A Man Like None Other
“Every man a king, but no one wears a crown.”
-Huey Long
The state of Louisiana has offered some of the most interesting and colorful politicians in our nation’s history. From the 1991 gubernatorial election of David Duke versus Edwin Edwards to long-time Jefferson Parish sheriff Harry Lee, no other figure in Louisiana political history has reached the legendary status of Huey P. Long. To this day, Huey Long is still well-known for his passionate populist speeches, creating a massive political machine, and his dictator-like control of the state of Louisiana in the 1920s and 30s.
Before becoming the governor of Louisiana in 1928. Long grew up in small-town in rural North Louisiana in the late 1890s/early 1900s. Then, he became a travelling salesman and passed the Louisiana bar exam to become a lawyer. Long’s personal penchant for smooth-talking and debating made Long a natural fit for politics.
Before becoming governor, Long was elected Louisiana’s state rail commissioner in 1918 and ran for governor in 1924. Huey lost a close race in 1924 but decided to run again in 1928.
For the 1928 gubernatorial election, Huey travelled all-over Louisiana to stir up popular support for his anti-big business, pro-common man platform. His fiery, vigorous speeches dazzled the state’s poorer rural populace so much that Long defeated the incumbent governor of Louisiana Oramel Simpson in the 1928 election.
Becoming the King of Louisiana
Finally, Huey became governor of Louisiana in 1928. Between 1928 and his Long’s assassination in 1936, Long consolidated political power by appointing his supporters and by defeating his enemies.
Initially, Long did battle with intense opposition early on in his four year term as governor. Long’s opponents impeached him in the Louisiana legislature in 1929 after he proposed a tax on Standard Oil. However, the impeachment proceedings did not lead to a conviction.
Interestingly, Huey Long’s survived impeachment actually increased his power. Governor Long grew his supporter base among the Louisiana legislature by lavishly rewarding supporters with cushy state jobs and state funds. He also made sure that his supporters won elections to local office or statewide office—either by campaigning for them or rigging elections for them.
In the years before his assassination in 1936, Huey Long effectively became the “dictator” of Louisiana.
Long was able to ram legislation during legislative sessions just by telling his supporters how to vote. Separation of powers did not exist under Huey Long’s reign. Even though Long was only the governor, he completely controlled the Louisiana legislature by having it pass whatever he wanted them to pass. It didn’t matter that legislators didn’t have time to read his bills. Whatever Huey Long wanted was what happened.
That’s not all. Huey Long controlled also controlled local elections, law enforcement, and every facet of the government. He pretty much hand-picked every single government-related job in the state of Louisiana. If you wanted to keep your nice government job, then you had to suck up to Huey Long.
Hypothetically, let’s say you have a random uncle who was an enemy of Huey Long in the 1930s. That fact alone could lead to you losing your job as an elementary school teacher. That was just the atmosphere at the time.
Crazy Stories of Huey Long
To truly understand Huey Long, I wanted to share some stories about him from Richard White’s Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long. This biographical book covers the life of Huey Long and regales many amusing stories from this man’s colorful life. All of these stories came from White’s book, so I would highly recommend that you check it out.
1. Getting Rid of Lieutenant Governor Paul Cyr
In Louisiana, the lieutenant governor is the “second in command” of the state’s executive branch.
A man named Paul Cyr was the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana during Huey Long’s “reign” over Louisiana. Cyr started out as a Long supporter when he ran alongside Huey Long in 1928. Then, the two men became bitter political enemies a year later after Cyr abandoned his support of Long.
In 1930, Huey Long ran for the US Senate seat in Louisiana while he was still governor. Long was supposed to become a US Senator in March 1931, but his term as governor didn’t end until May 1932. Huey didn’t want to step down as governor until one of his supporters took his place as Louisiana’s governor in 1932–ensuring his control of Louisiana’s government.
Lieutenant Governor Cyr threatened to take the oath of office as governor in order to force Huey to take his seat as the state’s US Senator. Consequently, Long was afraid to leave the state of Louisiana due to Cyr’s threat.
Cyr finally took his chance to take out Huey Long. He took the oath of office as governor in front of a North Louisiana justice of the peace. Cyr drove down to Baton Rouge to become the governor of Louisiana. This mutiny angered Long and pushed him to install the National Guard to stop Cyr. Cyr was bested in this battle and returned home.
To Cyr’s surprise, Long claimed that Cyr vacated his position as lieutenant governor by taking the oath of office to become governor. Huey Long appointed pro-Long crony Alvin King as the new lieutenant governor and successfully defended appointment in court.
In the end, Paul Cyr’s attack backfired. Huey Long got rid of the #2 position in Louisiana politics through shrewd political maneuvering.
2. Long’s Love for LSU football
Governor Long was a huge fan of LSU football. He was known becoming personally involved with the program by giving halftime speeches to the team and telling the head coach what plays to call during the game.
Long put his money where his mouth was when it came to LSU football. When the LSU Tigers were down at halftime against Arkansas one game, Long offered the players cushy government jobs on the state Highway Commission if they won the game. Coincidentally, the team came back and won.
If you thought Long was crazy, he also threatened the Ringling Brothers circus. He didn’t want the circus’s parade to decrease attendance for the LSU vs. SMU football game since both were scheduled events in Baton Rouge. So, he demanded the circus to move to from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Unsurprisingly, the circus acceded to Long’s demand.
Geaux Tigers.
3. Huey Long declared Martial Law in New Orleans (1934)
The City of New Orleans never liked Huey Long. The City’s political class despised Huey, and the feeling was mutual.
In the summer of 1934, Long told Louisiana governor (a pro-Long puppet) O.K. Allen to declare martial law in New Orleans. In a sense, Huey Long literally declared war on the city of New Orleans.
Here’s what precipitated this marital law declaration: Huey Long sent Louisiana National Guard to commandeer voter lists in the New Orleans’s registrar of voters. Long angered many people in New Orleans by passing state legislation that gave the state of Louisiana control over local elections in New Orleans. Certainly, Long was looking to rig New Orleans elections in favor of pro-Long candidates.
New Orleans mayor Thomas Wamsley (anti-Long guy) reacted to Long’s power grab by sending hundreds of NOLA policemen to stop Long’s forces. Huey Long then forced Governor Allen to send 2500 Louisiana National Guards after Allen’s martial law declaration. The National Guard were sent to run New Orleans’s elections under Huey Long’s supervision.
The Louisiana National Guard finally left New Orleans after Long’s candidates won landslide elections in the city’s fall elections. The Summer of 1934 is another interesting story in the history of New Orleans.
4. Long’s 1935 U.S. Senate Filibuster
Huey Long became an ardent opponent of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Long believed that FDR did not go far enough in enacting socialist policies in his New Deal legislation. Consequently, the two men became bitter enemies after FDR’s reelection in 1932.
Huey Long completed a filibuster to stop FDR’s National Recovery Act (NRA). He talked for fifteen hours in the US Senate just to spite FDR and FDR’s supporters. In his 15 hour filibuster, Long read the US Constitution, lectured about German leader Frederick the Great, and gave instructions on how to fry oysters. What a legend!
After 15 hours, Long left the Senate floor to use the restroom. Then, the US Senate quickly called for a vote on the NRA bill and passed it.
5. “Bloody Monday” (1929)
This story will be brief since this post is getting long.
In 1929, the Louisiana legislature had a huge brawl. The state house was debating whether to adjourn before voting to proceed with impeaching Governor Long. A huge fight occurred between pro-Long and anti-Long legislators over the vote to adjourn for the day. Blood was spilled during the fight between the hot-blooded Louisiana lawmakers.
If you think today’s political scene is toxic, then you should do some more reading about Louisiana in the late 1920s/early 1930s. Back then, you were either pro-Huey Long or anti-Huey Long. There was nothing in-between.
Huey Long Quotes
To close this post, I wanted to include some quotes from the “Kingfish” himself. These quotes capture the personality and ideas of Huey Long.
-“I’m for the poor man — all poor men, black and white, they all gotta have a chance. They gotta have a home, a job, and a decent education for their children. ‘Every man a king’ — that’s my slogan.”
-“A man is not a dictator when he is given a commission from the people and carries it out.”
-“A perfect democracy can come close to looking like a dictatorship, a democracy in which the people are so satisfied they have no complaint.”
-“We do not propose to say that there shall be no rich men. We do not ask to divide the wealth. We only propose that, when one man gets more than he and his children and children’s children can spend or use in their lifetimes, that then we shall say that such person has his share. That means that a few million dollars is the limit to what any one man can own.”
-“I’d rather violate every one of the damn conventions and see my bills passed, than sit back in my office, all nice and proper, and watch ’em die.”