriter Randy Newman featured Long in two songs on the 1974 album Good Old Boys.
Long has also been the subject of dozens of biographies and academic texts. In fact, more has been written about Long than any other Louisianan. Most notably, the 1970 biography Huey Long by T. Harry Williams won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in category History and Biography. Alan Brinkley won the latter award in 1983 for ', which explored criticism of the New Deal from the left.

Works

Discography

Long also collaborated with composer Castro Carazo on the following songs:

Works cited

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