Huey Long
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/* Influence in books and culture */
{{Infobox_Governor
| name= Huey P. Long
| smallimage= HueyPLong.jpg
| order= 40th
| office= Governor of Louisiana
| term_start= [[May 28]], [[1928]]
| term_end= [[January 25]], [[1932]]
| lieutenant= [[Paul N. Cyr|Paul Narcisse Cyr]]
| predecessor= [[Oramel H. Simpson]]
| successor= [[Alvin Olin King]]
| birth_date= {{birth date|1893|8|30|mf=y}}
| birth_place= [[Winnfield, Louisiana]]
| death_date= {{death date and age|1935|9|10|1893|8|30|mf=y}}
| death_place= [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]]
| spouse= [[Rose McConnell Long|Rose McConnell]]
| alma_mater= [[Tulane University]]
| profession= [[Lawyer]], [[U.S. Senator]], [[Governor]]
| party= [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| order2= [[United States Senator]]<br>from [[Louisiana]]
| term_start2= [[January 25]], [[1932]]
| term_end2= [[August 30]], [[1935]]
| predecessor2= [[Joseph E. Ransdell]]
| successor2= [[Rose McConnell Long|Rose Long]]
|}}
'''Huey Pierce Long, Jr.''' ([[August 30]], [[1893]] – [[September 10]], [[1935]]), nicknamed '''The Kingfish''', was an [[United States|American]] [[politician]] from the [[U.S. state]] of [[Louisiana]]. A [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], he was noted for his [[Radicalism (historical)|radical]] [[populism|populist]] policies. He served as [[Governor of Louisiana]] from 1928 to 1932 and as a [[United States Senate|U.S. senator]] from 1932 to 1935. Though a backer of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1932|1932 presidential election]], Long split with Roosevelt in June 1933 and allegedly planned to mount his own presidential bid.
Long created the [[Share Our Wealth]] program in 1934, with the motto "[[Every Man a King]]," proposing new [[wealth redistribution]] measures in the form of a [[wealth tax|net asset tax]] on large corporations and individuals of great wealth to curb the [[poverty]] and [[crime]] resulting from the [[Great Depression]]. He was an ardent critic of the [[Federal Reserve System]].
Charismatic and immensely popular for his [[social reform]] programs and willingness to take forceful action, Long was accused by his opponents of [[dictator]]ial tendencies for his near-total control of the state government. At the height of his popularity, the colorful and flamboyant Long was shot on [[September 8]], [[1935]], at the [[Louisiana State Capitol]] in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge]]; he died two days later at the age of 42. His last words were reportedly, "God, don't let me die. I have so much left to do." <ref>{{cite book |last= Williams |first= T. Harry |title= Huey Long |year= 1969 |publisher= Vingtage Books, Random House |pages= 876 }}</ref>
==Early life and legal career==
Long was born on [[August 30]], [[1893]], in [[Winnfield, Louisiana|Winnfield]], the seat of [[Winn Parish, Louisiana|Winn Parish]], a rural community in the north-central part of the state. He was the son of Huey Pierce Long, Sr. (1852-1937), and the former Caledonia Palestine Tyson ([[1860]]-[[1913]]) of [[French People|French]] descent, who was born near the Tyson Cemetery in [[Grant Parish]]. Long was the seventh of nine children in a farm-owning [[middle class|middle-class]] family. He attended local schools, where he was an excellent student and was said to have a [[photographic memory]]. In 1908, Long circulated a petition asking that the principal of Winn Parish be fired. He was then expelled from school. <ref>[http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=54906 Huey Long, everything2 Website], accessed 18 Jan 2008</ref> After Long's mother died, his father remarried.
Long won a debating scholarship to [[Louisiana State University]], but he was unable to afford the textbooks required for attendance. Instead, he spent the next four years as a [[traveling salesman]], selling books, [[tin can|canned goods]] and [[patent medicine]]s, as well as working as an [[auctioneer]].
In 1913, Huey Long married Rose McConnell. She was a [[stenographer]] who had won a baking contest which he promoted to sell "[[Cottolene]]," one of the most popular of the early vegetable shortenings to come on the market. The Longs had a daughter, also named Rose, and two sons, [[Russell B. Long|Russell]] and Palmer.
When sales jobs grew scarce during [[World War I]], Long attended seminary classes at [[Oklahoma Baptist University]] at the urging of his mother, a devout [[Baptist]]. However, he concluded he was not suited to preaching.
Long briefly attended the [[University of Oklahoma College of Law|University of Oklahoma School of Law]] in [[Norman, Oklahoma]], and later [[Tulane University Law School]] in [[New Orleans]]. In 1915, he convinced a board to let him take the [[bar exam]] after only a year at Tulane. He passed and began private practice in [[Winnfield, Louisiana|Winnfield]]. Later in [[Shreveport, Louisiana|Shreveport]] he spent 10 years representing small plaintiffs against large businesses, including [[workers' compensation]] cases. He often said proudly that he never took a case against a poor man.
Long won fame by taking on the powerful [[Standard Oil]] Company, which he sued for unfair business practices. Over the course of his career, Long continued to challenge Standard Oil's influence in state politics and charged the company with exploiting the state's vast oil and gas resources.
==Political career and rise to power==
In 1918 Long was elected to the [[Louisiana Public Service Commission|Louisiana Railroad Commission]] at the age of twenty-five on an anti-[[Standard Oil]] platform. (The commission was renamed the [[Louisiana Public Service Commission]] in 1921.) His campaign for the Railroad Commission used techniques he would perfect later in his political career: heavy use of printed circulars and posters, an exhausting schedule of personal campaign stops throughout rural Louisiana, and vehement attacks on his opponents. He used his position on the commission to enhance his populist reputation as an opponent of large oil and utility companies, fighting against rate increases and pipeline monopolies. In the [[Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1920|gubernatorial election of 1920]], he campaigned prominently for [[John M. Parker]], but later became his vocal opponent after the new governor proved to be insufficiently committed to reform; Long called Parker the “chattel” of the corporations.
As chairman of the Public Service Commission in 1922, Long won a lawsuit against the Cumberland Telephone Company for unfair rate increases, resulting in cash refunds of $440,000 to 80,000 overcharged customers. Long successfully argued the case on appeal before the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]], prompting Chief Justice [[William Howard Taft]] to describe Long as one of the best legal minds he had ever encountered.
=== Election of 1924 ===
Long ran for governor of Louisiana in the [[Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1924|election of 1924]], attacking Parker, [[Standard Oil]] and the established political hierarchy both local and state-wide. In that campaign, he became one of the first [[Southern United States|Southern]] politicians to use radio addresses and sound trucks. Long also began wearing a distinctive white linen suit. He came in third, due perhaps in part to his unwillingness to take a stand either for or against the [[Ku Klux Klan]], whose prominence in Louisiana had become the primary issue of the campaign. Long cited rain on election day as suppressing voter turnout in rural north Louisiana, where voters were unable to reach the polls on dirt roads that had turned to mud. Instead, he was reelected to the Public Service Commission.
=== Election of 1928 ===
Long spent the intervening four years building his reputation and his political organization, including supporting [[Catholic]] candidates to build support in south Louisiana, which was heavily Catholic due to its French and Spanish heritage. In [[Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1928|1928 he again ran for governor]], campaigning with the slogan, "Every man a king, but no one wears a crown," a phrase adopted from [[populism|populist]] presidential candidate [[William Jennings Bryan]]. <ref>[http://www.hueylong.com/life-times/campaign-governor.php Campaign for Governor] (on Huey Long official website)</ref> Long's attacks on the utilities industry and corporate privileges were enormously popular, as was his depiction of the wealthy as "parasites" who grabbed more than their fair share of the public wealth while marginalizing the poor.
Long crisscrossed the state, campaigning in rural areas disfranchised by the New Orleans-based political establishment, known as the "Old Regulars." They controlled the state through alliances with sheriffs and other local officials. At the time, the entire state had roughly 500 km (300 miles) of paved roads and only three major bridges. The [[literacy|illiteracy]] rate was the highest in the nation (25 percent), as most families could not afford to purchase the textbooks required for their children to attend school. A [[poll tax]] hindered poor whites from voting. Together with selective application of literacy and understanding tests, however, African Americans had been effectively completely disfranchised since soon after the state legislature passed the new constitution in 1898.
Long won in 1928 by tapping into the class resentment of rural Louisianans and by giving them hope for a better future. He proposed government services long ignored by Louisiana's traditional political leaders. Long won by the largest margin in [[Louisiana]] history, 126,842 votes compared with 81,747 for [[Riley J. Wilson]] and 80,326 for [[Oramel H. Simpson]]. Long's support bridged the traditional north-south, Protestant-Catholic divide in Louisiana politics, and replaced it with a class-based schism between poor farmers and the wealthy planters, businessmen and [[Political machine|machine politicians]] who supported his opponents.
==Long as governor, 1928-1932==
As governor, Long inherited a dysfunctional system of government tainted by [[influence peddling]]. Corporations often wrote the laws governing their practices and rewarded part-time legislators and other officials with jobs and bribes. Long moved quickly to consolidate his power, firing hundreds of opponents in the state bureaucracy, at all ranks from [[cabinet]]-level heads of departments and board members to rank-and-file civil servants and 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 his or her salary directly into Long’s political war-chest. These funds were kept in a famous locked “deduct box” to be used at Long's discretion for political purposes.
Once his control over the state’s political apparatus was strengthened, Long pushed a number of bills through the 1928 session of the [[Louisiana State Legislature]] to fulfill campaign promises. These included a free textbook program for schoolchildren, an idea advanced by [[John Sparks Patton]], the [[Claiborne Parish]] school superintendent. Long also supported night courses for adult literacy and a supply of cheap natural gas for the city of New Orleans.
Long began an unprecedented public works program, building roads, bridges, hospitals and educational institutions. His bills met opposition from many legislators 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 [[Louisiana House of Representatives|House]] and [[Louisiana Senate|Senate]] or in House committees, corralling reluctant representatives and state senators and bullying opponents. These tactics were unprecedented, but they resulted in the passage of most of Long’s legislative agenda. By delivering on his campaign promises, Long achieved hero status among the state's majority rural poor population.
When Long secured passage of his free textbook program, the school board of [[Caddo Parish, Louisiana|Caddo Parish]] (home of conservative [[Shreveport, Louisiana|Shreveport]]), sued to prevent the books from being distributed, saying they would not accept "charity" from the state. Long responded by withholding authorization for locating an [[Barksdale Air Force Base|Army Air Force base]] nearby until the parish accepted the books.
== 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 [[petroleum|oil]], to help fund his social programs. The bill met with fierce opposition from the state’s oil interests. Opponents in the legislature, led by freshman [[Cecil Morgan]] of Shreveport, moved to [[impeach]] Long on charges ranging from [[blasphemy]] to corruption, [[bribery]], and misuse of state funds. Long tried to cut the session short, but after an infamous brawl that spilled across the State Legislature on what was known as "[[Bloody Monday (Louisiana)|Bloody Monday]]," the Legislature voted to remain in session and proceed with the impeachment.
Long took his case to the people, using his trademark printed circulars and a speaking tour around the state to argue that the impeachment was an attempt by Standard Oil and other corporate interests to prevent his social programs from being carried out. The [[Louisiana House of Representatives|House]] passed several of the charges. Once the trial began in the [[Louisiana Senate|Senate]], Long produced the “Round Robin,” a document signed by more than one-third of the state senators, stating that they would vote "not guilty" no matter what the evidence. They believed the charges did not merit removal from office and they considered the trial to be unconstitutional. With the two-thirds majority required to convict impossible to achieve, Long’s opponents halted the proceedings. Long later rewarded the Round Robin signers with state jobs or other favors; some were alleged to have been paid in cash.<ref>{{cite book |last= White |first= Richard D., Jr. |title= Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long |year= 2006 |publisher= Random House |pages= 88-89 }}</ref>
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. "I used to get things done by saying please," said Long. "Now I dynamite them out of my path." Since the state’s newspapers were financed by the opposition, in March 1930 Long founded his own paper, the ''Louisiana Progress'', which he used to broadcast achievements and denounce his enemies. 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.
== 1930: Defeat in the Legislature, campaign for U.S. Senate ==
In the 1930 legislative session, Long proposed another major road-building initiative as well as construction of a [[Louisiana State Capitol|new capitol building]] in [[Baton Rouge]]. The [[Louisiana State Legislature|State Legislature]] defeated the bond issue necessary to build the roads, and his other initiatives failed as well.
Long responded by suddenly announcing his intention to run for the federal [[U.S. Senate]] in the Democratic primary of [[September 9]], 1930. 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. Long defeated incumbent Senator [[Joseph E. Ransdell]], an [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] native from [[Lake Providence, Louisiana|Lake Providence]] in [[East Carroll Parish]] in far northeastern Louisiana, by 149,640 (57.3 percent) to 111,451 (42.7 percent).
Despite having been elected to the Senate for the 1931 session, Long intended to fill out his term as governor until 1932. Leaving the seat vacant for so long would not hurt Louisiana, Long said; "with Ransdell as Senator, the seat was vacant anyway." By delaying his resignation as governor, Long prevented Lieutenant Governor [[Paul N. Cyr]], from succeeding to the top position. A [[dentist]] from [[Jeanerette, Louisiana|Jeanerette]] in [[Iberia Parish]], Cyr was an early ally with whom Long had since feuded.
== 1930-1932: Renewed strength ==
Having won the overwhelming support of the Louisiana electorate, Long returned to pushing his legislative program with renewed strength. Bargaining from an advantageous position, Long entered an agreement with his longtime [[New Orleans]] rivals, the [[Regular Democratic Organization]] and their leader, [[Mayor of New Orleans|New Orleans mayor]] [[T. Semmes Walmsley]]. They would support his legislation and his candidates in future elections in return for his supporting [[Huey P. Long Bridge (Jefferson Parish)|a bridge over the Mississippi River]], an airport for New Orleans, and money for infrastructure improvements in the city. Support from the Old Regulars enabled Long to pass an increase in the [[gasoline tax]], new school spending, a bill to finance the construction of a new [[Louisiana State Capitol]] and a $75 million bond for road construction. 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 helped form the state's highway system. Long's opponents charged that Long had concentrated political power in his own hands to the point where he had become a virtual [[dictator]] of the [[U.S. state|state]].
Long retained the [[architect]] [[Leon C. Weiss]] of [[New Orleans]] to design the capitol, a new governor's mansion, Charity Hospital in New Orleans, and many [[Louisiana State University]] and other college buildings throughout the state.
As governor, Long was not popular among the "old families" of Baton Rouge society. He instead held gatherings of his leaders and friends from across the state. At these gatherings, Long and his group liked to listen to the popular radio show "[[Amos 'n' Andy]]." One of Long's followers dubbed him the "Kingfish" after the leader of the Mystic Knights of the Sea lodge to which Amos and Andy belonged. Other accounts claim Long gave the nickname to himself. During an argument, Long shouted down everyone by yelling, "Shut up, you sons of bitches, shut up! This is the Kingfish talking!".<ref>{{cite book |last= Williams |first= T. Harry |title= Huey Long |year= 1969 |publisher= Vingtage Books, Random House |pages= 312-313 }}</ref>
As governor, Long became an ardent supporter of [[Louisiana State University]](LSU), the state's primary public university in [[Baton Rouge]]. He greatly increased LSU funding and expanded its enrollment from 1,600 to 4,000. Long instituted work-scholarship programs that enabled poor students to attend LSU, and he established the [[Louisiana State University School of Medicine|LSU Medical School]] in New Orleans. He also intervened in the university's affairs, choosing its president.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} Long conducted music for [[Louisiana State University Tiger Marching Band|LSU's band]] played during the football games.<ref name = Winnebago>[http://www.redshtickmagazine.com/article469.html Antonio Winnebago, "The History of LSU Football: Part One", ''Red Shtick Magazine'']</ref> Once, he had the football team run a play he created.<ref name = Winnebago/>
In October 1931, Lieutenant Governor Cyr, by then an avowed enemy of Long, argued that the senator-elect could no longer remain governor. Cyr declared himself to be the legitimate governor. In response Long surrounded the State Capitol with [[Louisiana Army National Guard|state National Guard]] troops and fended off the illegal "[[coup d'état]]".
Long 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. Under the [[Louisiana Constitution|state constitution]], [[Louisiana Senate|Senate]] president and Long ally [[Alvin Olin King]] became lieutenant-governor.<ref>{{cite book |last= Hair |first= William Ivy |title= The Kingfish and His Realm: The Life and Times of Huey P. Long |year= 1991 |publisher= Louisiana State University Press |pages= 221-222 }}</ref>
Long chose his childhood friend [[Oscar K. Allen|Oscar Kelly Allen]] as the candidate to succeed him in the [[Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1932|election of 1932]] on a “Complete the Work” ticket. With the support of Long's own voter base and the Old Regular machine, Allen won easily. With his loyal succession assured, Long finally resigned as governor and took his seat in the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] in January 1932.
== Long in the Senate, 1932-35 ==
Long arrived in [[Washington, D.C.]], to take his seat in the [[U.S. Senate]] in January 1932, although he was absent for more than half the days in the 1932 session, having to commute to and from Louisiana. With the backdrop of the [[Great Depression]], he made characteristically fiery speeches which 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 Senate Democratic Leader [[Joseph Robinson]] of [[Arkansas]] for his apparent closeness with President [[Herbert Hoover]]. Robinson had been the vice-presidential candidate in 1928 on the Democratic ticket opposite Hoover and his running-mate, Senator [[Charles Curtis]] of [[Kansas]].
In the [[United States presidential election, 1932|presidential election of 1932]], Long became a vocal supporter of the candidacy of [[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 necessary to end the Great Depression. At the [[Democratic National Convention]], Long was instrumental in keeping the delegations of several wavering states in the Roosevelt camp. Long expected to be featured prominently in Roosevelt's campaign, but he was disappointed with a speaking tour limited to four [[Midwestern]] states.
Long managed to find other venues for his populist message. He campaigned to elect [[Hattie Caraway]], the underdog candidate of Arkansas, to her first full term in the Senate by conducting a whirlwind, seven-day tour of that state. He raised his national prominence and defeated the candidate backed by Senator Robinson. With Long's help, Caraway became the first woman elected to the [[U.S. Senate]]. 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 while he was in Arkansas.{{Fact|17 Mar 2008|date=March 2008}}
After Roosevelt's election, Long soon broke with the new President. Aware that Roosevelt had no intention to radically redistribute the country's wealth, Long became one of the only 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 sometimes supported Roosevelt's programs in the Senate, saying that "[W]henever 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<ref>Quoted by [[Chip Berlet]], and Matthew N. Lyons, ''Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort'', Guilford Publications, 2000, p.126</ref>." He opposed the [[National Recovery Act]], calling it a sellout to big business. In 1933, he was a leader of a three-week Senate [[filibuster]] against the [[Glass-Steagall Banking Act]].
Roosevelt considered Long a radical demagogue. The president privately said of Long that along with General [[Douglas MacArthur]], "[H]e was one of the two most dangerous men in America." {{Fact| 18 Mar 2008|date=March 2008}} Roosevelt later compared Long to [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Benito Mussolini]]. In June 1933, in an effort to undermine Long's political dominance, Roosevelt cut Long out of consultation on the distribution of federal funds or patronage in [[Louisiana]]. 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; however, the inquiry came up empty, and Overton was seated.
To discredit Long and damage his support base, in 1934 Roosevelt had Long’s finances investigated by the [[Internal Revenue Service]]. Though they failed to link Long to any illegality, some of Long’s lieutenants were charged with income tax evasion, but only one had been convicted by the time of Long’s death.
Long’s radical rhetoric and his aggressive tactics 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. During one debate, another senator told Long, “I do not believe you could get the Lord’s Prayer endorsed in this body.” {{Fact|18 Mar 2008|date=March 2008}}
In terms of foreign policy, Long was a firm isolationist. He argued that America’s involvement in the [[Spanish-American War]] and the [[First World War]] had been deadly mistakes conducted on behalf of [[Wall Street]]. He also opposed American entry into the [[World Court]].
=== Share Our Wealth ===
{{Refimprove|section|date=December 2007}}
Long was a staunch opponent of the [[Federal Reserve]] Bank. Together with a group of Congressmen and Senators, Long believed the Federal Reserve's policies to be the true cause of the [[Great Depression]]. Long made speeches denouncing the large banking houses of Morgan and Rockefeller centered in New York which owned stock in the [[Federal Reserve System]]. He believed that they controlled the monetary system to their own benefit, instead of the general public's benefit.{{Fact|date=December 2007}}
As an alternative, Long proposed federal legislation capping personal fortunes, income and inheritances. He used radio broadcasts and founded a national newspaper, the ''American Progress'', to promote his ideas and accomplishments before a national audience. In 1934, he unveiled an economic plan he called [[Share Our Wealth]]. Long argued there was enough wealth in the country for every individual to enjoy a comfortable [[standard of living]], but that it was unfairly concentrated in the hands of a few millionaire bankers, businessmen and industrialists.
Long proposed a new [[progressive tax]] code designed to limit the size of personal fortunes. The new tax code would tax the first million dollars of income at the existing rates. The second million dollars would be taxed at 1%. The third million at 2%; the fourth million at 4%; the fifth million at 8%; the sixth million at 16%; the seventh million at 32%; the eighth million at 64%; and the remainder at 100%. <ref>[http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/hueyplongshare.htm Huey P. Long, "Share Our Wealth", American Rhetoric: 100 Top Speeches], accessed 18 Mar 2008</ref>
The resulting funds would be used to guarantee every family a basic household grant of $5,000 and a minimum annual income of $2,000-3,000 (or one-third the average family income). Long supplemented his plan with proposals for free primary and college education, old-age pensions, veterans' benefits, federal assistance to farmers, public works projects, and limiting the work week to thirty hours.
Denying that his program was [[socialism|socialistic]], Long stated that his ideological inspiration for the plan came not from [[Karl Marx]] but from the [[Bible]] and the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]. “[[Communism]]? Hell no!” he said, “This plan is the only defense this country’s got against communism.”{{Fact|18 Mar 2008|date=March 2008}} 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.
Long believed that only a radical restructuring of the national economy and elimination of disparities of wealth, while retaining the essential features of the [[capitalism|capitalist]] system, would end the Great Depression and stave off violent revolution. After the Senate rejected one of his wealth redistribution bills, Long told them, "[A] mob is coming to hang the other ninety-five of you damn scoundrels and I'm undecided whether to stick here with you or go out and lead them."
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. Some historians believe that pressure from Long and his organization contributed to Roosevelt's "turn to the left" in 1935. He enacted the [[New Deal#Second New Deal|Second New Deal]], including the [[Works Progress Administration]] and [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]]. In private, Roosevelt candidly admitted to trying to “steal Long’s thunder.”{{Fact|18 Mar 2008|date=March 2008}}
== Continued control over Louisiana, 1932-1935 ==
Long continued to maintain effective control of [[Louisiana]] while he was a senator, blurring the boundary between federal and state politics. 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 made frequent trips to [[Baton Rouge]] to pressure the Legislature into enacting his legislation. The program included new consumer taxes, elimination of the [[poll tax]], a homestead exemption, and increases in the number of state employees.
His loyal lieutenant, Governor [[Oscar K. Allen]], dutifully followed Long’s policy proposals. Long was known to berate the governor in public and take over the governor’s office in the State Capitol when he was visiting Baton Rouge. Having broken with the [[Regular Democratic Organization|Old Regulars]] and [[T. Semmes Walmsley]] in the fall of 1933, Long inserted himself into the [[New Orleans]] mayoral election of 1934 and began a [[T. Semmes Walmsley#Walmsley and Huey Long|dramatic public feud]] with the city’s government that lasted for two years.
Huey Long and [[James A. Noe]], an independent oilman and member of the [[Louisiana Senate]], formed the controversial Win or Lose Oil Company. The firm was established to obtain leases on state-owned lands so that the 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, using the funds primarily for political purposes.
By 1934 Long began a reorganization of the state government that all but abolished local governments in [[New Orleans]], [[Baton Rouge]] and [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]. It further gave the governor the power to appoint all state employees. Long passed what he called “a tax on lying” and a 2% tax on newspaper advertising revenue. He created the Bureau of Criminal Identification, a special force of plainclothes police answerable only to the governor. He also had the legislature enact the same tax on refined oil that had nearly gotten him impeached in 1929. After [[Standard Oil]] agreed that 80% of the oil sent to its refineries would be drilled in Louisiana, Long had the government refund most of the money.
== 1935: Long's final year ==
=== Presidential ambitions ===
Even during his days as a traveling salesman, Long confided to his wife that his planned career trajectory would begin with election to a minor state office, then governor, then senator, and ultimately election as [[President of the United States]]. In his final months, Long wrote a second book entitled ''[[My First Days in the White House]]'', laying out his plans for the presidency after the [[United States presidential election, 1936|election of 1936]]. The book was published posthumously.
According to Long biographers [[T. Harry Williams]] and [[William Ivy Hair]], the senator never intended to run for the presidency in 1936. Long instead 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 (United States)|third party]] using the Share Our Wealth plan as a basis for its program. He also planned to use Father [[Charles Coughlin]], a [[Catholic]] priest and populist talk radio personality from [[Royal Oak, Michigan]]; [[Iowa]] agrarian radical [[Milo Reno]]; and other dissidents. The new party would run someone else as its 1936 candidate, but Long would be the primary campaigner. This candidate would split the progressive vote with Roosevelt, thereby resulting in the election of a Republican as president but proving the electoral appeal of [[Share Our Wealth]]. Long would then run for president as a Democrat in 1940. In the spring of 1935, Long undertook a national speaking tour and regular radio appearances, attracting large crowds and increasing his stature.
=== Increased tensions in Louisiana ===
By 1935, Long’s most recent consolidation of personal power led to talk of armed opposition from his enemies. Opponents increasingly invoked the memory of the [[Battle of Liberty Place]] of 1874, in which the [[white supremacist]] [[White League]] staged an uprising against Louisiana’s [[Reconstruction era of the United States|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, two hundred armed Square Dealers took over the courthouse of [[East Baton Rouge Parish]]. Long had Governor Allen call out the [[Louisiana Army National Guard|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 powers of the [[mayor of New Orleans]]. Long boasted that he had "taken over every board and commission in New Orleans except the [[Community Chest (organization)|Community Chest]] and the [[Red Cross]]."{{Fact|18 Mar 2008|date=March 2008}}
=== Assassination ===
In July 1935, two months prior to his death, Long claimed that he had uncovered a plot to assassinate him, which had been discussed in a meeting at [[New Orleans]]’s DeSoto Hotel. According to Long, four U.S. representatives, Mayor Walmsley, and former governors Parker and Sanders had been present. Long read what he claimed was a transcript of a recording of this meeting on the floor of the [[U.S. Senate|Senate]]. <ref>[http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAlongH.htm USA History: Huey P. Long, Spartacus Website], accessed 18 Mar 2008</ref>
Long called for a third special session of the [[Louisiana State Legislature]] to begin in September 1935, and he traveled from Washington to [[Baton Rouge]] to oversee its progress. Although accounts of the [[September 8]], [[1935]] murder differ, most believe that Long was shot once or twice by medical doctor [[Carl Weiss|Carl Austin Weiss]] in the [[Louisiana State Capitol|Capitol building]] at [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge]]. Weiss was immediately shot more than fifty times by Long's [[bodyguard]]s and police on the scene. The 28-year-old Dr. Weiss was the son-in-law of [[Judge]] [[Benjamin Pavy|Benjamin Henry Pavy]]. According to Mrs. Ida Catherine Pavy Boudreaux of [[Opelousas, Louisiana|Opelousas]], Pavy's only surviving child, her father had been [[Gerrymandering|gerrymandered]] out of his Sixteenth Judicial District because of his opposition to Long.
Shortly after being shot, the expiring Long reportedly said, "I wonder why he shot me."<ref>{{cite book |last= Williams |first= T. Harry |title= Huey Long |year= 1969 |publisher= Vingtage Books, Random House |pages= 866 }}</ref> Long died two days later of internal bleeding, following Dr. [[Arthur Vidrine]]'s attempt to close the wounds.
An alternative theory suggests that Weiss was unarmed and had punched Long, not shot him. Instead, Senator Long was struck by a stray bullet from his bodyguards, who shot Weiss because they mistakenly believed that Weiss was going to shoot Long.<ref>{{cite book |last= Grevemberg |first= Francis C. |title= My Wars: Nazis, Mobsters, Gambling, and Corruption |year= 2004 |publisher= Beau Bayou Publishing |pages= 119-126 }}</ref> Former Louisiana state police superintendent [[Francis Grevemberg]] supports this view of the shooting.
An entourage arrived to wait out the last minutes of Long's life. Among those mourners was his staunch Caddo Parish ally [[Earl Williamson]], who remained steadfast with the Longs through the turbulent era of his brother-successor, Earl Long. As times passed though, even allies like Earl Williamson began to exercise independent judgment.
===Funeral===
Long's body was dressed in a tuxedo and his open copper-lined casket was placed in state in the State Capitol rotunda. An estimated 100,000 people filed past the casket. [http://www.hueylong.com/life-times/assassination.php Tens of thousands of Louisianans crowded in front of the Capitol] on September 10, 1935 for the 4 p.m. funeral handled by Merle Welsh of [http://www.rabenhorst.com Rabenhorst Funeral Home].<ref name=funeral> Reed, Ed. ''Requiem for a Kingfish'' Baton Rouge:Award Publications, 1986.</ref> Welsh remembered that flowers came from all over the world and extended from the House of Representatives to the Senate chamber.<ref name=funeral/> Airline Highway between New Orleans and Baton Rouge was jammed bumper-to-bumper. The minister at the funeral service was [[Gerald L. K. Smith]], co-founder of [[Share Our Wealth]] and subsequently of the [[America First Party (1944)|America First Party]]. Newsreel cameras clicked while airplanes circled overhead to record the service for posterity.<ref name=funeral/> Long was buried on the grounds of the new [[Louisiana State Capitol|State Capitol]] which he championed as governor, where a statue at his gravesite now depicts his achievements. Within the Capitol, a plaque still marks the site of the assassination in the hallway near what is now the Speaker's office and what was then the Governor's office.
== Legacy ==
In his four-year term as [[Governor of Louisiana|governor]], Long increased the mileage of paved highways in Louisiana from 331 to 2,301, plus an additional {{convert|2816|mi|km|0}} of gravel roads. By 1936, the infrastructure program begun by Long had completed some {{convert|9000|mi|km|-2}} 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 lower [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]], the [[Huey P. Long Bridge (Jefferson Parish)|Huey P. Long Bridge]] in [[Jefferson Parish]], near New Orleans. He built the new [[Louisiana State Capitol]], at the time the tallest building in the South. All of these public works projects provided thousands of much-needed jobs during the [[Great Depression]]. (Long, however, disapproved of welfare and unemployment payments. Such programs in Louisiana during his tenure were Federal in origin.)
Long's free textbooks, school-building program, and free busing improved and expanded the public education system. His night schools taught 100,000 adults to read. He greatly expanded funding for LSU, lowered tuition, established scholarships for low-income students, and founded the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans. He also doubled funding for the public Charity Hospital System, built a new Charity Hospital building for New Orleans, and reformed and increased funding for the state's mental institutions. His administration funded the piping of natural gas to New Orleans and other cities. It built the 11-kilometer (seven-mile) [[Lake Pontchartrain]] [[seawall]] and New Orleans airport. Long slashed personal property taxes and reduced utility rates. His repeal of the poll tax in 1935 increased voter registration by 76 percent in one year.
After Long’s death, the political machine he had built up was weakened, but it remained a powerful force in state politics until the [[Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1959-60|election of 1960]]. The Long platform of social programs and populist rhetoric created the state’s main political division; in every state election until 1960, the main factions were organized along pro-Long and anti-Long lines. Even today in Louisiana, opinions on Long are sharply divided. Some remember Long as a popular folk hero, while others revile him as an unscrupulous demagogue and dictator. 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. His brother [[Earl Kemp Long]] later inherited Long’s political machine. Using his platform and rhetorical style, Long was twice elected governor and served an unexpired term as well.
After Earl Long’s death, [[John McKeithen]] and [[Edwin Edwards]] appeared as heirs to the Long tradition. Most recently, [[Claude "Buddy" Leach]] ran a populist campaign in the [[Louisiana gubernatorial election, 2003|Louisiana gubernatorial election of 2003]] that some observers compared to Huey Long’s. [[Louisiana Public Service Commission]]er [[Foster Campbell]] tried the same approach without success in the [[2007]] [[jungle primary]].
Huey Long’s death did not end the political strength of the Long family. Huey Long's wife, [[Rose McConnell Long]], was appointed to replace him in the Senate, and his son [[Russell B. Long]] was elected to the Senate in [[1948]], where he was re-elected to office until [[1987]]. In addition to Huey's brother Earl Long's becoming governor, another brother, [[George S. Long]], was elected to Congress in [[1952]]. Long's younger sister, Lucille Long Hunt ([[1898]]-[[1985]]) of [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], was the mother of future Public Service Commissioner [[John S. Hunt, III]] ([[1928]]-[[2001]]), of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]].
Other more distant relatives, including [[Gillis William Long]] and [[Speedy O. Long]] (both now deceased) were elected to [[U.S. Congress|Congress]]. [[Jimmy D. Long]] of [[Natchitoches Parish]] served for years in the Legislature. Jimmy Long's younger brother [[Gerald Long]] is unique among the Long's: the only current Long in public office and the first [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] among the Long Democratic dynasty. [[Floyd W. Smith, Jr.]], is a self-described "half Long" who is a former mayor of [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]].
Candidate [[Jerry Voorhis]] compared his opponent [[Richard M. Nixon]] to Huey Long in his 1946 California race for the [[U.S. House of Representatives]]. Nixon described Huey Long as an American folk hero in a later conversation with [[H.R. Haldeman]].
Two bridges crossing the [[Mississippi River]] have been named for Long: [[Huey P. Long Bridge (Baton Rouge)]] and [[Huey P. Long Bridge (Jefferson Parish)]]. There is also a Huey P. Long Hospital in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]] across the [[Red River of the South|Red River]] from [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]].
===Influence in books and culture===
Long's first autobiography, ''Every Man a King,'' was published in 1933 and priced to be affordable by poor Americans. Long laid out his plan to redistribute the nation's wealth. His second book, ''[[My First Days in the White House]],'' was published posthumously. In it he laid out his presidential ambitions for the election of 1936 [3].
Long was the inspiration for [[Robert Penn Warren|Robert Penn Warren's]] 1946 [[Pulitzer Prize for the Novel|Pulitzer Prize-winning]] novel ''[[All the King's Men]]''.<ref>Nelson, Randy F. ''The Almanac of American Letters''. Los Altos, California: William Kaufmann, Inc., 1981: 200. ISBN 086576008X</ref> In it he charted the corruption of an idealistic politician [[Willie Talos]] (renamed [[Willie Stark]] for the film versions of the books). Warren did not encourage an association of his character with Long, stating to interviewer Charles Bohner in 1964, "Willie Stark was not Huey Long. Willie was only himself, whatever that self turned out to be." {{Fact|date=January 2007}} The novel was the basis of two motion pictures: the [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]-winning [[All the King's Men (1949 film)|1949 film]] and a more recent [[All the King's Men (2006 film)|2006 film]].
Long appeared to inspire several fiction writers. In his 1935 novel ''[[It Can't Happen Here]]'', Sinclair Lewis created a made-in-America dictator. Buzz Windrip ("The Chief") becomes president on a strongly populist platform that turns into home-grown American [[fascism]]. (Windrip is often assumed to be based on either Long or [[Gerald B. Winrod]].) This is also the case in [[Bruce Sterling]]'s ''[[Distraction (novel)|Distraction]]'' featuring a colorful and dictatorial Louisiana governor named "Green Huey". [[Harry Turtledove]]'s ''[[American Empire (Harry Turtledove)|American Empire]]'' trilogy drew parallels between [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] President [[Characters in the Southern Victory series#Jake Featherston|Jake Featherston]]'s populist, dictatorial style of rule and Huey Long's governorship of Louisiana. In this trilogy, Long was assassinated on orders from Featherston when he refused to side with the Confederate ruling party (though several years later than in reality).
The life of Long has held continuing fascination. In 1970 T. Harry Williams' won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography|Pulitzer Prize]] for his biography ''[[Huey Long]]''. In 1985 [[Ken Burns]] made a [[Huey Long (documentary)|documentary]] about Long. Two [[Television movie|made-for-tv]] [[docudrama]]s about him have also been produced: ''The Life and Assassination of the Kingfish'' (1977) and ''Kingfish'' (1995, [[Turner Network Television|TNT]]). ([[Ed Asner]] played Long in the former, and [[John Goodman]] starred in the latter).
In popular music, chronicler of American culture Randy Newman (a native Louisianan) featured Huey Long prominently, with two songs on the 1974 album ''Good Old Boys'' (Reprise). On Newman's album, the song ''Every Man a King'', originally written and recorded by Long and Castro Carazo, is followed by ''The Kingfish'' (a reference to Long's famous nickname).
== See also ==
* [[List of assassinated American politicians]]
==Footnotes==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
<references/></div>
==Bibliography==
<!-- The Library of Congress lists more than eighty publications with Huey Long as a subject. Most of the biographies and historical works in this list inevitably rework the same information and add little if anything in the way of new conclusions. The following titles are either highly regarded, standard, critical and synthetic scholarly works, or are important contemporary partisan writings of particular interest to students of politics, or are the only titles available that cover less commonly addressed aspects of Long's career. -->
* [[Garry Boulard|Boulard, Garry]]. ''Huey Long Invades New Orleans: the Siege of a City, 1934-36.'' Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Co., 1998.
* [[Alan Brinkley|Brinkley, Alan]]. ''Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression.'' New York, NY: Knopf, 1982. ISBN 0-394-52241-9
* Davis, Forrest. ''Huey Long: a Candid Biography.'' NY: Dodge Publishing Co., 1935.
* Dodd, William J. "Bill." "Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics." Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishing Co., 1991.
*Fineran, John Kingston. ''The Career of a Tinpot Napoleon, a Political Biography of Huey P. Long.'' New Orleans: J. K. Fineran, 1932.
* Hair, William Ivy. "The Kingfish and His Realm: The Life and Times of Huey P. Long." LSU Press, 1991.
* Harris, Thomas O. ''The Kingfish, Huey P. Long, Dictator.'' Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Co., 1938.
* ''Huey Pierce Long, the Martyr of the Age.'' A publication of the Louisiana State Museum. New Orleans: T. J. Moran’s Sons, 1937.
* Jeansonne, Glen (ed.). ''Huey at 100: Centennial Essays on Huey P. Long.'' Ruston, LA: McGinty Publications (for Dept. of History, Louisiana Tech University), 1995.
* Kane, Thomas Harnett. ''Louisiana Hayride: the American Rehearsal for Dictatorship, 1928-1940.'' William Morrow, 1941.
* Long, Huey P. ''Every Man a King: the Autobiography of Huey P. Long.'' New Orleans: National Book Co., 1933.
* Pavy, Donald A. ''Accident and Deception: the Huey Long Shooting.'' New Iberia: Cajun Publications, 1999.
* White, Richard D., Jr. ''Kingfish: the Reign of Huey P. Long.'' Random House, 2006.
* Williams, T. Harry. ''Huey Long.'' Knopf, 1969. (Winner of the 1970 [[Pulitzer Prize]] and the [[National Book Award]])
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*[http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/397/Default.aspx State of Louisiana - Biography]
*[http://www.hueylong.com Huey Long official Web site - Learn about his life and times, with photos, stories, and campaign memorabilia]
*[http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5109/ Listen to, and read the text of one of his Share the Wealth speeches]
*[http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/hueyplongshare.htm Text, Audio, Video of Long's Share the Wealth Address to Senate Staffers]
*[http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/hueyplongking.htm Text of Long's Every Man King Radio Address]
*[http://www.ssa.gov/history/hlong1.html Social Security Administration Bio of Huey Long]
*[http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAlongH.htm Biography with quotations]
*[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=640 Huey Long's Gravesite]
*Greg Palast, ''[http://www.gregpalast.com/bush-strafes-new-orleansrnwhere-is-our-huey-long Bush Strafes New Orleans Where is our Huey Long?]'', sept. 2 2005.
*[http://la-cemeteries.com/Governors/Long,%20Huey%20Pierce/Long,%20Huey%20Pierce.shtml Cemetery Memorial] by La-Cemeteries
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{{succession box | title=[[List of Governors of Louisiana|Governor of Louisiana]]| before=[[Oramel H. Simpson]]| after=[[Alvin Olin King]] | years=1928 – 1932}}
{{U.S. Senator box | state=Louisiana | class=2 | before=[[Joseph E. Ransdell]]| after=[[Rose McConnell Long]] | years=1932 – 1935 | alongside=[[Edwin S. Broussard]], [[John H. Overton]]}}
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