View source for Huey Long

{{Short description|American politician from Louisiana}}
{{Redirect|The Kingfish|other uses|Kingfish (disambiguation)|and|Huey Long (disambiguation)}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Huey P. Long
| image               = HueyPLongGesture.jpg<!--Do not change image without gaining talk page consensus!-->
| caption             = Long in 1935
| alt                 = Long with both arms raised while speaking
| jr/sr               = United States Senator
| state               = [[Louisiana]]
| term_start          = January 25, 1932
| term_end            = September 10, 1935
| predecessor         = [[Joseph E. Ransdell]]
| successor           = [[Rose McConnell Long]]
| order1              = 40th [[List of governors of Louisiana|Governor of Louisiana]]
| lieutenant1         = {{ubl|[[Paul N. Cyr]]|Alvin King}}
| term_start1         = May 21, 1928
| term_end1           = January 25, 1932
| predecessor1        = [[Oramel H. Simpson]]
| successor1          = [[Alvin Olin King|Alvin King]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1893|8|30}}
| birth_place         = [[Winnfield, Louisiana]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1935|9|10|1893|8|30}}
| death_place         = [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]], U.S.
| death_cause         = [[Assassination of Huey Long|Assassination]] ([[gunshot wound]])
| restingplace        = [[Louisiana State Capitol]]
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Rose McConnell Long|Rose McConnell]]|April 1913}}
| children            = 3; including [[Russell B. Long|Russell]]
| relatives           = [[Long family]]
| profession          = Politician, lawyer
| signature           = Huey Long Signature.svg
| signature_alt       = Cursive signature on ink
}}
{{Huey Long series}}
'''Huey Pierce Long Jr.''' (August 30, 1893{{spnd}}September 10, 1935), nicknamed "'''The Kingfish'''", was an American politician who served as the [[List of governors of Louisiana|40th governor of Louisiana]] from 1928 to 1932 and as a [[United States senator]] from 1932 until [[Assassination of Huey Long|his assassination]] in 1935. He was a [[Left-wing populism|left-wing populist]] member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] and rose to national prominence during the [[Great Depression]] for his vocal criticism of President [[Franklin D.&nbsp;Roosevelt]] and 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 [[Fascism|fascist]] [[demagogue]].

Long was born in the impoverished north of Louisiana in 1893. After working as a traveling salesman and briefly attending three colleges, he was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] in Louisiana. Following a short career as an attorney, in which he frequently represented poor plaintiffs, Long was elected to the [[Louisiana Public Service Commission]]. As Commissioner, he prosecuted large corporations such as [[Standard Oil]], a lifelong target of his rhetorical attacks. After Long successfully argued before the [[United States Supreme Court|U.S. Supreme Court]], [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] and former president [[William Howard Taft]] praised him as "the most brilliant lawyer who ever practiced before the United States Supreme Court".

After a failed 1924 campaign, Long appealed to the sharp economic and class divisions in Louisiana to win the [[1928 Louisiana gubernatorial election|1928 gubernatorial election]]. Once in office, he expanded social programs, organized massive public works projects, such as a modern highway system and [[Louisiana State Capitol|the tallest capitol building in the nation]], and proposed a [[Cotton-Holiday|cotton holiday]]. Through political maneuvering, Long became the [[political boss]] of Louisiana. He was [[Impeachment in the United States|impeached]] in 1929 for abuses of power, but the proceedings collapsed in the [[Louisiana State Senate|State Senate]]. His opponents argued his policies and methods were unconstitutional and authoritarian. At its climax, Long's political opposition organized a minor insurrection in 1935.

Long was [[1930 United States Senate election in Louisiana|elected to the U.S. Senate in 1930]] but did not assume his seat until 1932. He established himself as an [[United States non-interventionism|isolationist]], arguing that [[Standard 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 proposed the [[Share Our Wealth]] plan in 1934. To stimulate the economy, he advocated massive federal spending, a [[wealth tax]], and [[wealth redistribution]]. These proposals drew widespread support, with millions joining local Share Our Wealth clubs. Poised for a [[1936 United States presidential election|1936 presidential bid]], Long was assassinated by [[Carl Weiss]] inside the Louisiana State Capitol in 1935. His assassin was immediately shot and killed by Long's bodyguards. Although Long's movement faded, Roosevelt adopted many of his proposals in the [[Second New Deal]], and Louisiana politics would be organized along anti- or pro-Long factions until the 1960s. He left behind [[Long family|a political dynasty]] that included his wife, Senator [[Rose McConnell Long]]; his son, Senator [[Russell B.&nbsp;Long]]; and his brother, Governor [[Earl Long]], among others.

==Early life (1893–1915)==

===Childhood===
Huey Pierce Long Jr. was born on August 30, 1893, near [[Winnfield, Louisiana|Winnfield]], a small town in north-central [[Louisiana]], the seat of [[Winn Parish, Louisiana|Winn Parish]].<ref name=white5>[[#White|White (2006)]], p. 5.</ref> Although Long often told followers he was born in a [[Log cabin#Symbolism|log cabin]] to an impoverished family, they lived in a "comfortable" farmhouse and were well-off compared to others in Winnfield.<ref name="white5"/><ref>[[#Williams|Williams (1981) [1969]]], p. 10.</ref><ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 11.</ref> Winn Parish was impoverished, and its residents, mostly [[Southern Baptist Convention|Southern Baptists]], were often outsiders in Louisiana's political system.<ref name=white5/><ref name="Kennedy, David page 235"/> During the Civil War, Winn Parish had been a stronghold of [[Confederate States of America#Southern Unionism|Unionism]] in an otherwise [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] state. At Louisiana's 1861 convention on [[Louisiana secession|secession]], the delegate from Winn voted to remain in the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] saying: "Who wants to fight to keep the Negroes for the wealthy planters?"<ref name="heritage"/>{{efn|group=note|Long's grandfather did not fight in the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], instilling Union sympathies in his son, Huey P. Long Sr. Also a populist, Long's father said in an interview at the age of 83, "There wants to be a revolution, I tell you. I seen the domination of capital, seen it for seventy years. What do these rich folks care for the poor man? They care nothing—not for his pain, nor his sickness, nor his death&nbsp;... Maybe you're surprised to hear talk like that. Well, it was just such talk that my boy was raised under, and that I was raised under."<ref name="heritage"/>}} In the 1890s, the parish was a bastion of the [[People's Party (United States)|Populist Party]], and in the 1912 election, [[Socialist Party of America|Socialist]] presidential candidate [[Eugene V. Debs]] received 35% of the vote.<ref name="Kennedy, David page 235">[[#Kennedy|Kennedy (2005) [1999]]], p. 235.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://depts.washington.edu/moves/SP_map-votes.shtml|title=Socialist Party Votes by Counties and States 1904–1948|date=2015|website=Mapping American Social Movements through the 20th Century|publisher=[[University of Washington]]|access-date=March 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103022554/http://depts.washington.edu/moves/SP_map-votes.shtml|archive-date=November 3, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Long embraced these [[populist]] sentiments.<ref name="Kennedy, David page 236">[[#Kennedy|Kennedy (2005) [1999]]], p. 236.</ref>

One of nine children,<ref name="heritage">{{cite news |last=Hess|first=Stephen|date=August 1966|title=The Long, Long Trail|url=https://www.americanheritage.com/long-long-trail#2|work=[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]|access-date=June 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621035424/https://www.americanheritage.com/long-long-trail|archive-date=June 21, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Long was home-schooled until age eleven. In the public system, he earned a reputation as an excellent student with a remarkable memory and convinced his teachers to let him [[Grade skipping|skip]] seventh grade. 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".<ref name=white8>[[#White|White (2006)]], p. 8.</ref> The faculty learned of Long's antics and warned him to obey the school's rules. Long continued to rebel, writing and distributing a flyer that criticized his teachers and the necessity of a recently state-mandated fourth year of secondary education, for which he was expelled in 1910. Although Long successfully petitioned to fire the principal, he never returned to high school.<ref name=white8/> As a student, Long proved a capable debater. At a state debate competition in [[Baton Rouge]], he won a full-tuition scholarship to [[Louisiana State University]] (LSU).<ref name=white122123/> Because the scholarship did not cover textbooks or living expenses, his family could not afford for him to attend.<ref name=white122123>[[#White|White (2006)]], pp. 122–23.</ref> Long was also unable to attend because he did not graduate from high school.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hair|first=William Ivy|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/23731983|title=The kingfish and his realm : the life and times of Huey P. Long|date=1991|isbn=0-8071-1700-5|location=Baton Rouge|pages=39|oclc=23731983}}</ref> Instead, he entered the workforce as a [[Door-to-door|traveling salesman]] in the rural [[Southern United States|South]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Williams|first1=T. Harry|last2=Price|first2=John Milton|date=May 1970|title=The Huey P. Long Papers at Louisiana State University|journal=[[The Journal of Southern History]]|volume=36|issue=2|pages=258|doi=10.2307/2205874|jstor=2205874}}</ref>

===Education and marriage===
In September 1911, Long started attending seminary classes at [[Oklahoma Baptist University]] at the urging of his mother, a devout [[Baptist]]. Living with his brother George, Long attended for only one semester, rarely appearing at lectures. After deciding he was unsuited to preaching, Long focused on law.<ref name=white9>[[#White|White (2006)]], p. 9.</ref> Borrowing one hundred dollars from his brother (which he later lost playing roulette in [[Oklahoma City]]), he attended the [[University of Oklahoma College of Law]] for a semester in 1912.<ref name=white9/> To earn money while studying law part-time, he continued to work as a salesman. Of the four classes Long took, he received one incomplete and three C's. He later confessed he learned little because there was "too much excitement, all those gambling houses and everything".<ref name=white9/>

Long met [[Rose McConnell Long|Rose McConnell]] at a baking contest he had promoted to sell [[Cottolene]] shortening.<ref name=white10-11>[[#White|White (2006)]], pp. 10–11.</ref> The two began a two-and-a-half-year courtship and married in April 1913 at the Gayoso Hotel in [[Memphis, Tennessee]].<ref>[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], p. 50.</ref> On their wedding day, Long had no cash with him and had to borrow $10 from his fiancée to pay the [[officiant]].<ref name=white11>[[#White|White (2006)]], p. 11.</ref> Shortly after their marriage, Long revealed to his wife his aspirations to run for a statewide office, the governorship, the [[United States Senate|Senate]], and ultimately the presidency.<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 8.</ref> The Longs had a daughter named Rose (1917–2006) and two sons: [[Russell B. Long]] (1918–2003), who became a U.S. senator, and Palmer Reid Long (1921–2010), who became an oilman in [[Shreveport, Louisiana]].<ref>[[#White|White (2006)]], pp. 38, 272.</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=October 25, 2010|title=Palmer Reid Long, last child of Huey P. Long and devoted Mason|url=https://www.nola.com/news/article_5d4bfd6d-4b06-528e-b08f-32c9952aeeb2.html|work=[[The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate|The Times-Picayune]]|location=New Orleans|access-date=January 24, 2021|archive-date=February 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202041535/https://www.nola.com/news/article_5d4bfd6d-4b06-528e-b08f-32c9952aeeb2.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Long enrolled at [[Tulane University Law School]] in [[New Orleans]] in the fall of 1914.<ref name=white9-11>[[#White|White (2006)]], pp. 9–11.</ref> 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.<ref name=white11-12>[[#White|White (2006)]], pp. 11–12.</ref> According to Long: "I came out of that courtroom running for office."<ref name="FDR">{{cite news |last=Leuchtenburg|first=William E.|date=Fall 1985|title=FDR And The Kingfish|url=https://www.americanheritage.com/fdr-and-kingfish|work=[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]|access-date=June 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626100221/https://www.americanheritage.com/fdr-and-kingfish|archive-date=June 26, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Legal career (1915–1923)==
In 1915, Long established a private practice in Winnfield. He represented poor plaintiffs, usually in [[workers' compensation]] cases.<ref name=hair89/><ref name="Brinkley p 14">[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 14.</ref> Long avoided fighting in [[World War&nbsp;I]] by obtaining a draft deferment on the grounds that he was married and had a dependent child. He successfully defended from prosecution under the [[Espionage Act of 1917]] the state senator who had loaned him the money to complete his legal studies, and later claimed he did not serve because, "I was not mad at anybody over there."<ref name="FDR"/><ref name="Brinkley p 17">[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 17.</ref> In 1918, Long invested $1,050 ({{Inflation|US|1,050|1918|2020|fmt=eq}}) in a well that struck oil. The [[Standard Oil Company]] refused to accept any of the oil in its pipelines, costing Long his investment.<ref>[[#White|White (2006)]], pp. 60–61.</ref> This episode served as the catalyst for Long's lifelong hatred of Standard Oil.<ref>[[#White|White (2006)]], pp. 19, 61.</ref>
[[File:Huey Long for Railroad Commissioner.png|thumb|upright=0.8|alt=A card sporting Long's face surrounded by the text, "I respectfully ask for your vote for railroad commissioner, Huey P. Long"|Card for Long's 1918 campaign for railroad commissioner]]
That same year, Long entered the race to serve on the three-seat [[Louisiana Public Service Commission|Louisiana Railroad Commission]]. According to historian [[William Ivy Hair]], Long's political message:

<blockquote>... 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 (according to his statistics) 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&nbsp;... and elect instead true men of the people, such as [himself].<ref>[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], p. 88.</ref></blockquote>

In the Democratic primary, Long polled second behind incumbent Burk Bridges. Since no candidate garnered a majority of the votes, a [[Two-round system|run-off]] election was held, for which Long campaigned tirelessly across northern Louisiana. The race was close: Long defeated Burk by just 636 votes.<ref>[[#White|White (2006)]], pp. 47–48.</ref> Although the returns revealed wide support for Long in rural areas, he performed poorly in urban areas.<ref name=hair89>[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], p. 89.</ref> On the Commission, Long 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 Louisiana wells.<ref name=white48>[[#White|White (2006)]], p. 48.</ref><ref name="Brinkley p 18">[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 18.</ref>

In the [[1920 Louisiana gubernatorial election|gubernatorial election of 1920]], Long campaigned heavily for [[John M. Parker]]; today, he is often credited with helping Parker win northern [[parishes in Louisiana|parishes]].<ref name=white96>[[#White|White (2006)]], p. 96.</ref><ref>[[#Williams|Williams (1981) [1969]]], pp. 134–35.</ref> After Parker was elected, the two became bitter rivals. Their break was largely caused by Long's demand and Parker's refusal to declare the state's oil pipelines [[public utilities]].<ref name=white96/> Long was infuriated when Parker allowed oil companies, led by Standard Oil's legal team, to assist in writing [[severance tax]] laws. Long denounced Parker as corporate "chattel". The feud climaxed in 1921, when Parker tried unsuccessfully to have Long ousted from the commission.<ref name="Brinkley p 18"/><ref name=white96/>

By 1922, Long had become chairman of the commission, now called the "Public Service Commission".<ref name="Brinkley p 17"/><ref name=white48/> That year, Long prosecuted the Cumberland Telephone & Telegraph Company for unfair rate increases; he successfully argued the case on appeal before the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/260/212|title=Comberland [''sic''] Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Louisiana Public Service Commission et al.|website=[[Legal Information Institute]]|publisher=[[Cornell University]]|access-date=February 27, 2021|archive-date=November 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129153715/https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/260/212|url-status=live}}</ref> which resulted in cash refunds <!--totaling $440,000 ({{Inflation|US|440,000|1922|2019|fmt=eq}}) to 80,000 overcharged-->to thousands of overcharged customers.<ref name="sleazy">{{cite magazine|last=Kolbert|first=Elizabeth|date=June 5, 2006|title=The Big Sleazy|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/06/12/the-big-sleazy|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=July 21, 2020|archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200231/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/06/12/the-big-sleazy|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> After the decision, [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] and former President [[William Howard Taft]] praised Long as "the most brilliant lawyer who ever practiced" before the court.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last=Darnell|first=Tim|date=September 10, 2020|title=Huey Long assassinated 85 years ago|url=https://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/god-dont-let-me-die-i-have-so-much-to-do-huey-long-assassinated-85-years-ago/4IJ5EAB5TZGQRI7WEHGVUG6LOA/|work=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]|access-date=February 27, 2021|archive-date=February 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228192028/https://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/god-dont-let-me-die-i-have-so-much-to-do-huey-long-assassinated-85-years-ago/4IJ5EAB5TZGQRI7WEHGVUG6LOA/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite news|date=March 9, 1930|title=Ex-President Taft Dies at Capital|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/03/09/archives/expresident-taft-dies-at-capital-succumbing-to-many-weeks-illness.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 3, 2021|url-access=subscription|archive-date=September 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210904012334/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/03/09/archives/expresident-taft-dies-at-capital-succumbing-to-many-weeks-illness.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Gubernatorial campaigns (1924–1928)==

===1924 election===
{{Main|1924 Louisiana gubernatorial election}}
[[File:Huey Long 1924 run.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|alt=Card sporting Long's face surrounded by the text "Give the people a governor, Huey P. Long"|Card for Long's 1924 gubernatorial campaign]]
On August 30, 1923, Long announced his candidacy for the governorship of Louisiana.<ref name="heritage"/> Long [[Stump speech|stumped]] throughout the state, personally distributing circulars and posters. He denounced Governor Parker as a corporate stooge, vilified Standard Oil, and assailed local political bosses.<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 19">[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 19.</ref>

He campaigned in rural areas disenfranchised by the state's political establishment, the "[[Regular Democratic Organization|Old Regulars]]". Since the 1877 end of [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]-controlled [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction government]], they had controlled most of the state through alliances with local officials.<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 19"/><ref name="Kane2930"/> With negligible support for Republicans, Louisiana was essentially a one party state under the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] Old Regulars. Holding mock elections in which they invoked the [[Lost Cause of the Confederacy]], the Old Regulars presided over a corrupt government that largely benefited the [[planter class]].<ref name="Kane2930">[[#Kane|Kane (1971)]], pp. 29–30.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Haas|first=Edward F.|date=Winter 1998|title=Political Continuity in the Crescent City: Toward an Interpretation of New Orleans Politics, 1874–1986|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=39|issue=1|pages=6|jstor=4233468}}</ref> Consequently, Louisiana was one of the least developed states: It had just 300 miles of paved roads and the lowest literacy rate.<ref>[[#Long1|Long (1933)]], p. xvi.</ref><ref>[[#Kane|Kane (1971)]], p. 30.</ref>

Despite an enthusiastic campaign, Long came third in the primary and was eliminated.<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 19"/> 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.<ref name="heritage"/><ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 19"/>

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  [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] voters, which limited his chances in the south of the state. In majority Catholic New Orleans, he polled just 12,000 votes (17%).<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 19"/> Long blamed heavy rain on election day for suppressing voter turnout among his base in the north, where voters could not reach the polls over dirt roads that had turned to mud.<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 19"/><ref>[[#Harris|Harris (1938)]], p. 28.</ref> It was the only election Long ever lost.<ref>{{cite news |last=Scott|first=Mike|date=May 19, 2017|title=Huey P. Long's first (and last) election loss|url=https://www.nola.com/300/article_44bd23d6-e7b4-59e5-af96-77f201631ab3.html|work=[[The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate|The Times-Picayune]]|access-date=July 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031012512/https://www.nola.com/300/article_44bd23d6-e7b4-59e5-af96-77f201631ab3.html|archive-date=October 31, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

===1928 election===
{{Main|1928 Louisiana gubernatorial election}}
{{quote box | width = 25em |align = right
| quote = And it is 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 [[Evangeline|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. Give me the chance to dry the eyes of those who still weep here.
| source = — An example of Long's 1928 campaign rhetoric<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], pp. 20–21.</ref><ref name="mor1">[[#Moreau|Moreau (1965)]], p. 121.</ref>
| style = padding:1.5em
| fontsize=85%
}}
Long spent the intervening four years building his reputation and political organization, particularly in the heavily Catholic urban south. Despite disagreeing with their politics, Long campaigned for Catholic U.S. Senators in 1924 and 1926.<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 19"/> Government mismanagement during the [[Great Mississippi Flood of 1927]] gained Long the support of [[Cajuns]], whose land had been affected.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lichtenstein|first=Alex|date=April 23, 2006|title=The paradoxical Huey P. Long|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-04-23-0604210398-story.html|work=[[The Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=November 9, 2020|archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200203/https://www.chicagotribune.com/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[#White|White (2006)]], pp. 25–26.</ref> He formally launched his second campaign 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]].<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 20.</ref>

Long developed novel campaign techniques, including the use of [[sound trucks]] and radio commercials.<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 19"/> His stance on race was unorthodox. According to [[T. Harry Williams]], Long was "the first Southern mass leader to leave aside race baiting and appeals to the Southern tradition and the Southern past and address himself to the social and economic problems of the present".<ref name=j265>[[#Jeansonne1|Jeansonne (1992)]], p. 265.</ref>{{efn|group=note|The conclusion that Long was progressive on the [[Political views of Huey Long#Race|issue of race]], widely repeated in the decades after Long's death, has faced increased scrutiny in recent years.<ref name=j265/><ref>[[#Jeansonne1992|Jeansonne (1992)]], p. 377.</ref>}} 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 [[The Roosevelt New Orleans|Roosevelt Hotel]], Long punched him in the face.<ref name="leg">{{cite news|last=Leavitt|first=Dylan Hayler|date=February 24, 2014|title=Huey Long's Life and Legacy|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/stories/articles/2014/2/24/huey-longs-life-and-legacy|work=[[PBS]]|access-date=July 20, 2020|archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200231/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/stories/articles/2014/2/24/huey-longs-life-and-legacy|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref>[[#calhoun|Calhoun (2008)]], p. 511.</ref> At age 35, Long was the youngest person ever elected governor of Louisiana.<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 21">[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 21.</ref>

Some fifteen thousand Louisianians traveled to Baton Rouge for Long's inauguration.<ref name="FDR"/> He set up large tents, free drinks, and jazz bands on the capitol grounds, evoking [[First inauguration of Andrew Jackson|Andrew Jackson's 1829 inaugural festivities]].<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 23.</ref> His victory was 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".<ref name="FDR"/> While previous elections were normally divided culturally and religiously, Long highlighted the sharp economic divide in the state and built a new coalition based on class.<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 21"/><ref>[[#HavardHeberleHoward|Havard, Heberle, and Howard (1963)]], p. 15.</ref> Long's strength, said the contemporary novelist [[Sherwood Anderson]], relied on "the terrible South&nbsp;... the beaten, ignorant, Bible-ridden, white South. [[William Faulkner|Faulkner]] occasionally really touches it. It has yet to be paid for."<ref name="FDR"/>

==Louisiana governorship (1928–1932)==

===First year===
[[File:Old Louisiana Governor's Mansion Long's office.jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph of Long's desk in an office|Long's office in the [[Old Louisiana Governor's Mansion|Governor's Mansion]]]]
Once in office 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 [[Spoils system|patronage appointments]] from his network of political supporters.<ref name="sleazy"/><ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], pp. 23–24.</ref><ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 26"/> Every state employee who depended on Long for a job was expected to pay a portion of their salary at election time directly into his campaign fund.<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 27.</ref>

Once his control over the state's political apparatus was strengthened, Long pushed several bills through the 1929 session of the [[Louisiana State Legislature]] to fulfill campaign promises. His bills met opposition from legislators, wealthy citizens, and the media, but Long used aggressive tactics to ensure passage. He would appear 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.<ref>[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], p. 31.</ref><ref>[[#Dethloff|Dethloff (1976)]], p. 79.</ref> When an opposing legislator once suggested Long was unfamiliar with the [[Constitution of Louisiana|Louisiana Constitution]], he declared, "I'm the Constitution around here now."<ref>[[#Kane|Kane (1971)]], p. 64.</ref><ref>[[#Sanson|Sanson (2006)]], p. 265.</ref>

One program Long 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 would be granted directly to all children, regardless of whether they attended public school. Yet this assurance was criticized by conservative [[Constitutionalism#United States|constitutionalists]], who claimed it violated the [[Separation of church and state in the United States|separation of church and state]] and sued Long. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in Long's favor.<ref>[[#Kane|Kane (1971)]], pp. 65–66.</ref><ref>{{cite court |litigants=Cochran v. Board of Education |vol=281 |reporter=U.S. |opinion=370 |court=[[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S.]] |date=1930-04-28 |url=https://casetext.com/case/cochran-v-board-of-education |access-date=2023-04-16}}</ref>

Irritated by "immoral" gambling dens and brothels in New Orleans, Long sent the [[Louisiana Army National Guard|National Guard]] to raid these establishments with orders to "shoot without hesitation". Gambling equipment was burned, prostitutes were arrested, and over $25,000 ({{Inflation|US|25000|1928|2020|fmt=eq}}) was confiscated for government funds. Local newspapers ran photos of National Guardsmen forcibly searching nude women. City authorities had not requested military force, and martial law had not been declared. The Louisiana attorney general denounced Long's actions as illegal but Long rebuked him, saying: "Nobody asked him for his opinion."<ref>[[#Kane|Kane (1971)]], pp. 67–68.</ref>

Despite wide disapproval, Long had the Governor's Mansion, built in 1887, razed by convicts from the [[Louisiana State Penitentiary|State Penitentiary]] under his personal supervision.<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 26"/> In its place, Long had a much [[Old Louisiana Governor's Mansion|larger Georgian mansion]] built. It bore a strong resemblance to the [[White House]]; he reportedly wanted to be familiar with the residence when he became president.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/louisiana/ogov.htm|title=Old Louisiana Governor's Mansion|website=[[National Park Service]]|publisher=[[US Department of the Interior]]|access-date=June 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191122045047/https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/louisiana/ogov.htm|archive-date=November 22, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[#Kane|Kane (1971)]], pp. 115–16.</ref>

===Impeachment===
[[File:BatonRougeOldStateCapitolSouthFascadeFromSouthwestKaminsky.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Photograph of the Old Louisiana State Capitol, a Gothic style building|Long's impeachment was conducted at the [[Old Louisiana State Capitol]].]]
In 1929, Long called a special legislative session to enact a five-cent per barrel tax on refined oil production to fund his social programs.<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 24.</ref> The state's oil interests opposed the bill. Long declared in a radio address that any legislator who refused to support the tax had been "bought" by oil companies. Instead of persuading the legislature, the accusation infuriated many of its members.<ref>[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], pp. 177–78.</ref> The "dynamite squad", a caucus of opponents led by freshman lawmakers [[Cecil Morgan]] and [[Ralph Norman Bauer]], introduced an [[Impeachment in the United States|impeachment]] resolution against Long.<ref name="Kane 1971, p. 71">[[#Kane|Kane (1971)]], p. 71.</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=June 20, 1999|title=Cecil Morgan; led group that impeached Huey Long|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-20-me-48502-story.html|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=August 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831143730/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-20-me-48502-story.html|archive-date=August 31, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Nineteen charges were listed, ranging from [[blasphemy]] to subornation of murder.<ref name="impeach"/>{{efn|group=note|One of Long's subordinates claimed in an affidavit that an intoxicated Long had told him to kill Representative [[Jared Y. Sanders Jr.|J. Y. Sanders Jr.]], 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".<ref name="Kane 1971, p. 71"/><ref name="impeach"/>}} Even Long's lieutenant governor, [[Paul N. Cyr|Paul Cyr]], supported impeachment; he accused Long of [[nepotism]] and alleged he had made corrupt deals with a Texas oil company.<ref name="White 2006, p. 65">[[#White|White (2006)]], p. 65.</ref>{{efn|group=note|Cyr's public turn against Long was largely motivated by Cyr's opposition to the executions of alleged murderers Thomas Dreher and Ada LeBoeuf, the first white woman executed in Louisiana's history. Cyr was a personal friend of Dreher and sat on the Board of Pardons, which had reversed their death sentence. Long wholeheartedly supported their execution, ultimately overruling the Board's decision.<ref name="White 2006, p. 65" /><ref>[[#White|White (2006)]], pp. 58–59.</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Quinlan|first=Adriane|date=October 5, 2014|title=Nearly 90 years after first woman hanged in Louisiana, the case still intrigues, newspaper reports|url=https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/article_a04f46ec-6080-5ba2-a517-0c98359bcffe.html|work=Nola|access-date=September 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907173322/https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/article_a04f46ec-6080-5ba2-a517-0c98359bcffe.html|archive-date=September 7, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Concerned, Long tried to close the session. Pro-Long Speaker [[John B. Fournet]] called for a vote to adjourn. Despite most representatives opposing adjournment, the electronic voting board tallied 68 ayes and 13 nays. This sparked confusion; anti-Long representatives began chanting that the voting machine had been rigged.{{efn|group=note|Fournet later apologized for the confusion caused by the inaccurate tally but denied rigging the outcome. According to Hair, "there is no evidence that he did; electrical contrivances of that sort were primitive, and apparently the machine simply repeated the roll call vote of a few minutes earlier".<ref>[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], p. 180.</ref>}} Some ran for the speaker's chair to call for a new vote but met resistance from their pro-Long colleagues,<ref>[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], pp. 179–80.</ref> sparking a brawl later known as "Bloody Monday".<ref name="impeach">{{cite magazine |date=April 8, 1929|title=Political Notes: Louisiana's Kaiser|url=http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,732219,00.html|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|location=New York |access-date=June 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616010130/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,732219,00.html|archive-date=June 16, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> In the scuffle, legislators threw [[inkwells]], allegedly attacked others with [[brass knuckles]], and Long's brother Earl bit a legislator's neck.<ref name="heritage"/><ref name="Brinkley p 25">[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 25.</ref> Following the fight, the legislature voted to remain in session and proceed with impeachment.<ref name="impeached">{{cite news|last=Butler|first=Charles|date=September 5, 2015|title=Long escaped early impeachment try|url=https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/opinion/2015/09/06/long-escaped-early-impeachment-try/71714218/|work=[[The Shreveport Times]]|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611224715/https://www.shreveporttimes.com/get-access/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shreveporttimes.com%2Fstory%2Fopinion%2F2015%2F09%2F06%2Flong-escaped-early-impeachment-try%2F71714218%2F|archive-date=June 11, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Proceedings in the house took place with dozens of witnesses, including a [[hula]] dancer who claimed that Long had been "frisky" with her.<ref name="sleazy"/> Impeached on eight of the 19 charges,{{efn|group=note|The charges were: attempted bribery of state legislators, demanding and receiving undated letters of resignation from appointees, intimidating publisher Charles P. Manship by threatening to disclose his brother's poor mental condition, misappropriating portions of a $6,000 fund allocated for receiving other governors, forcing a state board to dismiss its secretary to open up a position for a political ally and paying the incumbent secretary $5,400 in [[hush money]], illegally paying his cousin W. O. Long $728.25 from the governor's office expense fund, using $1,112.40 from the office expense fund to purchase personal law books, forcing the Highway Commission to accede to a contractor's demand for $4,000 in payment for their installation of defective curbs, and incompetency.<ref>[[#Harris|Harris (1938)]], pp. 59–61, 65.</ref>}} Long was the third Louisiana governor charged in the state's history, following [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] [[Henry Clay Warmoth]] and [[William Pitt Kellogg]].<ref name="Kane 1971, p. 71"/><ref name="Brinkley p 25"/>

Long was frightened by the prospect of conviction, for it would force him from the governorship and permanently disqualify him from holding public office in Louisiana.<ref>[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], pp. 182–83.</ref> He took his case to the people with a mass meeting in Baton Rouge, where he alleged that impeachment was a ploy by Standard Oil to thwart his programs.<ref name="Brinkley p 25"/> The House referred the charges to the Louisiana Senate, in which conviction required a two-thirds majority. Long produced a [[Round-robin (document)|round robin]] statement signed by fifteen senators pledging to vote "not guilty" regardless of the evidence. The impeachment process, now futile, was suspended without holding an [[impeachment trial]]. It has been alleged that both sides used bribes to buy votes and that Long later rewarded the round robin signers with positions or other favors.<ref>[[#White|White (2006)]], pp. 88–89.</ref><ref>[[#Williams|Williams (1981) [1969]]], pp. 403–06.</ref>

Following the failed impeachment attempt, Long treated his opponents ruthlessly. He fired their relatives from state jobs and supported their challengers in elections. Long concluded that extra-legal means would be needed to accomplish his goals: "I used to try to get things done by saying 'please.' Now... I dynamite 'em out of my path."<ref>[[#Parrish|Parrish (1994)]], p. 164.</ref> Receiving death threats, he surrounded himself with bodyguards.<ref name="hamby">[[#Hamby|Hamby (2004)]], p. 263.</ref> Now a resolute critic of the [[lying press|"lying" press]],<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 26">[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 26.</ref> <!-- Long tried to place a surtax on newspapers and forbid the publication of "slanderous material", but these efforts were defeated. (Source needed)--> Long established his own newspaper in March 1930: the ''[[American Progress (newspaper)|Louisiana Progress]]''. The paper was extremely popular, widely distributed by policemen, highway workers, and government truckers.<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 26"/><ref>[[#Kane|Kane (1971)]], pp. 78–79.</ref><ref>[[#Warren|Warren (2008)]], p. 379.</ref>

===Senate campaign===
Shortly after the impeachment, Long—now nicknamed "The Kingfish" after an ''[[Amos 'n' Andy]]'' character—announced his candidacy for the [[U.S. Senate]] in the 1930 Democratic primary.<ref name="heritage"/><ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], pp. 36–37.</ref> He framed his campaign as a [[referendum]]. If he won, he presumed the public supported his programs over the opposition of the legislature. If he lost, he promised to resign.<ref name="heritage"/>

His opponent was incumbent [[Joseph E. Ransdell]], the Catholic senator whom Long endorsed in 1924.<ref name="Jeansonne 1989 p. 287">[[#Jeansonne|Jeansonne (1989)]], p. 287.</ref> At 72 years old, Ransdell had served in the [[U.S. Congress]] since Long was aged six. Aligned with the establishment, Ransdell had the support of all 18 of the state's daily newspapers.<ref name="heritage"/><ref name="kane107"/> To combat this, Long purchased two new $30,000 sound trucks and distributed over two million circulars.<ref>[[#Kane|Kane (1971)]], p. 108.</ref> Although promising not to make personal attacks, Long seized on Ransdell's age, calling him "Old Feather Duster".<ref name="kane107">[[#Kane|Kane (1971)]], p. 107.</ref> The campaign became increasingly vicious, with ''[[The New York Times]]'' calling it "as amusing as it was depressing".<ref>[[#Kane|Kane (1971)]], p. 109.</ref> Long critic Sam Irby,{{efn|group=note|Irby was the uncle of Alice Lee Grosjean, Long's young personal secretary, whom he had appointed to the position of [[Secretary of State of Louisiana|Secretary of State]]. She was rumored to be his mistress.<ref name="heritage"/><ref name="sleazy"/>}} set to testify on Long's corruption to state authorities, was abducted by Long's bodyguards shortly before the election. Irby emerged after the election; he had 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.<ref name="heritage"/><ref name="sleazy"/><ref>[[#Jeansonne|Jeansonne (1989)]], pp. 289–90.</ref> The New Orleans mayor labelled it "the most heinous public crime in Louisiana history".<ref name="sleazy"/>

Ultimately, on September 9, 1930, Long defeated Ransdell by 149,640 (57.3 percent) to 111,451 (42.7 percent).<ref>[[#Kane|Kane (1971)]], p. 113.</ref><ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 29">[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 29.</ref> There were accusations of voter fraud against Long; voting records showed people voting in alphabetical order, among them celebrities like [[Charlie Chaplin]], [[Jack Dempsey]] and [[Babe Ruth]].<ref name="leg"/>
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 would not hurt Louisiana: "[W]ith Ransdell as Senator, the seat was vacant anyway." By occupying the governorship until January 25, 1932, Long prevented Lieutenant Governor Cyr, who threatened to undo Long's reforms, from succeeding to the office.<ref name="Hair p221-222"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/expulsion_cases/117LongOverton_expulsion.htm|title=Long/Overton Expulsion|publisher=[[United States Senate]]|access-date=July 22, 2020|archive-date=July 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722194657/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/expulsion_cases/117LongOverton_expulsion.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 1931, Cyr learned Long was in Mississippi and declared himself the state's legitimate governor.<ref>[[#White|White (2006)]], pp. 132–33.</ref> In response, Long ordered National Guard troops to surround the Capitol to block Cyr's "coup d'état" and petitioned the Louisiana Supreme Court.<ref name="Hair p221-222">[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], pp. 221–22.</ref><ref name="Jeansonne 1989 p. 287"/> Long successfully argued that Cyr had vacated the office of lieutenant-governor when trying to assume the governorship and had the court eject Cyr.<ref name="Hair p221-222"/><ref>{{cite court|litigants=State ex rel. Cyr v. Long|court=La.|vol=140|reporter=So.|opinion=13|date=January 22, 1932|url=https://cite.case.law/la/174/169/5422521/}}</ref>

===Senator-elect===
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,{{efn|group=note|Long would stand directly below the Speaker's podium while strong-arming the legislators into passing his agenda.<ref name="brinkley28"/>}} shouting "Shut up!" or "Sit down!" when legislators voiced their concerns. In a single night, Long passed 44 bills in just two hours: one every three minutes. He later explained his tactics: "The [[Consequentialism|end justifies the means]]."<ref name="brinkley28">[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 28.</ref> Long endorsed pro-Long candidates and wooed others with favors; he often joked his legislature was the "finest collection of lawmakers money can buy".<ref name="FDR"/> He organized and concentrated his power into a [[political machine]]: "a one-man" operation, according to Williams.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams (1981) [1969]]], p. 255.</ref> He placed his brother Earl in charge of allotting patronage appointments to local politicians and signing state contracts with businessmen in exchange for loyalty. Long appointed allies to key government positions, such as giving [[Robert Maestri]] the office of Conservation Commissioner and making [[Oscar K. Allen]] head of the [[Louisiana Highway Commission]]. Maestri would deliberately neglect the regulation of energy companies in exchange for industry donations to Long's campaign fund, while Allen took direction from Earl on which construction and supply companies to contract for road work.<ref>[[#Kurtz|Kurtz & Peoples (1991)]], Chapter 2: Political Baptism.</ref> Concerned by these tactics, Long's opponents charged he had become the virtual dictator of the state.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Latson|first=Jennifer|date=September 8, 2015|title=The Strange Career of Assassinated Louisiana Politician Huey Long|url=https://time.com/4020709/huey-long-anniversary/|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|location=New York|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191120033237/https://time.com/4020709/huey-long-anniversary/|archive-date=November 20, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

To address record low cotton prices amid a [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] surplus, Long proposed the major cotton-producing states mandate a 1932 "[[Cotton-Holiday|cotton holiday]]", which would ban cotton production for the entire year.<ref>[[#Cotton|Snyder (1977)]], p. 138.</ref> He further proposed that the holiday be imposed internationally, which some nations, such as [[Kingdom of Egypt|Egypt]], supported.<ref>[[#Cotton|Snyder (1977)]], pp. 144–45.</ref> In 1931, Long convened the New Orleans Cotton Conference, attended by delegates from every major cotton-producing state.<ref>[[#Cotton|Snyder (1977)]], pp. 139–40, 147.</ref> The delegates agreed to codify Long's proposal into law on the caveat that it would not come into effect until states producing three-quarters of U.S. cotton passed such laws.<ref>[[#Cotton|Snyder (1977)]], pp. 147–49.</ref> As the proposer, Louisiana unanimously passed the legislation.<ref>[[#Cotton|Snyder (1977)]], p. 152.</ref> When conservative politicians in Texas—the largest cotton producer in the U.S.—rejected the measure, the holiday movement collapsed.<ref>[[#Cotton|Snyder (1977)]], pp. 154–58.</ref> Although traditional politicians would have been ruined by such a defeat, Long became a national figure and cemented his image as a champion of the poor.<ref>[[#Cotton|Snyder (1977)]], pp. 158–60.</ref> Senator [[Carter Glass]], although a fervid critic of Long, credited him with first suggesting [[artificial scarcity]] as a solution to the depression.<ref>[[#Cotton|Snyder (1977)]], p. 160.</ref>

===Accomplishments===
[[File:Louisiana State Capitol Building.jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph of the Louisiana State Capitol, a tall, art-deco tower.|Long constructed a [[Louisiana State Capitol|new capitol building]], which, at {{convert|450|ft|m}}, remains the tallest capitol in the United States.]]
Long was unusual among southern populists in that he achieved tangible progress. Williams concluded "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".<ref name="sanson273"/> Referencing Long's contributions to Louisiana, [[Robert Penn Warren]], a professor at LSU during Long's term as governor,<ref>{{cite news|last=Viator|first=Gunnar|date=October 29, 2019|title='It started here in Allen Hall': LSU boasts rich literary history, prominent literary figures|url=https://www.lsureveille.com/news/it-started-here-in-allen-hall-lsu-boasts-rich-literary-history-prominent-literary-figures/article_4bbe22ea-fa9e-11e9-84c4-1382fc303378.html|work=[[The Daily Reveille|Reveille]]|location=Baton Rouge|access-date=August 15, 2020|archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200218/https://www.lsureveille.com/news/it-started-here-in-allen-hall-lsu-boasts-rich-literary-history-prominent-literary-figures/article_4bbe22ea-fa9e-11e9-84c4-1382fc303378.html|url-status=live}}</ref> stated: "Dictators, always give something for what they get."<ref name="sanson273">[[#Sanson|Sanson (2006)]], p. 273.</ref>

Long created a public works program that was unprecedented in the South, constructing roads, bridges, hospitals, schools, and state buildings. During his four years as governor, Long increased paved highways in Louisiana from {{convert|331|to|2,301|mi|km}} and constructed {{convert|2816|mi|km|0}} of gravel roads. By 1936, the infrastructure program begun by Long had completed some {{convert|9700|mi|km|-2}} of new roads, doubling Louisiana's road system. He built 111 bridges and started construction on the first bridge over the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] entirely in Louisiana, the [[Huey P. Long Bridge (Jefferson Parish)|Huey P. Long Bridge]]. These projects provided thousands of jobs during the depression: Louisiana employed more highway workers than any other state.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams (1981) [1969]]], p. 546−547.</ref> Long built a [[Louisiana State Capitol|State Capitol]], which at {{convert|450|ft|m}} tall remains the tallest capitol, state or federal, in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://house.louisiana.gov/pubinfo/VirtualTour/lacaphistory.htm|title=Louisiana Capitol History and Tour|publisher=[[Louisiana House of Representatives]]|access-date=July 18, 2020|quote=The building stands 450 feet tall (34 floors,) making it the tallest capitol in the United States.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718133142/https://house.louisiana.gov/pubinfo/VirtualTour/lacaphistory.htm|archive-date=July 18, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Long's infrastructure spending increased the state government's debt from $11&nbsp;million in 1928 to $150&nbsp;million in 1935.<ref>[[#Sanson|Sanson (2006)]], p. 270.</ref>

Long was an ardent supporter of the state's flagship public university, [[Louisiana State University]] (LSU). Having been unable to attend, Long now regarded it as "his" university.<ref name="lsu"/> He increased LSU's funding and intervened in the university's affairs, expelling seven students who criticized him in the [[The Daily Reveille|school newspaper]].<ref name="brinkley30"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Gallo|first=Andrea|date=October 23, 2013|title=Reveille Rebels: Reveille Seven's clash with Huey P. Long leaves lasting legacy|url=https://www.lsureveille.com/news/reveille-rebels-reveille-seven-s-clash-with-huey-p-long-leaves-lasting-legacy/article_b7ff10aa-3c3a-11e3-b424-001a4bcf6878.htmlGallo|work=[[The Daily Reveille|Reveille]]|location=Baton Rouge|access-date=July 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718023013/https://www.lsureveille.com/news/reveille-rebels-reveille-seven-s-clash-with-huey-p-long-leaves-lasting-legacy/article_b7ff10aa-3c3a-11e3-b424-001a4bcf6878.html|archive-date=July 18, 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref> He constructed new buildings, including [[Huey P. Long Field House|a fieldhouse]] that reportedly contained the longest pool in the United States.<ref name="lsu"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Schardt|first=Julian|date=January 6, 2015|title=Huey P. Long Field House to undergo renovations|url=https://www.lsureveille.com/daily/huey-p-long-field-house-to-undergo-renovations/article_1b9b7ed4-a5b0-11e4-ae1e-5b6e69689a1c.html|work=[[The Daily Reveille|Reveille]]|location=Baton Rouge|access-date=July 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703175620/https://www.lsureveille.com/daily/huey-p-long-field-house-to-undergo-renovations/article_1b9b7ed4-a5b0-11e4-ae1e-5b6e69689a1c.html|archive-date=July 3, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="brinkley30">[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 30.</ref> Long founded an [[LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans|LSU Medical School]] in New Orleans.<ref name="hospital">[[#Jeansonne|Jeansonne (1989)]], p. 294.</ref>{{efn|group=note|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.<ref name="hospital"/>}} To raise the stature of the [[LSU Tigers football|football program]], he converted the school's military marching band into the flashy "[[Louisiana State University Tiger Marching Band|Show Band of the South]]" and hired [[Costa Rican]] composer [[Castro Carazo]] as the band director.<ref name="lsu"/> As well as nearly doubling the size of [[Tiger Stadium (LSU)|the stadium]],<ref name="lsu"/> he arranged for lowered train fares, so students could travel to away games. Long's contributions resulted in LSU gaining a class A accreditation from the [[Association of American Universities]].<ref name="lsu">{{cite news|last=Baus|first=Mary Walker|date=October 15, 2009|title=Huey P. Long's legacy, impact still linger|url=https://www.lsureveille.com/news/huey-p-longs-legacy-impact-still-linger/article_54068448-ffa6-51fe-bcbf-fe215b00cbbd.html|work=[[The Daily Reveille|Reveille]]|location=Baton Rouge|access-date=July 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626201020/https://www.lsureveille.com/news/huey-p-longs-legacy-impact-still-linger/article_54068448-ffa6-51fe-bcbf-fe215b00cbbd.html|archive-date=June 26, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

Long's night schools taught 100,000 adults to read.<ref name="FDR"/> His provision of free textbooks contributed to a 20-percent increase in school enrollment.<ref>[[#Long1|Long (1933)]], p. xvii.</ref> He modernized public health facilities and ensured adequate conditions for the mentally ill.<ref name="brinkley30"/> He established Louisiana's first rehabilitation program for penitentiary inmates.<ref>[[#Pleasant|Pleasant Jr. (1974)]], p. 357.</ref> Through tax reform, Long made the first $2,000 in property assessment free, waiving [[property taxes]] for half the state's homeowners.<ref>[[#Vaughn|Vaughn (1979)]], p. 100.</ref> Some historians have criticized other policies, like high consumer taxes on gasoline and cigarettes, a reduced [[mother's pension]], and low teacher salaries.<ref>[[#Vaughn|Vaughn (1979)]], p. 95.</ref>

==U.S. Senate (1932–1935)==
{{Main|United States Senate career of Huey Long}}

===Senator===
[[File:Huey Long speaking (higher quality).png|thumb|upright|left|alt=A photograph showing Long raise his fist as he speaks into a microphone|Long delivering a speech]]
When Long arrived in the Senate, America was in the throes of the [[Great Depression]].<ref>[[#White|White (2006)]], pp. 143–44.</ref> With this backdrop, Long made characteristically fiery speeches that denounced [[Economic inequality|wealth inequality]]. He criticized the leaders of both parties for failing to address the crisis adequately, notably attacking conservative Senate Democratic Leader [[Joseph Taylor Robinson|Joseph Robinson]] of [[Arkansas]] for his apparent closeness with President [[Herbert Hoover]] and big business.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams (1981) [1969]]], pp. 560–63.</ref>

In the [[1932 United States presidential election|1932 presidential election]], Long was a vocal supporter of New York Governor [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].<ref>[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], p. 242.</ref> At [[1932 Democratic National Convention|that year's Democratic National Convention]], Long kept the delegations of several wavering Southern states in the Roosevelt camp.<ref name="heritage"/><ref name="FDR"/> Due to this, Long expected to be featured prominently in Roosevelt's campaign but was disappointed with a peripheral speaking tour limited to four [[Midwestern]] states.<ref name="Williams 1981 p. 602">[[#Williams|Williams (1981) [1969]]], pp. 600–03.</ref><ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], pp. 46–47.</ref>

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.<ref name="Williams 1981 pp. 583">[[#Williams|Williams (1981) [1969]]], pp. 583–93.</ref><ref name="brinkley4849">[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], pp. 48–49.</ref>{{efn|group=note|According to Brinkley, "Long's reasons for this decision were not entirely clear." Long noted that he felt a chivalric impulse to help this "brave little woman" and that Caraway was one of the few senators to vote for his wealth-limiting proposals. Long appreciated that she often voted against her senior colleague from Arkansas, Robinson. Many observers speculate that Long's true intent was to further establish a national reputation for himself. ''The New York Times'' contemporarily suggested that he was plotting to "yield him control of the [Senate] minority—or perhaps the majority". Brinkley claims that it was Long's first effort to propel himself to national leadership, which required him to appeal directly to the people rather than through political channels in Washington.<ref name="brinkley4849"/>}} During the campaign, Long gave 39 speeches, traveled {{convert|2100|mi}}, and spoke to over 200,000 people.<ref>[[#Snyder|Snyder (1975)]], pp. 128–29.</ref> In an upset win, Caraway became the first woman elected to a full term in the Senate.<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 52.</ref>

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 said he was "simply entranced" by Long.<ref name="sleazy"/><ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 42.</ref> Long obstructed bills for weeks, launching hour-long [[filibusters]] and having the clerk read superfluous documents. Long's antics, one editorial claimed, had made the Senate "impotent".<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 55">[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 55.</ref> In May 1932, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' called for his resignation.<ref name="sleazy"/> Long's behavior and radical rhetoric did little to endear him to his fellow senators. None of his proposed bills, resolutions, or motions were passed during his three years in the Senate.<ref name="heritage"/><ref>[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], p. 269.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Chester|first1=Lewis|last2=Hodgson|first2=Godfrey|last3=Page|first3=Bruce|title=An American Melodrama: The Presidential Campaign of 1968|date=1969|publisher=Viking Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-670-11991-2|page=264}}</ref>

===Roosevelt and the New Deal===
{{Further|New Deal}}
During the [[First 100 days of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency|first 100 days of Roosevelt's presidency]] in spring 1933, Long's attitude toward Roosevelt and the [[New Deal]] was tepid.<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], pp. 59–60.</ref> Aware that Roosevelt had no intention of radically redistributing the country's wealth, Long became one of the few national politicians to oppose Roosevelt's New Deal policies from the left.{{efn|group=note|The other most notable critic was Catholic preacher and radio-host [[Father Coughlin]].<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. viiii.</ref>}} He considered them inadequate in the face of the escalating economic crisis but still supported some of 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."<ref>[[#Chip|Berlet & Lyons (2000)]], p. 126.</ref>

Long opposed the [[National Recovery Act]], claiming it favored industrialists.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Berlet|first1=Chip|date=November 1, 2000|title=Right-wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Md1aRhWNk1QC&q=huey+long+80+percent+of+the+oil&pg=PA125|publisher=[[The Guilford Press]]|location=New York |access-date=June 11, 2020|pages=126–27|isbn=978-1-57230-562-5 |archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200204/https://books.google.com/books?id=Md1aRhWNk1QC&q=huey+long+80+percent+of+the+oil&pg=PA125|url-status=live}}</ref> In an attempt to prevent its passage, Long held a lone filibuster, speaking for 15 hours and 30 minutes, the [[Filibuster in the United States Senate#Longest filibusters|second longest filibuster at the time]].<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 76.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Huey_Long_Filibusters.htm|title=Huey Long Filibusters|website=[[United States Senate]]|access-date=June 16, 2020|quote=Huey Long spoke for 15 hours and 30 minutes, the second-longest Senate filibuster to that time.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224231453/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Huey_Long_Filibusters.htm|archive-date=December 24, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> He also criticized [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]], calling it inadequate and expressing his concerns that states would administer it in a way discriminatory to African Americans.<ref name="The Guilford Press">{{cite book|last1=Berlet|first1=Chip|date=November 1, 2000|title=Right-wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Md1aRhWNk1QC&q=huey+long+80+percent+of+the+oil&pg=PA125|publisher=[[The Guilford Press]]|location=New York|access-date=June 11, 2020|page=127|isbn=978-1-57230-562-5 |archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200217/https://books.google.com/books?id=Md1aRhWNk1QC&q=huey+long+80+percent+of+the+oil&pg=PA125|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1933, he was a leader of a three-week Senate [[filibuster]] against the Glass banking bill, which he later supported as the [[Glass–Steagall Act]] after provisions extended government deposit insurance to state banks as well as national banks.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams (1981) [1969]]], pp. 623, 633–34.</ref><ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], pp. 55–56.</ref>

Roosevelt considered Long a radical [[demagogue]] and stated that Long, along with General [[Douglas MacArthur]], "was one of the two most dangerous men in America".<ref name="FDR"/><ref>[[#Brands|Brands (2008)]], p. 260.</ref><ref>[[#Snyder|Snyder (1975)]], p. 117.</ref> In June 1933, in an effort to undermine Long's political dominance, Roosevelt cut him out of consultations on the distribution of federal funds and patronage in Louisiana and placed Long's opponents in charge of federal programs in the state. Roosevelt supported a Senate inquiry into the election of Long ally [[John H. Overton]] to the Senate in 1932. The Long machine was accused of election fraud and voter intimidation, but the inquiry came up empty, and Overton was seated.<ref>[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], p. 257.</ref> To discredit Long and damage his support base, Roosevelt had Long's finances investigated by the [[Internal Revenue Service]] in 1934.<ref>{{cite news |last=Aubin|first=Dena|date=May 16, 2013|title=Factbox: IRS's rich history of scandals, political abuse|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-irs-scandals/factbox-irss-rich-history-of-scandals-political-abuse-idUSBRE94F16V20130516|work=[[Reuters]]|location=London|access-date=June 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615000535/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-irs-scandals/factbox-irss-rich-history-of-scandals-political-abuse-idUSBRE94F16V20130516|archive-date=June 15, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|group=note|The investigation into Long's finances was initiated in 1932 by Hoover but had been temporarily halted by the incoming Roosevelt to amend relations with Long.<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], pp. 64–65.</ref>}} Although they failed to link Long to any illegality, some of his lieutenants were charged with income tax evasion.<ref name="FDR"/><ref>{{cite book|date=1996|title=75 Years of IRS Criminal Investigation History, 1919–1994|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qwqSAAAAMAAJ&q=huey+long+irs&pg=PA32|publisher=[[United States Department of the Treasury|Department of the Treasury]], [[Internal Revenue Service]]|page=32|access-date=November 12, 2020|archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200205/https://books.google.com/books?id=qwqSAAAAMAAJ&q=huey+long+irs&pg=PA32|url-status=live}}</ref> Roosevelt's son, [[Elliott Roosevelt (general)|Elliott]], would later note that in this instance, his father "may have been the originator of the concept of employing the [[List of allegations of misuse of the Internal Revenue Service|IRS as a weapon of political retribution]]".<ref>{{cite news |last=Murphy|first=Tim|date=May 14, 2013|title=Shocking IRS Witch Hunt? Actually, It's a Time-Honored Tradition|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/irs-witch-hunts-tea-party-history-mother-jones/|work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]|access-date=June 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615000538/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/irs-witch-hunts-tea-party-history-mother-jones/|archive-date=June 15, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Chaco War and foreign policy===
{{See also|Latin America–United States relations}}
On May 30, 1934, Long took to the Senate floor to debate the abrogation of the [[Platt Amendment]].<ref>[[#Gillette|Gillette (1970)]], p. 296.</ref> But instead of debating the amendment, Long declared his support for Paraguay against Bolivia in the [[Chaco War]]. He maintained that U.S. President [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] had awarded the oil-rich [[Gran Chaco|Chaco region]] to Paraguay in 1878.<ref name="Gillette pages 293-311">[[#Gillette|Gillette (1970)]], p. 297.</ref> He attested Standard Oil had corrupted the Bolivian government and organized the war and that [[Wall Street]] orchestrated American foreign policy in Latin America.<ref>[[#Gillette|Gillette (1970)]], pp. 297–98.</ref> For his speech, Long received praise in Paraguay: after capturing a Bolivian fort in July 1934, they renamed it Fort Long.<ref>[[#Gillette|Gillette (1970)]], pp. 299–300.</ref> Long's allegations were widely publicized in Latin American newspapers. This drew the concern of the [[United States Department of State|State Department]], who believed that Long was damaging the reputation of the United States. Throughout the summer of 1934, they waged a sustained public relations campaign against Long throughout Latin America.<ref name="ReferenceA">[[#Gillette|Gillette (1970)]], p. 300.</ref> This speech and others established Long as one of the most ardent [[United States non-interventionism|isolationists]] in the Senate. He further argued that American involvement in the [[Spanish–American War]] and the [[First World War]] had been deadly mistakes conducted on behalf of Wall Street.<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], pp. 150–52.</ref><ref>[[#Sanson|Sanson (2006)]], p. 275.</ref> Consequently, Long demanded the immediate independence of the Philippines, which the [[History of the Philippines (1898–1946)|United States had occupied]] since 1898.<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 55"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/APA/Historical-Essays/Exclusion-and-Empire/The-Philippines/|title=The Philippines, 1898–1946|website=History, Arts, & Archives|publisher=[[United States House of Representatives]]|access-date=July 22, 2020|archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200247/https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/APA/Historical-Essays/Exclusion-and-Empire/The-Philippines/|url-status=live}}</ref> He also opposed American entry into the [[Permanent Court of International Justice|World Court]].<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 152.</ref>

===Share Our Wealth===
{{main|Share Our Wealth}}
[[File:Huey Long at desk.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of Long gesturing with his hands from behind his desk|Long speaking from behind his desk at the Capitol, 1935]]
In March 1933, Long revealed a series of bills collectively known as "the Long plan" to redistribute wealth. Together, they would cap fortunes at $100&nbsp;million, limit annual income to $1&nbsp;million, and cap individual inheritances at $5&nbsp;million.<ref name="Williams p">[[#Williams|Williams (1981) [1969]]], pp. 628–29.</ref><ref>[[#Snyder|Snyder (1975)]], p. 120.</ref>
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In a nationwide February 1934 radio broadcast, Long introduced his [[Share Our Wealth]] plan.<ref name="Kennedy, David page 238">[[#Kennedy|Kennedy (2005) [1999]]], p. 238.</ref><ref>[[#Snyder|Snyder (1975)]], p. 119.</ref> The legislation would use the wealth from the Long plan to guarantee every family a basic household grant of $5,000 and a minimum annual income of one-third of the average family homestead value and income. Long supplemented his plan with proposals for free college and vocational training, veterans' benefits, federal assistance to farmers, public works projects, greater federal economic regulation, a $30 monthly elderly pension, a month's vacation for every worker, a thirty-hour [[Workweek and weekend|workweek]], a $10&nbsp;billion land reclamation project to end the [[Dust Bowl]], and free medical service and a "war on disease" led by the [[Mayo brothers]].<ref name="Jeansonne 333">{{cite journal |last=Jeansonne|first=Glen|date=Autumn 1980|title=Challenge to the New Deal: Huey P. Long and the Redistribution of National Wealth|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=21|issue=4|pages= 333|jstor=4232034}}</ref><ref>[[#Amenta|Amenta (1994)]], pp. 679–80.</ref> These reforms, Long claimed, would end the Great Depression.<ref>[[#Amenta|Amenta (1994)]], p. 680.</ref> The plans were widely criticized and labeled impossible by economists.<ref>[[#Jeansonne|Jeansonne (1989)]], p. 383.</ref><ref>[[#Kennedy|Kennedy (2005) [1999]]], pp. 238–39.</ref>

With the Senate unwilling to support his proposals, in February 1934 Long formed the Share Our Wealth Society, a national network of local clubs that operated in opposition to the Democratic Party and Roosevelt. By 1935, the society had over 7.5&nbsp;million members in 27,000 clubs.<ref>[[#Snyder|Snyder (1975)]], p. 123.</ref> Long's Senate office received an average of 60,000 letters a week, resulting in Long's hiring 48 stenographers to type responses.<ref name="heritage"/> Of the two trucks that delivered mail to the Senate, one was devoted solely to mail for Long.<ref name="Jeansonne 1992 p. 381">[[#Jeansonne1992|Jeansonne (1992)]], p. 381.</ref> Long's newspaper, now renamed ''American Progress'', averaged a circulation of 300,000, some issues reaching over 1.5&nbsp;million.<ref name="The Guilford Press"/> Long drew international attention: English writer [[H. G. Wells]] interviewed Long, noting he was "like a [[Winston Churchill]] who has never been at [[Harrow School|Harrow]]. He abounds in promises."<ref name="FDR"/>

Some historians believe that pressure from Share Our Wealth contributed to Roosevelt's "turn to the left" in the [[Second New Deal]] (1935), which consisted of the [[Social Security Act]], the [[Works Progress Administration]], the [[National Labor Relations Board]], [[Aid to Dependent Children]], and the [[Revenue Act of 1935|Wealth Tax Act of 1935]].<ref name="FDR"/><ref>[[#Snyder|Snyder (1975)]], pp. 141–42.</ref> Roosevelt reportedly admitted in private to trying to "steal Long's thunder".<ref>[[#Snyder|Snyder (1975)]], p. 141.</ref>

===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.<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], pp. 68–69.</ref> Long chose his childhood friend, Oscar K. Allen, to succeed King in the [[1932 Louisiana gubernatorial election|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.<ref>[[#Jeansonne|Jeansonne (1989)]], p. 381.</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=January 29, 1936|title=Gov. O.K. Allen, Heir of Huey Long, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/01/29/archives/gov-ok-allen-heir-of-huey-long-dies-louisianas-senatortobe-is.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=July 30, 2020|archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200219/https://www.nytimes.com/1936/01/29/archives/gov-ok-allen-heir-of-huey-long-dies-louisianas-senatortobe-is.html|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Allen, widely viewed as a puppet, dutifully enacted Long's policies.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams (1981) [1969]]], p. 566.</ref> When Long visited Louisiana, Allen would relinquish his office for the Senator, working instead at his receptionist's desk.<ref name="Jeansonne 1992 p. 381"/> Though he had no constitutional authority, Long continued to draft and press bills through the [[Louisiana State Legislature]].<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 69.</ref> One of the laws passed was what Long called "a tax on lying"—a 2 percent tax on newspaper advertising revenue.<ref>{{cite news |last=Winkler|first=Adam|date=February 28, 2018|title=How 'the Kingfish' Turned Corporations into People|url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/02/28/how-the-kingfish-turned-corporations-into-people/|work=[[The New York Review of Books]]|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611185904/https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/02/28/how-the-kingfish-turned-corporations-into-people/|archive-date=June 11, 2020|url-access=subscription|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1934, Long and [[James A. Noe]], an independent oilman and member of the [[Louisiana State Senate]] from [[Ouachita Parish, Louisiana|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.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams (1981) [1969]]], pp. 825–26.</ref>

==1935: Final year==

===1936 presidential ambitions===
{{See also|1936 United States presidential election}}
[[File:Time Magazine - Huey Long.jpg|thumb|alt=Long on the April 1935 cover of ''Time'' magazine|"Candidate Long" on the cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, April 1935]]
Popular support for Long's Share Our Wealth program raised the possibility of a 1936 presidential bid against incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt.<ref name="FDR"/><ref>[[#Snyder|Snyder (1975)]], p. 121.</ref>{{efn|group=note|There was contemporary speculation that a Long campaign would collaborate with [[Charles Coughlin|Father Coughlin]] and his [[National Union for Social Justice (organization)|National Union for Social Justice]].<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], pp. 214–15.</ref> Despite some common political goals, the two men were of vastly different backgrounds and personalities, expressed contempt for one another, and had only met once.<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], pp. 208–09.</ref>}} When questioned by the press, Long gave conflicting answers on his plans for 1936.<ref>[[#Snyder|Snyder (1975)]], pp. 122, 125.</ref> Long's son [[Russell B. Long|Russell]] believed his father would have run on a [[Third party (U.S. politics)|third-party]] ticket.<ref>[[#Snyder|Snyder (1975)]], pp. 126–27.</ref> This is evidenced by Long's writing of a speculative book, ''[[My First Days in the White House]]'', which laid out his plans for the presidency after the 1936 election.<ref name="First days">{{cite news |last=Brown|first=Francis|date=September 29, 1935|title=Huey Long as Hero and as Demagogue|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/09/29/archives/huey-long-as-hero-and-as-demagogue-my-first-days-in-the-white-house.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=June 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608222739/https://www.nytimes.com/1935/09/29/archives/huey-long-as-hero-and-as-demagogue-my-first-days-in-the-white-house.html|archive-date=June 8, 2020|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>[[#Sanson|Sanson (2006)]], p. 274.</ref>{{efn|group=note|The book was published posthumously in 1935.<ref name="First days"/>}}

In spring 1935, Long undertook a national speaking tour and regular radio appearances, attracting large crowds and increasing his stature.<ref>[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], p. 284.</ref> At a well-attended Long rally in [[Philadelphia]], a former mayor told the press, "There are 250,000 Long votes" in this city.<ref name="Kennedy, David page 240">[[#Kennedy|Kennedy (2005) [1999]]], p. 240.</ref> 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."<ref>[[#Snyder|Snyder (1975)]], p. 128.</ref>

As the 1936 election approached, the Roosevelt Administration grew increasingly concerned by Long's popularity.<ref name="Kennedy, David page 240"/> [[Democratic National Committee]] chairman [[James Farley]] commissioned a secret poll in early 1935.<ref>[[#Kennedy|Kennedy (2005) [1999]]], p. 239.</ref> Farley's poll revealed that if Long ran on a third-party ticket, he would win about four million votes, 10% of the electorate.<ref name="Kennedy, David page 241">[[#Kennedy|Kennedy (2005) [1999]]], p. 241.</ref> In a memo to Roosevelt, Farley expressed his concern that Long could [[Vote splitting|split the vote]], allowing the Republican nominee to win.<ref name="Kennedy, David page 241"/> 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 [[1912 United States presidential election|'12]]".<ref>[[#Snyder|Snyder (1975)]], p. 125.</ref> Many, including Hair, Roosevelt, and Williams speculated that Long expected to lose in 1936, allowing the Republicans to take the White House. They believed the Republicans would worsen the Great Depression, deepening Long's appeal. According to Roosevelt, "That would bring the country to such a state by 1940 that Long thinks he would be made dictator."<ref>[[#Kennedy|Kennedy (2005) [1999]]], pp. 239–41.</ref>

===Increased tensions in Louisiana===
[[File:Huey Long 1935 LOC hec 39385.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Huey Long standing in a doorway smiling|Long after giving a successful five-hour filibuster, about two weeks before his death]]
By 1935, Long's consolidation of power led to talk of armed opposition from his enemies in Louisiana. Opponents increasingly invoked the memory of the [[Battle of Liberty Place]] (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 Pleasant]] and New Orleans Mayor [[T. Semmes Walmsley]].<ref name="Brinkley 2011 p. 29"/><ref name="Hair 1996 pp. 298">[[#Hair|Hair (1996)]], pp. 298–300.</ref> Standard Oil threatened to leave the state when Long finally passed the five-cent-per-barrel oil tax for which he had been impeached in 1929. Concerned Standard Oil employees formed a Square Deal association in Baton Rouge, organizing themselves in militia companies and demanding "direct action".<ref name="Kane112112">[[#Kane|Kane (1971)]], pp. 112–13.</ref>

On January 25, 1935, these Square Dealers, now armed, seized the [[East Baton Rouge Parish]] courthouse. Long had Governor Allen execute emergency measures in Baton Rouge: he called in the [[Louisiana Army National Guard|National Guard]], declared martial law, banned public gatherings of two or more persons, and forbade 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.<ref name="Hair 1996 pp. 298"/><ref name="Kane112112"/><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mathy|first1=Gabriel|last2=Ziebarth|first2=Nicolas|date=March 2017|title=How Much Does Political Uncertainty Matter? The Case of Louisiana under Huey Long|journal=[[The Journal of Economic History]]|volume=77|issue=1|pages=90–126|doi=10.1017/S002205071700002X|doi-access=free}}</ref> At a legal hearing, an alleged spy within the Square Dealers testified they were conspiring to assassinate Long.<ref name="warrennyt">{{cite news|last=Warren|first=Robert Penn|author-link=Robert Penn Warren|date=May 31, 1981|title=In the Time of 'All the King's Men'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/31/books/in-the-time-of-all-the-king-s-men.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=September 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108173512/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/31/books/in-the-time-of-all-the-king-s-men.html|archive-date=January 8, 2020|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In summer 1935, Long called two special legislative sessions in Louisiana; 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 new Long-appointed state agencies: a state bond and tax board holding sole authority to approve loans to local 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 stripped away the remaining powers of the [[mayor of New Orleans]]. Long boasted he had "taken over every board and commission in New Orleans except the [[Community Chest (organization)|Community Chest]] and the [[American Red Cross|Red Cross]]".<ref>[[#Bergal|Bergal (2007)]], p. 102.</ref> A September 7 special session passed 42 bills. The most extreme, likely aimed at Roosevelt and his federal agents, authorized Louisiana to fine and imprison anyone who infringed on the powers reserved to the state in the [[Tenth Amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution]].<ref name="Brinkley249">[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 249.</ref>

===Assassination===
{{Main|Assassination of Huey Long}}
[[File:Huey Long Statue at Louisiana State Capitol.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Photograph of a statue of Long before the capitol|Long's grave and statue in front of the capitol]]
On September 8, 1935, Long traveled to the State Capitol to pass a bill that would [[gerrymander]] the district of an opponent, Judge Benjamin Pavy, who had held his position for 28 years.<ref name="Brinkley249"/> At 9:20&nbsp;p.m., just after passage of the bill effectively removing Pavy, the judge'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 (1.2 m) away, striking Long in the torso. Long's bodyguards, nicknamed the "[[Cossacks]]" or "skullcrushers", then fired at Weiss with their pistols, killing him. An autopsy found Weiss had been shot at least 60 times.<ref name="clues">{{cite news|last=Rensberger|first=Boyce|date=June 29, 1992|title=Clues From the Grave Add Mystery to the Death of Huey Long|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/06/29/clues-from-the-grave-add-mystery-to-the-death-of-huey-long/cbdd5297-27a1-4534-96bb-68175daf3573/|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516143655/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/06/29/clues-from-the-grave-add-mystery-to-the-death-of-huey-long/cbdd5297-27a1-4534-96bb-68175daf3573/|archive-date=May 16, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Long ran down a flight of stairs and across the capitol grounds, hailing a car to take him to [[Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center|Our Lady of the Lake Hospital]].<ref name="mystery"/> He was rushed to the operating room where surgery closed perforations in his intestines but failed to stop internal bleeding.<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], p. 250.</ref> Long died at 4:10&nbsp;a.m. on September 10, 31 hours after being shot.<ref name="NOLA"/> 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."<ref>[[#Lowe|Lowe (2008)]], p. 239.</ref><ref>[[#Williams|Williams (1981) [1969]]], p. 876.</ref>

Over 200,000 people traveled to Baton Rouge to attend Long's September 12 funeral.<ref>[[#White|White (2006)]], p. 268.</ref> His remains were buried on the grounds of the Capitol; a statue depicting Long was constructed on his grave.<ref name="clues"/><ref name="mystery">{{cite news |last=Scott|first=Robert Travis|date=September 5, 2010|title=The enduring mystery of who killed Huey P. Long|url=https://www.nola.com/news/politics/article_b997fc67-d3e8-5a86-803b-2e19a06e38e0.html|work=[[The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate|The Times-Picayune]]|location=New Orleans|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609021810/https://www.nola.com/news/politics/article_b997fc67-d3e8-5a86-803b-2e19a06e38e0.html|archive-date=June 9, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Although Long's allies alleged he was assassinated by political opponents, a federal probe found no evidence of conspiracy.<ref name="NOLA">{{cite news |last=Scott|first=Robert Travis|date=September 8, 2010|title=Controversy, mystery still surround the death of Huey P. Long|url=https://www.nola.com/news/politics/article_1f01fd4b-424d-55d6-95cc-b3782e81da79.html|work=[[The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate|The Times-Picayune]]|location=New Orleans|access-date=June 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609021757/https://www.nola.com/news/politics/article_1f01fd4b-424d-55d6-95cc-b3782e81da79.html|archive-date=June 9, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> 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]] wrote that, "When he was gone it seemed that a beneficent peace had fallen on the land. [[Charles Coughlin|Father Coughlin]], [[Milo Reno|Reno]], [[Francis Townsend|Townsend]], et al., were after all pygmies compared with Huey. He had been a major phenomenon." Tugwell also said that Roosevelt regarded Long's assassination as a "providential occurrence".<ref name="FDR"/>

Evidence later surfaced that suggests Long was accidentally shot by his bodyguards.<ref name="beast">{{cite news |last=Alter|first=Jonathan|date=September 20, 2015|title=Was Huey Long Killed by His Own Bodyguards?|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/was-huey-long-killed-by-his-own-bodyguards|work=[[The Daily Beast]]|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200118141455/https://www.thedailybeast.com/was-huey-long-killed-by-his-own-bodyguards|archive-date=January 18, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Proponents of this theory assert Long was caught in the crossfire as his bodyguards shot Weiss, and a bullet that ricocheted off the marble walls hit him.<ref name="clues"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Carmichael|first=Ellen|date=September 7, 2019|title=The Truth about Huey Long|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/09/truth-about-huey-long/|work=[[The National Review]]|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604194914/https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/09/truth-about-huey-long/|archive-date=June 4, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Marcus|first=Frances Frank|date=October 21, 1991|title=Researchers Exhume Doctor's Grave To Resolve Part of Huey Long Legend|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/21/us/researchers-exhume-doctor-s-grave-to-resolve-part-of-huey-long-legend.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818130419/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/21/us/researchers-exhume-doctor-s-grave-to-resolve-part-of-huey-long-legend.html|archive-date=August 18, 2019|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="09112018Agarwal">{{cite web |last1=Agarwal |first1=Divyansh |title=Letters Shed Light on Huey Long's Murder Mystery |url=https://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/2018/09/11/letters-shed-light-on-huey-longs-murder-mystery/ |website=Circulating Now from the NLM Historical Collections |publisher=National Library of Medicine |access-date=March 9, 2024 |date=September 11, 2018}}</ref>

==Legacy==

===Politics===
{{Further|Long family}}
[[File:Sen Russell Long with LBJ.jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph of Senator Russell B. Long and Lyndon B. Johnson talking over a table|Long's son [[Russell B. Long|Russell]] (left), pictured with President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] in 1964]]
Long's assassination may have contributed to his reputation as a legendary figure in parts of Louisiana. In 1938, Swedish sociologist [[Gunnar Myrdal]] encountered rural children who not only insisted Long was alive, but that he was president.<ref name="sleazy"/> Although no longer governing, Long's policies continued to be enacted in Louisiana by his political machine,<ref name="forty"/> which supported Roosevelt's re-election to prevent further investigation into their finances.<ref>[[#Brinkley|Brinkley (1983) [1982]]], pp. 250–51.</ref> The machine remained a powerful force in state politics until the 1960 elections. Within the [[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. For decades after his death, Long's political style inspired imitation among Louisiana politicians who borrowed his rhetoric and promises of social programs.<ref name="forty">{{cite news |last=Reed|first=Roy|date=September 8, 1975|title=Huey Long's Legacy, 40 Years After Death|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/08/archives/huey-longs-legacy-40-years-after-death.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612040444/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/08/archives/huey-longs-legacy-40-years-after-death.html|archive-date=June 12, 2020|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>[[#Sanson|Sanson (2006)]], p. 264.</ref><ref>[[#Jeansonne1992|Jeansonne (1992)]], p. 374.</ref>

After Long's death, a [[Long family|family dynasty]] emerged: his brother Earl was elected lieutenant-governor in 1936 and governor in 1948 and 1956. Long's widow, Rose Long, replaced him in the Senate, and his son, Russell, was a U.S. senator from 1948 to 1987. As chairman of the [[Senate Finance Committee]], Russell shaped the nation's tax laws, advocating low business taxes and passing legislation beneficial to the poor like the [[Earned Income Credit]].<ref name="heritage"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Donlan|first=Thomas G.|date=May 19, 2003|title=The Tax Man Passeth|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB105312766868492400|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|access-date=June 9, 2020|archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200226/https://www.barrons.com/articles/SB105312766868492400?tesla=y|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Liebling|first=A.J|date=May 21, 1960|title=The Great State Waiting for the Imam|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1960/05/28/i-the-great-state-waiting-for-the-imam|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806173748/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1960/05/28/i-the-great-state-waiting-for-the-imam|archive-date=August 6, 2019|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Other relatives, including [[George S. Long|George]], [[Gillis William Long|Gillis]], and [[Speedy Long|Speedy]], have represented Louisiana in Congress.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39545290/st_louis_postdispatch/|title=Congressman Gillis W. Long Dies at 61|date=January 22, 1985|work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127004440/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39545290/st_louis_postdispatch/ |archive-date=November 27, 2019|url-status=live|page=16|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=June 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-iIxDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Speedy+long%22+congress&pg=PT407|title=America's Political Dynasties|first=Stephen|last=Hess|date=2017|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New York|via=Google Books|isbn=978-1-351-53214-3 |access-date=November 12, 2020|archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200210/https://books.google.com/books?id=-iIxDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Speedy+long%22+congress&pg=PT407|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/L/LONG,-George-Shannon-(L000416)/|title=Long, George Shannon|website=History, Arts, and Archives|publisher=[[United States House of Representatives]]|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200211/https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/L/LONG,-George-Shannon-%28L000416%29/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Huey P. Newton]], co-founder of the [[Black Panther Party]], was named after Long.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/huey/huey_bio.html|title=A Huey P. Newton Story|website=[[PBS]]|access-date=February 3, 2021|archive-date=January 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126005733/http://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/huey/huey_bio.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://oxfordaasc.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.001.0001/acref-9780195301731-e-34611|title=Newton, Huey P.|first=Kathleen N.|last=Cleaver|website=Oxford African American Studies Center|year=2013|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.34611|isbn=978-0195301731|access-date=February 3, 2021|archive-date=February 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210085545/https://oxfordaasc.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.001.0001/acref-9780195301731-e-34611|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Historical reputation===
Academics and historians have found difficulty categorizing Long and his ideology.<ref>[[#Haas|Haas (1994)]], p. 125.</ref><ref name="Sanson 2006, p. 261">[[#Sanson|Sanson (2006)]], p. 261.</ref> His platform has been compared to ideologies ranging from [[McCarthyism]] to [[Fascism in Europe|European Fascism]] and [[Stalinism]].<ref>[[#Dissidence|Brinkley (1981)]], p. 118.</ref> When asked about his own philosophy, Long simply replied: "Oh, hell, say that I'm ''[[sui generis]]'' and let it go at that."<ref name="FDR"/> In a 1981 ''New York Times'', [[Robert Penn Warren]] wrote of Long:<blockquote>My guess is that he was a remarkable set of contradictions, still baffling to biographers. But I had a great interest in what Huey did in his world, and a greater interest in Huey as a focus of myth. Without this gift for attracting myth he would not have been the power he was, for good and evil. And this gift was fused, indissolubly, with his dramatic sense, with his varying roles and perhaps, ultimately, with the atmosphere of violence which he generated.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 8, 2020|title=In the Time of 'All the King's Men' - The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/31/books/in-the-time-of-all-the-king-s-men.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108173512/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/31/books/in-the-time-of-all-the-king-s-men.html|archive-date=January 8, 2020|url-status=live|work=The New York Times|access-date=July 13, 2023}}</ref></blockquote>

A majority of academics, biographers, and writers who have examined Long view him negatively, typically as a demagogue or dictator.<ref name="mor1"/><ref>[[#Dissidence|Brinkley (1981)]], pp. 118–19.</ref>{{efn|group=note|In 1946, Russell—yet to be a Senator—convinced Senator Overton to submit a motion titled "In Defense of My Father". Beginning with the sentence, "I venture the assertion that no man of our times has been more abused, vilified, and misrepresented by the American press to its reading public than my father, Huey P Long.", the motion was passed without objection and published in ''Congressional Review''.<ref>[[#Perry2004|Perry (2004)]], p. 2.</ref>}} [[Reinhard H. Luthin]] said that he was the epitome of an American demagogue.<ref>[[#Moreau|Moreau (1965)]], p. 122.</ref> [[David M. Kennedy (historian)|David Kennedy]] wrote that Long's regime in Louisiana was "the closest thing to a dictatorship that America has ever known".<ref name="Kennedy, David page 236"/> Journalist [[Hodding Carter]] described him as "the first true dictator out of the soil of America" and his movement the "success of fascism in one American state".<ref name="leg"/><ref>[[#Moreau|Moreau (1965)]], pp. 125–26.</ref> [[Peter Viereck]] categorized Long's movement as "chauvinist thought control"; [[Victor Ferkiss]] called it "incipient fascism".<ref>[[#Dissidence|Brinkley (1981)]], p. 119.</ref>

One of the few biographers to praise Long was T. Harry Williams, who classified Long's ideas as neo-populist.<ref>[[#Long1|Long (1996) [1933]]], p. xii.</ref><ref name="Brinkley p 120"/> He labeled Long a democratic "mass leader", rather than a demagogue.<ref name="Brinkley p 120">[[#Dissidence|Brinkley (1981)]], p. 120.</ref><ref>[[#Haas|Haas (1994)]], p. 126.</ref> Besides Williams, intellectual [[Gore Vidal]] expressed admiration for Long, even naming him as his favorite contemporary U.S. politician.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kauffman|first=Bill|date=September 14, 2012|title=My Pen Pal Gore Vidal|url=http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/my-pen-pal-gore-vidal/|work=[[The American Conservative]]|access-date=July 2, 2020|archive-date=March 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328092414/https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/my-pen-pal-gore-vidal/|url-status=live}}</ref> Long biographer Thomas O. Harris espoused a more nuanced view of Long: "neither saint nor devil, he was a complex and heterogenous mixture of good and bad, genius and craft, hypocrisy and candor, buffoonery and seriousness".<ref>[[#Moreau|Moreau (1965)]], p. 123.</ref>

===Media===
{{Main|Huey Long in culture}}
[[File:Sinclair Lewis It Can't Happen Here 1936 theater poster.jpg|thumb|150px|upright|alt=Poster featuring soldier looming over the United States|1936 poster for the WPA stage adaptation of ''[[It Can't Happen Here]]'']]
In popular culture, Long has served as a template for multiple dictatorial politicians in novels.<ref>[[#Perry2004|Perry (2004)]], pp. 2–3.</ref> Notable works include [[Sinclair Lewis]]'s novel ''[[It Can't Happen Here]]'' (1935),<ref>[[#Boulard|Boulard (1998)]], p. 115.</ref><ref>[[#Perry2004|Perry (2004)]], p. 62.</ref> Robert Penn Warren's [[Pulitzer Prize for Fiction|Pulitzer Prize]]-winning novel ''[[All the King's Men]]'' (1946),<ref>{{cite news |date=May 31, 1981|title=In the Time of 'All the King's Men'|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/books/072098warren-all.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=June 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615001509/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/books/072098warren-all.html|archive-date=June 15, 2020|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Garner|first=Dwight|date=April 11, 2016|title='All the King's Men,' Now 70, Has a Touch of 2016|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/books/all-the-kings-men-now70-has-a-touch-of-2016.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=June 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522223910/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/books/all-the-kings-men-now70-has-a-touch-of-2016.html|archive-date=May 22, 2020|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ash.harvard.edu/event/all-kings-men|title=All the King's Men|date=December 6, 2013|website=[[Harvard Kennedy School]]|publisher=Harvard University|access-date=June 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615001517/https://ash.harvard.edu/event/all-kings-men|archive-date=June 15, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Adria Locke Langley]]'s 1945 novel ''A Lion Is in the Streets''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Perry|first=Keith|date=June 1, 2004|title=The Kingfish in Fiction: Huey P. Long and the Modern American Novel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WS8Sry8NTUIC&q=A+Lion+Is+in+the+Streets+all+the+kings+men&pg=PA33|location=Baton Rouge|publisher=[[Louisiana State University Press]]|page=33|isbn=978-0-8071-2942-5 |access-date=November 12, 2020|archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200214/https://books.google.com/books?id=WS8Sry8NTUIC&q=A+Lion+Is+in+the+Streets+all+the+kings+men&pg=PA33|url-status=live}}</ref> The latter two were adapted into films.<ref>[[#Perry2004|Perry (2004)]], p. 221.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Crowther|first=Bosley|date=September 24, 1953|title=The Screen in Review; ' A Lion Is in the Streets' Opens at Paramount, Starring James Cagney and Barbara Hale|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/09/24/archives/the-screen-in-review-a-lion-is-in-the-streets-opens-at-paramount.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=June 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608225801/https://www.nytimes.com/1953/09/24/archives/the-screen-in-review-a-lion-is-in-the-streets-opens-at-paramount.html|archive-date=June 8, 2020|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> As well as two television [[docudramas]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_life_and_assassination_of_the_kingfish|title=The Life and Assassination of the Kingfish|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=June 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210020525/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_life_and_assassination_of_the_kingfish/|archive-date=December 10, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Scott|first=Tony|date=March 14, 1995|title=Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long|url=https://variety.com/1995/tv/reviews/kingfish-a-story-of-huey-p-long-1200441053/|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|location=Los Angeles|access-date=June 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608040132/https://variety.com/1995/tv/reviews/kingfish-a-story-of-huey-p-long-1200441053/|archive-date=June 8, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Long was the subject of a 1985 [[Ken Burns]]-directed [[Huey Long (documentary)|documentary]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Canby|first=Vincent|author-link=Vincent Canby|date=September 28, 1985|title=Film Festival; 'Huey Long,' A Documentary on the Louisiana Populist, By Ken Burns|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/28/movies/film-festival-huey-long-a-documentary-on-the-louisiana-populist-by-ken-burns.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=June 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609001631/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/28/movies/film-festival-huey-long-a-documentary-on-the-louisiana-populist-by-ken-burns.html |archive-date=June 9, 2020|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Siskel|first=Gene|author-link=Gene Siskel|date=March 19, 1986|title=An Unsatisfying Portrait of Huey Long|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-03-19-8601200686-story.html|work=[[The Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=June 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618143423/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-03-19-8601200686-story.html|archive-date=June 18, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> In music, [[Randy Newman]] featured Long in two songs on the 1974 album ''[[Good Old Boys (Randy Newman album)|Good Old Boys]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Davis|first=Stephen|date=January 21, 1997|title=Good Old Boys|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/good-old-boys-95294/|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|location=Los Angeles|access-date=June 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426125340/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/good-old-boys-95294/|archive-date=April 26, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Frazier|first1=Ian|last2=Hertzberg|first2=Hendrik|date=December 2, 1974|title=Randy Newman|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1974/12/09/randy-newman|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=June 17, 2020|url-status=live|archive-date=June 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619045246/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1974/12/09/randy-newman|url-access=subscription}}</ref> <!-- Long's name was the inspiration for the [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] cartoon character "Huey" of the duck triplets [[Huey, Dewey, and Louie]].<ref>Thomas Andrae,"The Legacy of Al Taliaferro," in ''Disney's Four Color Adventures'' vol. 1 (2011).</ref> Reference needs page #, etc.-->

Long has been the subject of dozens of biographies and academic texts. In fact, more has been written about Long than any other Louisianan.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jeansonne|first=Glen|date=Autumn 1980|title=Challenge to the New Deal: Huey P. Long and the Redistribution of National Wealth|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=21|issue=4|pages= 331–39|jstor=4232034}}</ref> Most notable is the 1969 biography ''[[Huey Long (biography)|Huey Long]]'' by Williams, which won both the [[Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography|Pulitzer Prize]] and the [[National Book Award]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Goodman|first=George Jr.|date=July 7, 1979|title=T. Harry Williams, scholar, Dies; Huey Long Book Won a Pulitzer|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/07/archives/t-harry-williams-scholar-dies-huey-wlong-book-won-a-pulitzer.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=June 9, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/t-harry-williams-2/huey-long-2/|title=Huey Long|website=[[Kirkus Reviews]]|access-date=June 25, 2020|archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200218/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/t-harry-williams-2/huey-long-2/|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[Alan Brinkley]] won the National Book Award in 1983 for ''[[Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin and the Great Depression|Voices of Protest]]'', a study of Long, Coughlin, and populist opposition to Roosevelt.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sherrill|first=Robert|date=July 11, 1982|title=American Demagogues|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/11/books/american-demagogues.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=June 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626081654/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/11/books/american-demagogues.html|archive-date=June 26, 2020|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Berman|first=Milton|date=Winter 1983|title=Reviewed Work: Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression by Alan Brinkley|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=24|issue=1|pages=91–93|jstor=4232243}}</ref>

==Works==

=== Written works ===
* ''Constitutions of the State of Louisiana'', 1930<ref>[[#Long1|Long (1933)]], p. ix.</ref>
* ''[[Every Man a King (autobiography)|Every Man a King]]'', 1933
* ''[[My First Days in the White House]]'', 1935

=== Recorded works ===
Long collaborated with composer [[Castro Carazo]] on the following songs:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lsu.edu/cmda/bands/about/index.php|title=A Brief Look at Over 100 Years of the LSU Tiger Band, 'The Golden Band from Tigerland'|last=Wickes|first=Frank B.|website=Louisiana State University|access-date=June 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716044301/https://www.lsu.edu/cmda/bands/about/index.php|archive-date=July 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=June 8, 2018|title=Find of the Week: Huey P. Long's 'Every Man a King' was a slogan, an autobiography – and a song|url=https://wgno.com/news/find-of-the-week-huey-p-longs-every-man-a-king-was-a-slogan-an-autobiography-and-a-song/|work=[[WGNO]]|location=New Orleans|access-date=June 16, 2020|archive-date=June 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617005311/https://wgno.com/news/find-of-the-week-huey-p-longs-every-man-a-king-was-a-slogan-an-autobiography-and-a-song/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* "Darling of LSU", 1935
* "[[Every Man a King (song)|Every Man a King]]", 1935
* "The LSU Cadets March", 1935
* "Touchdown for LSU", 1935

==See also==
* [[List of United States Congress members killed or wounded in office]]
* [[Charles Coughlin]]
* [[Francis Townsend]]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{notelist|group=note}}

'''Citations'''
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal|last=Abadie|first=Dale|date=Summer 1970|title=A Song of Huey Long|journal=The Journal of Louisiana Historical Association|volume=11|issue=3|pages=271–73|ref=Abadie|jstor=4231135}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite book|last=Bergal|first=Jenni|title=City Adrift: New Orleans Before and After Katrina|year=2007|location=Baton Rouge|publisher=[[Louisiana State University Press]]|isbn=978-0-8071-3386-6 |ref=Bergal}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Amenta|first1=Edwin|last2=Dunleavy|first2=Kathleen|last3=Bernstein|first3=Mary|date=October 1994|title=Stolen Thunder? Huey Long's 'Share Our Wealth,' Political Mediation, and the Second New Deal|journal=[[American Sociological Review]]|volume=59|issue=5|pages=678–702|doi=10.2307/2096443|jstor=2096443|ref=Amenta}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite book|last1=Berlet|first1=Chip|first2=Matthew N.|last2=Lyons|title=Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort|url=https://archive.org/details/rightwingpopulis00berlrich|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Guilford Press]]|location=New York|year=2000|isbn=978-1-4625-2838-7|ref=Chip}}
* {{cite book|last=Boulard|first=Garry|title=Huey Long Invades New Orleans: the Siege of a City, 1934–36|location=New Orleans|publisher=[[Pelican Publishing Company]]|year=1998|isbn=978-1-4556-0609-2 |ref=Boulard}}
* {{cite book|last=Brands|first=H.W.|year=2008|title=Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt|url=https://archive.org/details/traitortohisclas0000bran|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]]|location=New York|isbn=978-0-385-51958-8|ref=Brands}}
* {{cite journal|last=Brinkley|first=Alan|author-link=Alan Brinkley|title=Huey Long, the Share Our Wealth Movement, and the Limits of Depression Dissidence|pages=117–34|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=22|issue=2|year=1981|ref=Dissidence|jstor=4232073}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite book|last=Brinkley|first=Alan|author-mask=3|title=Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression|location=New York |publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|year=1983|orig-date=1982|isbn=978-0-394-71628-2 |ref=Brinkley}}
* {{cite book|last=Calhoun|first=Milburn|title=Louisiana Almanac 2008–2009|publisher=Pelican Publishing Company|location=New Orleans|isbn=978-1-4556-0770-9 |year=2008|ref=calhoun}}
* {{cite book|last=Dethloff|first=Henry C.|title=Huey P. Long: Southern Demagogue or American Democrat?|date=1976|location=[[Lafayette, LA]]|publisher=[[University of Southwestern Louisiana]]|ref=Dethloff}}
* {{cite journal|last=Gillette|first=Michael|author-link=Michael L. Gillette|title=Huey Long and the Chaco War|pages=293–311|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=11|issue=4|year=1970|ref=Gillette|jstor=4231146}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite journal|last=Haas|first=Edward F.|title=Huey Long and the Communists|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=32|issue=1|year=1991|pages=29–46|jstor=4232863}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite journal|last=Haas|first=Edward F.|author-mask=3|date=February 1994|title=Huey Pierce Long and Historical Speculation|journal=The History Teacher|volume=27|issue=2|pages=271–73|doi=10.2307/494714|ref=Haas1994|jstor=4231135}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite journal|last=Haas|first=Edward F.|author-mask=3|year=2006|title=Huey Long and the Dictators|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=47|issue=2|pages=125–31|ref=Haas2006|jstor=494714}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite book|last=Hamby|first=Alonzo L.|author-link=Alonzo Hamby|year=2004|title=For the Survival of Democracy: Franklin Roosevelt and the World Crisis of the 1930s|publisher=[[Simon and Schuster]]|location=New York|isbn=978-0-684-84340-7|ref=Hamby|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/forsurvivalofdem00hamb}}
* {{cite book|last=Hair|first=William Ivy|title=The Kingfish and His Realm: The Life and Times of Huey P. Long|url=https://archive.org/details/kingfishhisrealm00hair|url-access=registration|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|year=1996|location=Baton Rouge|isbn=978-0-8071-4106-9|ref=Hair}}
* {{cite book|last=Harris|first=Thomas O.|title=The Kingfish: Huey P. Long, Dictator|location=New York |publisher=Pelican Publishing Company|year=1938|ref=Harris|oclc=1089608898}}
* {{cite book|last1=Havard|first1=William C.|last2=Herberle|first2=Rudolf|last3=Howard|first3=Perry H.|title=The Louisiana Election of 1960|ref=HavardHeberleHoward|location=Baton Rouge|publisher=Louisiana State University|year=1963|oclc=2497787}}
* {{cite journal|last=Jeansonne|first=Glen|title=Challenge to the New Deal: Huey P. Long and the Redistribution of National Wealth|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=21|issue=4|pages=331–39|year=1980|ref=Jeansonne2|jstor=4232034}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite journal|last=Jeansonne|first=Glen|author-mask=3|title=The Apotheosis of Huey Long|journal=Biography|volume=12|issue=4|date=Fall 1989|pages=283–301|doi=10.1353/bio.2010.0636|ref=Jeansonne3|jstor=23539493|s2cid=162206324}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite journal|last=Jeansonne|first=Glen|author-mask=3|title=Huey P. Long: A Political Contradiction|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|ref=Jeansonne1992|volume=31|issue=4|date=Winter 1990|pages=373–85|jstor=4232837}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite journal|last=Jeansonne|first=Glen|author-mask=3|title=Huey Long and Racism|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|ref=Jeansonne1|volume=22|issue=3|date=1992|pages=265–82|jstor=4232958}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite journal|last=Jeansonne|first=Glen|author-mask=3|date=1994|title=Huey Long and The Historians|journal=The History Teacher|volume=27|issue=2|pages=120–25|ref=Jeansonne1994|jstor=494713|doi=10.2307/494713}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite book|last=Kane|first=Thomas Harnett|title=Huey Long's Louisiana Hayride: the American Rehearsal for Dictatorship, 1928–1940|publisher=[[William Morrow (publisher)|William Morrow]]|location=New York|year=1941|ref=Kane|oclc=678902460}}
* {{cite book|last=Kennedy|first=David|author-link=David M. Kennedy (historian)|title=Freedom From Fear The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945|location=Oxford|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-514403-1 |year=2005|orig-date=1999|ref=Kennedy}}
* {{cite book|last1=Key|first1=V.O.|last2=Heard|first2=Alexander|title=Southern Politics in State and Nation|year=1949|location=Knoxville|publisher=[[University of Tennessee Press]]|ref=key}}
* Kuhn, Joseph. "Flesh and the Common Man: Robert Penn Warren's Huey Long Drama." ''Journal of American Studies'' 53.4 (2019): 953-971.
* {{cite book|last1=Kurtz|first1=Michael L.|last2=Peoples|first2=Morgan D.|title=Earl K. Long: The Saga of Uncle Earl and Louisiana Politics|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|edition=reprint|date=1991|location=Baton Rouge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QsvV2cVte6wC|isbn=978-0-8071-1765-1|ref=Kurtz|access-date=September 9, 2020|archive-date=February 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201233342/https://books.google.com/books?id=QsvV2cVte6wC|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book|last=Long|first=Huey|title=Every Man a King: The Autobiography of Huey P. Long|url=https://archive.org/details/everymankingauto0000long|url-access=registration|location=New Orleans|publisher=[[Da Capo Press]]|year=1996|orig-date=1933|ref=Long1|oclc=818855173}}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=scx65UQZoL4C|title=Louisiana Culture from the Colonial Era to Katrina|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=978-0-8071-3337-8|location=Baton Rouge|date=2008|editor-last=Lowe|editor-first=John|ref=Lowe|access-date=August 22, 2020|archive-date=December 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200226/https://books.google.com/books?id=scx65UQZoL4C&q=huey+long+last+words&pg=PA239|url-status=live}}
* McGuire, Jack B. "Huey Long a Fascist?" ''Louisiana History'' 63.4 (2022): 457-472. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/27190866 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813164818/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27190866 |date=August 13, 2023 }}
* Mann, Robert. ''Kingfish U: Huey Long and LSU'' (LSU Press, 2023) [https://books.google.com/books?id=xUaWEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Huey+Long%22&pg=PP1 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003014359/https://books.google.com/books?id=xUaWEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Huey+Long%22&pg=PP1 |date=October 3, 2023 }}.
* Mathy, Gabriel, and Nicolas L. Ziebarth. "How much does political uncertainty matter? The case of Louisiana under Huey Long." ''Journal of Economic History'' 77.1 (2017): 90-126. [https://scholar.archive.org/work/ovp2f3aee5ghrgpw3o34p7w2rq/access/wayback/https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/72E96A8F1BF65748EF0C689DD7F9AC6C/S002205071700002Xa.pdf/div-class-title-how-much-does-political-uncertainty-matter-the-case-of-louisiana-under-huey-long-div.pdf online]
* {{cite journal|last=Moreau|first=John Adam|date=Spring 1965|title=Huey Long and His Chroniclers|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=6|issue=2|pages=121–39 |jstor=4230837|ref=Moreau}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite book|last=Parrish|first=Michael E.|year=1994|title=Anxious Decades: America in Prosperity and Depression, 1920–1941|publisher=[[W.W. Norton & Company]]|location=New York |isbn=978-0-393-31134-1 |ref=Parrish}}
* {{cite book|last=Perry|first=Keith|title=The Kingfish in Fiction: Huey P. Long and the Modern American Novel|year=2004|location=Baton Rouge|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=978-0-8071-2942-5 |ref=Perry2004}}
* {{cite journal|last=Pleasant|first=John R. Jr.|date=Autumn 1974|title=Ruffin G. Pleasant and Huey P. Long on the Prisoner-Stripe Controversy|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=15|issue=4|pages=357–66|ref=Pleasant|jstor=4231428}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite journal|last=Sanson|first=Jerry P.|date=Summer 2006|title="What He Did and What He Promised to Do...": Huey Long and the Horizons of Louisiana Politics|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=47|issue=3|pages=261–76|ref=Sanson|jstor=4234200}} {{subscription required}}
* Seidemann, Ryan M. "Did the State Win or Lose in its Mineral Dealings with Huey Long, Oscar Allen, James Noe, and the Win or Lose Oil Company?" ''Louisiana History'' 59.2 (2018): 196-225. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/26475480 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813164658/https://www.jstor.org/stable/26475480 |date=August 13, 2023 }}
* {{cite journal|last=Snyder|first=Robert E.|date=Spring 1975|title=Huey Long and the Presidential Election of 1936|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=16|issue=2|pages=117–43|ref=Snyder|jstor=4231456}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite journal|last=Snyder|first=Robert E.|author-mask=3|date=Spring 1977|title=Huey Long and the Cotton-Holiday Plan of 1931|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=18|issue=2|pages=133–60|ref=Cotton|jstor=4231670}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite journal|last=Vaughn|first=Courtney|date=Winter 1979|title=The Legacy of Huey Long|journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association|volume=20|issue=1|pages=93–101|ref=Vaughn|jstor=4231871}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite book|last=Warren|first=Kenneth F.|author-link=Kenneth F. Warren|year=2008|title=Encyclopedia of U.S. Campaigns, Elections, and Electoral Behavior: A–M|volume=1|publisher=[[SAGE Publications]]|location=[[Thousand Oaks, CA]]|isbn=978-1-4129-5489-1 |ref= Warren}}
* {{cite book|last=White|first=Richard D.|title=Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long|url=https://archive.org/details/kingfishreignofh00whit|url-access=registration|location=New York|publisher=[[Random House]]|isbn=978-0-8129-7383-9|year=2006|ref=White}}
* {{cite book|last=Williams|first=T. Harry|author-link=T. Harry Williams|title=Huey Long|url=https://archive.org/details/hueylong0000will|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|location=New York|isbn=978-0-394-74790-3|year=1981|orig-date=1969|ref=Williams}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons cat}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.hueylong.com/ |title=Huey Long Official Website |publisher=Long Legacy Project}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.hnoc.org/programs/huey-p-long-annotated-resource-set |title=Huey P. Long Annotated Resource Set |publisher=The Historic New Orleans Collection}}
* {{cite web |url=https://louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/lsu-sc-hpl:collection |title=Huey P. Long Photograph Album, 1928–1935 |publisher=Louisiana Digital Library}}
* [https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/08/10/trump-huey-long-00110667 Rich Lowry "Donald Trump is our Huey Long" ''Politico'' Aug 10, 2023]

{{Huey Long}}
{{Governors of Louisiana}}
{{United States senators from Louisiana}}
{{New Deal}}
{{Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Huey}}
[[Category:Huey Long|*]]
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1935 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century American politicians]]
[[Category:American political bosses from Louisiana]]
[[Category:American anti-communists]]
[[Category:American social democrats]]
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[[Category:Burials in Louisiana]]
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[[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Louisiana]]
[[Category:Democratic Party governors of Louisiana]]
[[Category:History of United States isolationism]]
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[[Category:Left-wing populists]]
[[Category:Long family|Huey]]
[[Category:Louisiana lawyers]]
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[[Category:Oklahoma Baptist University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Winnfield, Louisiana]]
[[Category:People murdered in Louisiana]]
[[Category:Tulane University Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Tulane University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Oklahoma alumni]]
[[Category:Politicians assassinated in the 1930s]]
[[Category:Left-wing populism in the United States]]