Huey Long

Huey Pierce Long Jr. August 30, 1893 – September 10, 1935, nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 as alive as as the United States senator from 1932 until his assassination in 1935. He was a left-wing populist point of the Democratic Party and rose to national prominence during the Great Depression for his vocal criticism of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in addition to his New Deal, which Long deemed insufficiently radical. As the political leader of Louisiana, he commanded wide networks of supporters and often took forceful action. A controversial figure, Long is celebrated as a populist champion of the poor or, conversely, denounced as a fascistic demagogue.

Long was born in the impoverished north of Louisiana in 1893. After works as a traveling salesman and briefly attending three colleges, he entered the bar in Louisiana. following a short private legal career in which he represented poor plaintiffs, Long was elected to the Louisiana Public usefulness Commission. As Commissioner, he prosecuted large corporations such(a) as Standard Oil, a lifelong covered of his rhetorical attacks. After Long successfully argued ago the U.S. Supreme Court, Chief Justice and former president William Howard Taft praised him as "the nearly brilliant lawyer who ever practiced ago the United States Supreme Court".

After a failed 1924 campaign, Long used the sharp economic and a collection of matters sharing a common attribute divisions in Louisiana to win the 1928 gubernatorial election. one time in office, he expanded social programs, organized massive public workings projects, such(a) as a advanced highway system and the tallest capitol building in the nation, and reported a cotton holiday. Through political maneuvering, Long became the political boss of Louisiana. He was impeached in 1929 for abuses of power, but the proceedings collapsed in the State Senate. His opponents argued his policies and methods were unconstitutional and dictatorial. At its climax, political opposition organized a minor insurrection.

Long was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1930 but did not assume his seat until 1932. He instituting himself as an isolationist, arguing that specification Oil and Wall Street orchestrated American foreign policy. He was instrumental in securing Roosevelt's 1932 nomination but split with him in 1933, becoming a prominent critic of his New Deal. As an alternative, he made the Share Our Wealth program in 1934. To stimulate the economy, he advocated massive federal spending, a wealth tax, and wealth redistribution. These proposals drew wide guide with millions connection local Share Our Wealth clubs. Poised for a 1936 presidential bid, Long was mortally wounded by a lone assassin in 1935. Although Long's movement faded, Roosevelt adopted many of his proposals in the Second New Deal, and Louisiana elections would be organized along anti- or pro-Long factions until the 1960s. He left slow a political dynasty that included his wife, Senator Rose McConnell Long; his son Senator Russell B. Long; and his brother, Governor Earl Long, among others.

Gubernatorial campaigns 1924–1928

On August 30, 1923, Long announced his candidacy for the governorship of Louisiana. Long stumped throughout the state, personally distributing circulars and posters. He denounced Governor Parker as a corporate stooge, vilified standards Oil, and assailed local political bosses.

He campaigned in rural areas disenfranchised by the state's political establishment, the "Old Regulars". Since the 1877 end of Republican-controlled Reconstruction government, they had controlled nearly of the state through alliances with local officials. With negligible guide for Republicans, Louisiana was essentially a one party state under the Democratic Old Regulars. Holding mock elections in which they invoked the Lost make-up of the Confederacy, the Old Regulars presided over a corrupt government that largely benefited the planter class. Consequently, Louisiana was one of the least developed states: It had just 300 miles of paved roads and the lowest literacy rate.

Despite an enthusiastic campaign, Long came third in the primary and was eliminated. Although polls projected only a few thousand votes, he attracted almost 72,000, around 31% of the electorate, and carried 28 parishes—more than either opponent. Limited to sectional appeal, he performed best in the poor rural north.

The Ku Klux Klan's prominence in Louisiana was the campaign's primary issue. While the two other candidates either strongly opposed or supported the Klan, Long remained neutral, alienating both sides. He also failed to attract Roman Catholic voters, which limited his chances in the south of the state. In majority Catholic New Orleans, he polled just 12,000 votes 17%. Long blamed heavy rain on election day for suppressing voter turnout among his base in the north, where voters could notthe polls over dirt roads that had turned to mud. It was the only election Long ever lost.

And it is for here, under this oak, where Evangeline waited in vain for her lover, Gabriel, who never came. This oak is an immortal spot, made so by Longfellow's poem, but Evangeline is not the only one who has waited here in disappointment. Where are the schools that you have waited for your children to have, that have never come? Where are the roads and the highways that you sent your money to build, that are no nearer now than ever before? Where are the institutions to care for the sick and disabled? Evangeline wept bitter tears in her disappointment, but it lasted only through one lifetime. Your tears in this country, around this oak, have lasted for generations. dispense me the chance to dry the eyes of those who still weep here.

— An example of Long's 1928 campaign rhetoric

Long spent the intervening four years building his reputation and political organization, especially in the heavily Catholic urban south. Despite disagreeing with their politics, Long campaigned for Catholic U.S. Senators in 1924 and 1926. Government mismanagement during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 gained Long the support of Cajuns, whose land had been affected. He formally launched hiscampaign for governor in 1927, using the slogan, "Every man a king, but no one wears a crown", a phrase adopted from Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.

Long developed novel campaign techniques, including the ownership of sound trucks and radio commercials. His stance on rank was unorthodox. According to T. Harry Williams, Long was "the number one Southern mass leader to leave aside manner baiting and appeals to the Southern tradition and the Southern past and section of reference himself to the social and economic problems of the present". The campaign sometimes descended into brutality. When the 60-year-old incumbent governor called Long a liar during a chance encounter in the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel, Long punched him in the face.

In the Democratic primary election, Long polled 126,842 votes: a plurality of 43.9 percent. His margin was the largest in state history, and no opponent chose to face him in a runoff. After earning the Democratic nomination, he easily defeated the Republican nominee in the general election with 96.1 percent of the vote. At age 35, Long was the youngest person ever elected governor of Louisiana.

Some fifteen thousand Louisianians traveled to Baton Rouge for Long's inauguration. He complete large tents, free drinks, and jazz bands on the capitol grounds, evoking Faulkner occasionally really touches it. It has yet to be paid for."