Huey Long: The Kingfish of Louisiana Politics
Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893 – September 10, 1935) was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana and as a United States senator. He rose to national prominence during the Great Depression as a left-wing populist critic of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, proposing radical wealth redistribution through his Share Our Wealth plan.
Early Life and Education
Long was born near Winnfield in north-central Louisiana on August 30, 1893, the ninth of nine children. Though he later claimed to have been born in a log cabin to an impoverished family, he actually grew up in a comfortable farmhouse in a well-off household relative to the region. Winn Parish itself was impoverished and had a strong populist tradition—in the 1912 election, Socialist candidate Eugene V. Debs received 35 percent of the vote there, a sentiment young Long absorbed.
Home-schooled until age eleven, Long proved an excellent student with a remarkable memory and skipped seventh grade. At Winnfield High School, he formed a secret society and distributed a flyer criticizing his teachers, for which he was expelled in 1910. He won a full-tuition scholarship to Louisiana State University through a state debate competition but could not attend due to lack of funds for textbooks and living expenses, and because he had not graduated from high school.
Long instead worked as a traveling salesman in the rural South. In September 1911, he attended seminary at Oklahoma Baptist University for one semester before concluding he was unsuited to preaching. He then pursued law, attending the University of Oklahoma College of Law for a semester in 1912 while continuing to work as a salesman. He later attended Louisiana State University and Tulane University before being admitted to the Louisiana bar. As an attorney, he often represented poor plaintiffs.
Career and Achievements
Long’s early political career began when he was elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission. As commissioner, he prosecuted large corporations including Standard Oil, which became a lifelong target of his rhetorical attacks. A failed 1928 gubernatorial campaign taught him to appeal directly to Louisiana’s sharp economic and class divisions, and he won the 1928 gubernatorial election.
As governor from 1928 to 1932, Long expanded social programs and organized massive public works projects, including a modern highway system and the tallest capitol building in the nation. He also proposed a cotton holiday to address agricultural distress. Through political maneuvering, he became the political boss of Louisiana. In 1929, he was impeached for abuses of power, but the proceedings collapsed in the State Senate. His opponents argued his policies and methods were unconstitutional and authoritarian.
Long was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1930 but did not assume his seat until 1932. He established himself as an isolationist, arguing that Standard Oil and Wall Street orchestrated American foreign policy. Though instrumental in securing Franklin Roosevelt’s 1932 presidential nomination, Long split with Roosevelt in 1933 and became a prominent critic of the New Deal, which he deemed insufficiently radical.
Notable Events and Milestones
In 1934, Long proposed the Share Our Wealth plan as an alternative to Roosevelt’s policies. The plan advocated massive federal spending, a wealth tax, and wealth redistribution to stimulate the economy. These proposals drew widespread support, with millions joining local Share Our Wealth clubs. Long positioned himself for a 1936 presidential bid, but his political opposition organized a minor insurrection in 1935.
On September 10, 1935, Long was assassinated by Carl Weiss inside the Louisiana State Capitol. Weiss was immediately shot and killed by Long’s bodyguards. Although Long’s movement faded after his death, Roosevelt adopted many of his proposals in the Second New Deal. Louisiana politics would be organized along anti- or pro-Long factions until the 1960s.
Additional Resources
Huey Long remains a complex and contested figure in American political history, viewed by some as a populist champion of the poor and by others as a fascistic demagogue. Readers seeking deeper understanding of his life, political philosophy, and lasting influence on American policy can find extensive biographical material and scholarly analysis through Wikipedia and other historical archives.
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