Huey Long

   

Huey Long was a former senator as well as the former governor of Louisiana. Beginning in his hometown Louisiana, Long started out poor and went from lawyer to public service commissioner and finally ended up becoming one of the most powerful governors of Louisiana. Long quickly gained more power feeding off the desires of the American people and it wasn't long before he finally dominated every institution of government in some way. Huey Long's power became so prominent, the character "Willy Stark" was based on him. To many Americans, he became known as a dictator who simply held too much power, however to those in Louisiana, he became known as "Kingfish".
     Wanting to advance his own power and ambitions, Long resigned from his place a governor of Lousiana and joined the US Senate. Initially, Long was in support of Franklin Deleanor Roosevelt but later on, broke away from the President and supported himself. In 1935, Long launched his own national political organization called the Share Our Wealth Club and was proud to say he was going to run against Roosevelt in the following election. Although Long was popular, many believed he was not capable of winning such a victory. Long might have been a threat to Roosevelt, and certainly could have tipped the balance in the race, but he lacked many of qualities that made for a good President.
     Long was confident of the power he held across the United States. Unfortunately, Long never made it. In September of 1935, he was shot by the son in law of one of his ruined political opponents and died only a couple days later.
     Huey Long has been interpreted as a demagogue of his era. Simply a radical populist. However, many of his ideas were quite rational. Not only that, but he delivered on many of his campaign promises and was quite dedicated to the people. In contrast, our current President Donald Trump, also what some would call a populist is not dedicated to the people of the United States and has not kept any of his campaign promises.
      In general, it can be said that while Long might have had the best of intentions for the American people, his management of power and methods to attain power, including the use of media to create a reputation (similar to Trump) seem irrational and far too radical for the majority of Americans.

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