Kingfish
Kingfish

Author: Richard D. White, Jr.

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2009-03-25

Total Pages: 393

ISBN-13: 0307535762

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From the moment he took office as governor in 1928 to the day an assassin’s bullet cut him down in 1935, Huey Long wielded all but dictatorial control over the state of Louisiana. A man of shameless ambition and ruthless vindictiveness, Long orchestrated elections, hired and fired thousands at will, and deployed the state militia as his personal police force. And yet, paradoxically, as governor and later as senator, Long did more good for the state’s poor and uneducated than any politician before or since. Outrageous demagogue or charismatic visionary? In this powerful new biography, Richard D. White, Jr., brings Huey Long to life in all his blazing, controversial glory. White taps invaluable new source material to present a fresh, vivid portrait of both the man and the Depression era that catapulted him to fame. From his boyhood in dirt-poor Winn Parish, Long knew he was destined for power–the problem was how to get it fast enough to satisfy his insatiable appetite. With cunning and crudity unheard of in Louisiana politics, Long crushed his opponents in the 1928 gubernatorial race, then immediately set about tightening his iron grip. The press attacked him viciously, the oil companies howled for his blood after he pushed through a controversial oil processing tax, but Long had the adulation of the people. In 1930, the Kingfish got himself elected senator, and then there was no stopping him. White’s account of Long’s heyday unfolds with the mesmerizing intensity of a movie. Pegged by President Roosevelt as “one of the two most dangerous men in the country,” Long organized a radical movement to redistribute money through his Share Our Wealth Society–and his gospel of pensions for all, a shorter workweek, and free college spread like wildfire. The Louisiana poor already worshiped him for building thousands of miles of roads and funding schools, hospitals, and universities; his outrageous antics on the Senate floor gained him a growing national base. By 1935, despite a barrage of corruption investigations, Huey Long announced that he was running for president. In the end, Long was a tragic hero–a power addict who squandered his genius and came close to destroying the very foundation of democratic rule. Kingfish is a balanced, lucid, and absolutely spellbinding portrait of the life and times of the most incendiary figure in the history of American politics.

The Kingfish
The Kingfish

Author: Thomas O. Harris

Publisher: Pelican Publishing

Published: 2001-11-30

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 9781455607044

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Chronicling his meteoric rise to power and allegations of corruption, Thomas O. Harris's The Kingfish tells of Huey P. Long's many social reforms, which endeared him to the rural poor and made him an enemy of big business. Long was a man who, through hard work and perseverance, surpassed all boundaries previously aligned with American politicians. Harris very vividly points out the overall danger of Long's politics and his underlying selfish motives. He calls Long a dictator and a threat to the American political system but finds it hard to deny the many reasons for Long�s immense popularity within Louisiana.

Death of the Kingfish!
Death of the Kingfish!

Author: Richard Briley III

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2017-07-31

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 1787207439

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First published in 1960, this book by former newspaperman, author and Louisianan native, Richard Briley III, deals with the untimely demise of Huey Long, aka “The Kingfish,” an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana (1928-1932) and as a member of the U.S. Senate from 1932 until his death by assassination in 1935. A Democrat, “The Kingfish” was an outspoken populist who denounced the wealthy and the banks and called for a “Share Our Wealth” program. As the political leader of the state, he commanded wide networks of supporters and was willing to take forceful action. He established the long-term political prominence of the Long family. Long’s Share Our Wealth plan was established in 1934 under the motto “Every Man a King.” It proposed new wealth redistribution measures in the form of a net asset tax on corporations and individuals to curb the poverty and homelessness endemic nationwide during the Great Depression. To stimulate the economy, Long advocated federal spending on public works, schools and colleges, and old age pensions. He was an ardent critic of the policies of the Federal Reserve System. Under Long’s leadership, hospitals and educational institutions were expanded, a system of charity hospitals was set up that provided health care for the poor, massive highway construction and free bridges brought an end to rural isolation, and free textbooks were provided for schoolchildren. He remains a controversial figure in Louisiana history, with critics and supporters debating whether or not he could have potentially become a dictator or was a demagogue.

The Kingfish in Fiction
The Kingfish in Fiction

Author: Keith Perry

Publisher: LSU Press

Published: 2004-06-01

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 9780807129425

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The controversial, almost mythic Louisiana politician Huey P. Long inspired not just one but six American novels, published between 1934 and 1946. And he continues to resonate in American cultural memory, appearing in a 1995 work of historical fiction. The Kingfish in Fiction offers the first study of all six “Hueys-who-aren’t-Hueys” as they strut and bluster their way across the literary page, each character with his own particular story, each towing a different authorial agenda. Keith Perry carefully dissects the intertwining of documented history and artistic invention in Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here, Hamilton Basso’s Cinnamon Seed and Sun in Capricorn, John Dos Passos’s Number One, Adria Locke Langley’s A Lion Is in the Streets, and Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men. Perry explains that Lewis cast his version of the Kingfish as a totalitarian menace, a sort of homegrown Hitler, in what Lewis later admitted was an unapologetic attempt to sabotage Long’s designs on the White House. Basso, one of Long’s most vocal detractors, created two Long-based characters, each a rabble-rousing affront to what remained of the Old South order. To warn readers of the dangers hidden in the politician-constituent contract, Dos Passos transformed Long into a shameless manipulator of the gullible American masses. Langley’s rendition suffers complete condemnation by its creator for personal as well as public transgressions. Warren’s spellbinding Willie Stark, almost as much philosopher as politician, ironically bears the least resemblance to Long though for almost six decades Stark has been Long’s best-known fictional embodiment. Exploring how and why these five authors—among them, a Nobel laureate, one of America’s most celebrated political novelists, and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner—turned one politician into six fictional characters leads Perry to conclude that Huey P. Long’s lasting impression may well be a composite of both historical and imaginative interpretation.

The Louisiana Field Guide
The Louisiana Field Guide

Author: Ryan Orgera

Publisher: LSU Press

Published: 2014-10-13

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0807157775

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In Louisiana, every bite of food and each turn of phrase is an expression of cultural literacy. Correctly pronouncing "Tchoupitoulas" or "Atchafalaya," knowing the difference between the first Governor Long and the second one, being able to spot the artwork of Caroline Durieux, and honoring the distinction between a Creole and a Cajun roux serve not just as markers of familiarity; they represent acts of preservation. The Louisiana Field Guide: Understanding Life in the Pelican State expands on this everyday communion of history, delving into the cultural patchwork that makes the Gumbo State both thoroughly American and absolutely singular. An authoritative lineup of contributors reintroduces Louisiana through the lenses of environment, geography, history, politics, religion, culture, language, sports, literature, film, music, architecture, food, and art. Whether describing the archi-tectural details of the Ursuline Convent in the French Quarter or sharing the family history of Bourgeois' Meat Market just outside of Thibodaux, the essays in The Louisiana Field Guide present a fresh and expansive look at the enchanting and perplexing Pelican State. At once an accessible primer and a rich omnibus, this volume explores the well-known destinations and far-flung corners of Louisiana, from Cameron Parish to Congo Square, offering an enlightening companion guide for visitors and a trust-worthy reference for residents.

The Kingfish Bible
The Kingfish Bible

Author: Amy Richard

Publisher:

Published: 2014-06

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780964931749

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18 chapters (10 new chapters, in addition to revised chapters from the 1st edition). Hundreds of new photos.

Huey Long
Huey Long

Author: Thomas Harry Williams

Publisher:

Published: 1969

Total Pages: 958

ISBN-13:

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He was one of the most extraordinary figures in America's political history, a great natural politician who had become, at the time of his assassination, a serious rival to Franklin D. Roosevelt for the presidency.