Senator
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The only difference I ever found between the Democratic leadership and the Republican leadership is that one of them is skinning you from the ankle up and the other, from the neck down.

The only difference I ever found between the Democratic leadership and the Republican leadership is that one of them is skinning you from the ankle up and the other, from the neck down.

Huey Long, from his famous speech, ‘High Popalorum and Low Popahirum'

Historical Timeline

Oct 1930 Construction begins on Lake Pontchartrain seawall, providing flood protection and recreation

Nov 4, 1930 Huey Long elected to U.S. Senate

Nov 1930 La. legislature passes Long's massive building program for Lousiana State University

Dec 1930 Construction begins on Long's new State Capitol building in Baton Rouge

Sep 1931 Japan invades Manchuria, beginning imperial expansion

Sep 1931 Britain abandons gold standard, marking shift in global finance

1932 By 1932, Long administration has built over 5,000 miles of new paved and gravel roads and begun construction of 111 bridges

Jan 9-13, 1932 Long campaigns for Hattie Caraway, helping to elect the first female U.S. Senator

Jan 25, 1932 Huey Long resigns La. governorship and takes U.S. Senate seat

May 1932 New State Capitol dedicated; at 450 ft. with 34 stories, it remains the tallest state capitol building in U.S.

Jul 1932 Bonus Army of WWI veterans forcibly dispersed in Washington, D.C.

Nov 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt elected U.S. president

Dec 1932 Construction begins on Huey Long bridge, the first bridge built over the Mississippi River in La.

Jan 1933 Adolf Hilter appointed Chancellor of Germany

Mar 1933 U.S. unemployment reaches 24.9%, the worst year of the Great Depression

Mar 1933 FDR inaugurated and launches First New Deal

Mar 1933 FDR closes all banks to prevent financial collapse; Emergency Banking Act reopens solvent banks

Mar 1933 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established

May 1933 Tennessee Valley Authority created to build dams and power plants

Jun 1933 National Recovery Administration and Public Works Administration created

Jun 1933 Glass-Steagal Act creates Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to guarantee deposits

Nov 1933 Creation of Civil Works Administration, precursor to Works Progress Administration

Feb 23, 1934 Long unveils his Share Our Wealth plan in national radio broadcast

May 1934 Dust Bowl crisis develops across Plains states

Oct 1934 Long March begins in China as Mao's Red Army retreats

Oct 1934 Long arranges for six trains to transport 5,000 LSU fans to the Vanderbilt football game, giving loans to students for the trip

1934 By end of 1934, Long's Share Our Wealth movement has three million members

Jun 12, 1935 Long filibusters New Deal provisions, speaking for over 15 hours

~ Courtesy of LSU Libraries Special Collections.

In the Louisiana legislative session following the impeachment debacle, opponents blocked Huey's proposals for a major road-building initiative and the construction of a modern capitol building in Baton Rouge to house all departments of government. Huey countered by announcing he would run for the U.S. Senate in the fall of 1930 as a referendum on his programs. He promised to resign the governorship if he lost the Senate race; but a win would signal to the legislature where their constituents stood.

Cyr's Debacle

Lt. Governor Paul Cyr, a Long opponent, claimed that Huey vacated his governorship upon his election to the U.S. Senate. In the fall of 1931, Cyr staged a “coup d'etat” and had himself sworn in as governor, claiming a Baton Rouge hotel as the new seat of government.

Huey responded that he was still governor because he had not taken the oath of office as Senator. He called out the National Guard to secure the capital city and declared that Cyr had vacated his office by taking the oath for the governorship.

The courts agreed, and under state rules the president of the state senate, Alvin O. King, became Lt. Governor. With his friend set to succeed him, Long resigned as governor and left for Washington.

Long soundly defeated incumbent Senator Joseph E. Ransdell, but he left the Senate seat vacant for nine months for fear that Lt. Governor Paul Cyr would roll back his reforms once Huey left for Washington. (In response to critics, Long quipped that the seat had already been vacant 32 years under Ransdell.) After a bungled attempt by Cyr to seize the governorship, Long ally Alvin O. King became Lt. Governor, allowing Huey to take his seat in the Senate.

Huey continued to be in effective control of Louisiana after the next gubernatorial election, when he successfully campaigned for Oscar K. Allen, a childhood friend and loyal supporter, who followed Long's instructions in the governor's office. He frequently traveled back to Baton Rouge to push his programs through the legislature, including abolishing the poll tax and creating a homestead tax exemption for personal property.

The Great Depression

Huey believed that the Great Depression was the result of the tremendous disparity between the wealthy and the poor. He charged that the richest five percent of the population controlled 85 percent of the nation's wealth. There just was not enough to go around. By 1934, nearly half of all Americans lived in poverty, earning less than $1,250 annually.

In Huey's view, capitalism had run amuck and the vast majority of the population was suffering as a result of corporate greed. The nation was stuck in a vicious cycle in which people had no money to put into the economy, and jobs were drying up because there was no commerce. One in four breadwinners was out of work, and more than a million men roamed the country in search of work.

Surpluses of food and textiles were destroyed for lack of buyers, while millions lost their worldly possessions and lived on the brink of starvation.

Huey arrived in Washington in January 1932. As the Great Depression worsened, he made impassioned speeches in the Senate charging a few powerful families with hoarding the nation's wealth. Noting that 95 percent of the nation's wealth was held by only 15 percent of its people, Huey urged Congress to address the inequality that he believed to be the source of the mass suffering. How was a recovery possible when twelve men owned more wealth than 120 million people?

In 1934, Huey unveiled a program of reforms called Share Our Wealth to redistribute the nation's wealth more fairly, capping personal fortunes at $50 million (later lowered to $5 - $8 million) and distributing the rest through government programs aimed at providing opportunity and a decent standard of living to all Americans. Huey believed his programs in Louisiana were effective in lifting people out of poverty, and he wanted to implement this philosophy nationally.

Sen. Huey Long greets a crowd in Nashville before the 1934 LSU-Vanderbilt football game. ~ Courtesy of LSU Libraries Special Collections.

Huey accused both parties of selling out to big business at the expense of the American people. He became very unpopular with the political establishment in Washington and was labeled a “socialist,” “radical,” “demagogue,” and “dictator.” Soon the conservative national media joined the “anti-Long” bandwagon and echoed the negative portrayal of Huey from the Louisiana newspapers.

Huey countered the negative press by taking his case straight to the people through national radio broadcasts, speeches to large audiences, and the creation of his own newspaper, The American Progress. While Long's pull-no-punches style won him few friends in Washington, his message struck a chord with average Americans. By the summer of 1935, Huey's Share Our Wealth clubs had 7.5 million members nationwide, he regularly garnered 25 million radio listeners, and he was receiving 60,000 letters a week from supporters (more than the president).

~ Courtesy of the State Library of Louisiana.

In the presidential election of 1932, Huey had supported the candidacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, believing him to be the only candidate that shared his philosophy for wealth redistribution. Long played a critical role in securing the Democratic nomination for FDR and campaigned for him in the Midwest. However, Huey broke with Roosevelt when the new president failed to embrace his programs. Huey considered FDR's first New Deal reforms to be woefully inadequate and threatened to run for president himself in 1936.

Huey Long campaigning with Oscar K. Allen; note the elephant at bottom right ~ Courtesy of the State Library of Louisiana.

Share Our Wealth

Huey Long addressing the nation on CBS radio. Long frequently used national radio addresses to champion his causes to an estimated 25 million listeners. Courtesy of LSU Libraries Special Collections.

In a national radio address in February 1934, Huey Long unveiled a plan called Share Our Wealth, a program designed to provide a decent standard of living to all Americans by spreading the nation's wealth among the people.

Long proposed capping personal fortunes at $50 million through a restructured federal tax code and sharing the resulting revenue with the public through government benefits. Later revisions included capping fortunes at $5 - $8 million, annual personal incomes at $1 million (or 300 times the average American income) and limiting inheritances to $5 million per individual.

Long's program advocated free higher education and vocational training, pensions for the elderly, veterans benefits and health care, and a yearly stipend for all families earning less than one-third the national average income – enough for a home, an automobile, a radio, and the ordinary conveniences. Long also proposed shortening the workweek and giving employees a month vacation to boost employment, along with greater government regulation of economic activity.

Huey Long speaking at the 1932 Democratic National Convention in support of the nomination of Franklin Delano Roosevelt Courtesy of the State Library of Louisiana.

Huey was the first politician, other than President Roosevelt, to use national radio broadcasts to promote his ideas to a larger audience. After offering bills in the Senate, he purchased radio time with the National Broadcasting Company to explain his proposals to the American public, bypassing the usual filters and criticism of the conservative newspapers. His speeches became so popular that the radio networks eventually offered him free airtime.

Huey developed a following of an estimated 25 million loyal listeners, who started 27,000 Share Our Wealth clubs across the nation. President Roosevelt used national radio speeches to connect with the public through his “fireside chats,” which were similar to the radio broadcasts Huey had used in Louisiana while he was governor to educate the public about his proposals.

A “Top Stop” for Tourists

Huey's Senate speeches became legendary, as he packed the public galleries. According to one Washington tourist guide, top stops were White House, Monument, Capitol — and The Kingfish .

On June 12, 1935, Long launched a 15-hour one-man filibuster against a modification of the National Recovery Act (for being a giveaway to big business). Humorist Will Rogers once quipped, Imagine 95 senators trying to out-talk Huey Long. They can't get him warmed up.

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