United StatesWho was Huey Long?
Huey Long (1893-1935) was a lawyer from Winnfield, Louisiana, who rose through the state's railroad and public service commission to win the governorship in 1928 with the slogan Every man a king, but no one wears a crown. As governor he expanded roads, schools and public works and survived an impeachment attempt in 1929. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1930, he backed Franklin Roosevelt in 1932 but broke with him the next year and attacked the New Deal from the left. He was shot in the Louisiana State Capitol in September 1935 while preparing a likely presidential run, and died two days later.
Political views
Raised paved highways in Louisiana from 331 to 2,301 miles and supplied free schoolbooks, which coincided with a 20 percent rise in enrollment.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSought new taxes on oil companies, notably Standard Oil, ended the poll tax and created a homestead tax exemption.
Source: 64parishes.orgProposed through Share Our Wealth to cap personal fortunes and use the proceeds for a household minimum, old-age pensions and education.
Source: voicesofdemocracy.umd.eduCalled for a pension of $30 a month for everyone over 60 and a shorter working week.
Source: voicesofdemocracy.umd.eduBroke with Roosevelt in 1933, arguing the New Deal did too little to help the poor or redistribute wealth.
Source: 64parishes.orgOpposed U.S. entry into the World Court and accused Standard Oil and Wall Street of shaping policy in Latin America.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Legacy
Supporters remember Long for roads, bridges, schools, free textbooks and adult literacy programs in one of the poorest states, and many observers believe the popularity of Share Our Wealth, which claimed 7.5 million members, pushed Roosevelt toward Social Security and the Works Progress Administration. Critics, including Roosevelt, regarded him as a dangerous demagogue. He packed state institutions with loyalists, used the courts and legislature against opponents, and once said he was the Constitution in Louisiana; contemporaries compared him to Hitler and Mussolini. State debt rose from $11 million in 1928 to $150 million by 1935. Louisiana politics divided into Long and anti-Long factions for three decades after his death.
In their words
Every man a king, so there would be no such thing as a man or woman who did not have the necessities of life, who would not be dependent upon the whims and caprices and ipse dixit of the financial martyrs for a living.