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Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893 – September 10, 1935), nicknamed "The Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination in 1935.
May 29, 2024 · Huey Long, flamboyant and demagogic governor of Louisiana and U.S. senator whose social reforms and radical welfare proposals were ultimately overshadowed by the unprecedented executive dictatorship that he perpetrated to ensure control of his home state.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Huey Long: Early Years
- Rose Mcconnell Long
- Lousiana Railroad Commission
- The Kingfish
- Huey Long and The Black Community
- Senator Huey Long
- Share Our Wealth
- Long and Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Square Deal Association
- Huey Long Assassination
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Long was born on August 30, 1893, in rural north central Louisiana, the seventh child in his family. His hometown of Winnfield was in one of the poorest parishes in the state, but the Longs, farmers with livestock, were relatively well off. Long was known for his avid reading, photographic memory and an audacious personality with no inhibitions abo...
At the end of 1912, Long was arrested in Shreveport for creating a disturbance in a brothel, though Long later claimed he was falsely arrested for the shooting of two men. He was in Shreveport to propose to Rose McConnell. Long had met Rose in 1910 at a baking contest he organized to promote a shortening called Cottolene while he was still in sales...
In 1918 Long won a seat on the Louisiana Railroad Commission and used his position to fight monopolies and utility rates, winning favor with working people. In 1922, he became the chairman of the Louisiana Public Service Commissionand sued the telephone company for raising rates. Long rankled the conservative establishment and confrontations with t...
With the slogan “Every man a king,” Long ran for governor again four years later. He won by huge numbers in 1928 and, now embracing the nickname “the Kingfish,” immediately made good on his promises by maneuvering out of government agencies the cronies of the conservative political establishment and installing his own allies. Democratic Governor Lo...
Despite Long’s reputation as a reformer, his efforts did not extend to the black community. One of his earliest acts as governor was to sign a bill expanding train segregation to buses, and he gave speeches warning of “Negro domination,” though some of his populist policies did benefit blacks economically. Long’s favorite way to discredit opponents...
In 1930, Long ran for the U.S. Senateand won, but left his Senate seat unattended for months while he consolidated his power in Louisiana before departing the state, installing cronies to take his place as governor. Long would demand a special session of the state legislature when he visited, pushing through his agenda at a startling pace that igno...
In the Senate, Long addressed the Great Depressionby advocating for a series of reforms known as Share Our Wealth, a plan to redistribute wealth and capping personal income at $50 million. Labeled a socialist by both political parties, Long started his own newspaper, the American Progress, to spread his ideas. Share Our Wealth political clubs appea...
Long initially supported President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but felt threatened by him. Roosevelt felt that Long was dangerous and attempted to undo his power, going so far as to order investigations into Long by the IRS and the FBI. Roosevelt incorporated some of Long’s Share Our Wealth initiatives into his New Dealto ensure Long’s efforts did not u...
A group called the Square Deal Association had quietly formed in Louisiana, a gathering of Long’s opponents who embraced armed revolt as the only way to stop him. In January 1935, the East Baton Rouge Parish courthouse was raided by a group of 300 armed men in the Square Deal Association. Governor Oscar K. Allen declared martial law and called in t...
On September 8, 1935, Long arrived in Baton Rouge to take part in a special legislative session when he was approached by Dr. Carl Weiss, the son-in-law of Judge Benjamin Pavy. Pavy stood to lose his position during the session after Long revived a rumor about black children in the Pavy family to discredit him professionally. Weiss shot Long at clo...
Learn about Huey Long, a controversial Louisiana politician who rose from poverty to become a governor and a senator. Find out how he challenged the establishment, advocated for the poor and was killed by an assassin.
On September 8, 1935, United States senator and former Louisiana governor Huey Long was fatally shot at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Long was an extremely popular and influential politician at the time, and his death eliminated a possible 1936 presidential bid against incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt .
The political views of Huey P. Long have presented historians and biographers with some difficulty. While most say that Louisiana Governor and Senator Huey Long was a populist, little else can be agreed on.
Sep 15, 2017 · Learn about the life and legacy of Huey Long, the controversial Louisiana governor and senator who was assassinated in 1935. He proposed a radical plan to redistribute wealth, challenged Roosevelt, and built a political machine in the South.
Watch a film by Ken Burns that explores the rise and fall of Huey Long, a populist hero and a corrupt demagogue who was governor and senator of Louisiana. Learn about his social reforms, his political machine, his ambition and his assassination in 1935.
