Opinion of Huey Long

Which of these best describes Huey Long?

  • Great

    Votes: 31 28.4%
  • Ok

    Votes: 44 40.4%
  • Poor

    Votes: 11 10.1%
  • Horrible

    Votes: 8 7.3%
  • Dictator

    Votes: 15 13.8%

  • Total voters
    109
Honestly, I think he was great. He had many ambitions, believed in a message which he truly stood for in the public, and he got in done in Louisiana. And he could have accomplished what he stood for in the United States as well, if it weren't for his assassination.

I'm not sure if I would have voted for FDR or Huey Long in 1936. But the fact that I would even consider not voting for my all-time favorite President says something about this guy.

EDIT - Btw, this should be moved to After 1900.
 
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I've always seen Long as a character out of a Shakespearian tragedy. I think, at heart, he tried to be a good man. He seems to have had a very strong desire to help the people of his state, especially the downtrodden. Unfortunately, in order to do so, he needed to gain the power to overcome the opposition. Being Lousiana, there was a lot of entrenched corruption, and it took someone with a great deal of personal power to overcome them.
I think towards the end of his life though, Huey got confused. Rather than amassing power to help others, he began to see power as a means onto itself.
To my mind, any man whose last words are "Don't let me die, I have too much left to do," isn't someone who's goals were simply to enrich himself.
Honestly, I do think that Long gets a bit of a bum rap, largely due to some of the cultural stereotypes that existed at the time, and also due to the persona he liked to present to the public. He seems to have enjoyed coming off as an ill-educated, country bumpkin, and a bull-in-a-china-shop. (And he did that on purpose. He was able to act the part of a serious lawyer when he chose to do so; William Howard Taft once called Long the most brilliant lawyer who he had ever seen present before the Supreme Court).
Many of his tactics that Long used that get him labled as a 'dictator' had been used by other politicians just a few decades before. Even my hero, Robert LaFollette, instigated the infamous "Madison Red Gym Convention" as governor. Of course, LaFollette never kidnapped anyone, and there was that one time that it seems Long did so ...
So, I'm going to fall back on my answer of a tragic figure who had the best of intentions, but became confused as a result of some of his more base instincts.
 

Zioneer

Banned
For my opinion, see my user title; I acknowledge that Long was dictator within his own state, but the people of Louisiana did love him, and he genuinely did help Louisiana. DanMcCollum hit it on the head; I think Long really wanted to help people, and really thought his way of doing things was best. Of course, that doesn't excuse him, and his hunger for more and more power is terrifying, to say the least, but I think he was, at worst, an "ends-justify-the-means" character. Louisania was controlled by entrenched interests that could probably be called "feudal" before Long came around, and though he ruled with an iron fist, I think he prepared Louisiana to become a better state.

Either way though, he's a colorful, bombastic character, who helped shape the character of America in the 30s. Not an American hero, but not an American villain either. A great man, but not a good one.
 
For my opinion, see my user title; I acknowledge that Long was dictator within his own state, but the people of Louisiana did love him, and he genuinely did help Louisiana. DanMcCollum hit it on the head; I think Long really wanted to help people, and really thought his way of doing things was best. Of course, that doesn't excuse him, and his hunger for more and more power is terrifying, to say the least, but I think he was, at worst, an "ends-justify-the-means" character. Louisania was controlled by entrenched interests that could probably be called "feudal" before Long came around, and though he ruled with an iron fist, I think he prepared Louisiana to become a better state.

Either way though, he's a colorful, bombastic character, who helped shape the character of America in the 30s. Not an American hero, but not an American villain either. A great man, but not a good one.
Absolutely, that was beautiful
 
I have heard the claim that he was at very least less racist than most of his state's establishment, is this true?

I recall an incident where the KKK got really upset with him and Long said he would not allow the Grand Wizard to enter his state. The man was not the normal southern politicians who screamed, " Nigger, Nigger, Nigger." and in fact belittled those who did. That being said I have little doubt that Long due to his background was still a closet racist.
 
I recall an incident where the KKK got really upset with him and Long said he would not allow the Grand Wizard to enter his state. The man was not the normal southern politicians who screamed, " Nigger, Nigger, Nigger." and in fact belittled those who did. That being said I have little doubt that Long due to his background was still a closet racist.

But most white politicians of the Greatest Generation and earlier were closet racists, even the liberal ones. At least Long took measures to help minorities.
Still, he had too much power for a politician.
 
But most white politicians of the Greatest Generation and earlier were closet racists, even the liberal ones. At least Long took measures to help minorities.
Still, he had too much power for a politician.
I think Long was actually less racist than many other man of his time. I always thought he recognized that poor whites and poor blacks had a lot of interests in common against the Southern elite.
 
I think Long was actually less racist than many other man of his time. I always thought he recognized that poor whites and poor blacks had a lot of interests in common against the Southern elite.

By common interest you mean support him. He basically turned Louisiana on its head when before hand the upper crust could basically count upon their political machine to win the election. Long would then started recruiting those who hated the local bosses and created a system that rivaled and surpassed the elite's.

666th post. Awesome.
 
You should have allowed multiple responses on this poll. Because whether or not he was a dictator is a completely separate question from one's opinion of the man. I mean, he was quite obviously dictatorial, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'd probably rate him as okay, but definitely a dictator.
 
I think Long was actually less racist than many other man of his time. I always thought he recognized that poor whites and poor blacks had a lot of interests in common against the Southern elite.

Which is why the Southern elite feared him and was willing to coalesce around Roosevelt- their worst nightmare was a multiracial alliance.

On the OP: Apart from smashing the oligarchy's hold on Louisiana politics, I disagree with everything Long did and believed in, apart from making LA as hospitable to minorities as was possible in the '30s.
 
Which is why the Southern elite feared him and was willing to coalesce around Roosevelt- their worst nightmare was a multiracial alliance.

On the OP: Apart from smashing the oligarchy's hold on Louisiana politics, I disagree with everything Long did and believed in, apart from making LA as hospitable to minorities as was possible in the '30s.
Yup.
At least admit that "Every Man a King" has a nice tune :p
 
Which is why the Southern elite feared him and was willing to coalesce around Roosevelt- their worst nightmare was a multiracial alliance.

On the OP: Apart from smashing the oligarchy's hold on Louisiana politics, I disagree with everything Long did and believed in, apart from making LA as hospitable to minorities as was possible in the '30s.

What Long policies do you disagree with?
 
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