Messiah of the Masses

Huey Long, born in Louisiana, started his political career at an early age. By the age of 21 he was a lawyer under his brother, but had many setbacks in school before hand. He was resistant to authority and often made up his own rules in his educational life. Huey thought very highly of himself and considered himself a smart man. Although Long was very intelligent, he did not have the driven work ethic that makes a successful career in politics. Regardless of his lack of drive, he eventually became governor of Louisiana.

Huey Long started his political career as a lawyer, ambitiously starting his own firm. After many complications, his business began to pick up. Huey soon began to get a political itch and planned to run against his brother for district attorney in 1918. With persuasion from a friend, Huey decided to wait and run for a higher office, and ended up loosing. After loosing this election, he spent some time campaigning for other candidates in order to make himself more widely known amongst other politicians and voters. In January of 1924, Long followed his lifelong ambition and ran for governor. Huey supported the Ku Klux Klan, a group that presented a large issue during the 1924 race, and since the north and south were divided on their views of the Klan, it was almost impossible for Huey to successfully combine he two regions as he had initially planned. Besides Klan support, Huey also campaigned to provide free textbooks, make the state penitentiary self-supporting, place union members on the state board, and increase workers' compensation benefits. In rural parts of Louisiana, he announced he would abolish the state Conservation Commission and permit unlimited hunting and fishing year-round. He borrowed some other ideas from the Populists, and also suggested the improvement of the areas of agriculture and transportation, all without raising taxes. Huey went on to lose this election and blamed it on the bad weather. Huey did not let his losses faze him. He instead devoted more time to his law practice and held on to his yearning for the governorship.

In 1928, Huey Long ran once again for governor. He knew he would have support in northern Louisiana and would be rejected by urban Louisiana. The decisive vote was in southern Louisiana, which he hoped to win over. Long's running mate was Catholic and added support from the Cajuns. Long mainly identified himself with the poorer parts of the state, claiming to be the voice of the "common man." Huey's speeches were short and bold and always given in terms a six year old could understand. In many ways he made his potential government seem like Santa Clause. This was a great appeal to the people since the government had formally been acting like Scrooge. Long was also not afraid to lie during his campaigns, often claiming to have nonexistent evidence. He appealed to mostly rural peoples and his stating that he would install paved roads intrigued the farmers since most paved roads were only in urban areas and transportation of goods was a problem for the farmers. One fault that became publicized was his physical cowardliness after a fight with one of his political opponents. He also had developed a serious drinking problem due to campaigning stress. Long went on to win the election and become governor of Louisiana. He acquired the nickname "Kingfish"