Huey Long
Huey Long, known as the “Kingfish”, was an American politician of the Democratic Party. He was very popular with whites in Louisiana. To Roosevelt, however, Huey Long was “one of the two most dangerous men in America”.
Huey Long was born in Winnfield, Louisiana on 30th August 1893. He was the seventh of nine children born to Caledonia Tison Long and Huey Pierce Long Senior - a livestock farmer. Huey Long left home at the age of 16, and started working as a salesman in Texas and Tennessee. In 1913, Huey Long married Rose McConnell, and then attended the Tuland University Law School. He completed the three-year course in eight months and became a lawyer at the age of 21.
In 1918, he was elected to the state railroad commissioner for the northern district of Louisiana. In 1921, Huey Long became the chairman of the Public Services Commission.
In 1924, Huey Long ran for governor of Louisiana but failed. However, he ran again for Louisiana governor in 1928 and won by the largest margin votes in the state’s history. He won by tapping into the class resentment of rural Louisianans and by giving the people hopes for a better future. He then took the nickname “Kingfish” after a character on the popular Amos & Andy radio program.
“The Kingfish”, as Long was called, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1930. Then, he decided to run for president against Roosevelt.
In 1933, Roosevelt created the New Deal during his first hundred days. Huey Long was at first a supporter of the New Deal, but then he started attacking it for not doing enough for the poor.
On 8th September 1935, Huey Long was shot in the corridors of the Louisiana State Capitol that he built. He died two days later...
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