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
I think others pretty much nailed it. Long was a true believer who really seemed driven in politics by a desire to change how things operated, not personal power or gain. I've never seen any real hints he used populism, for example, for personal graft.

As for his authoritarian tendencies, keep in mind that Louisiana before his rise was very far from what we'd call a Democratic state, with the vast majority of whites not even having the right to vote. His enemies were oligarchs, and willing to fight dirty. Long went down into the muck, and successfully defeated them without stooping to accommodating them in any major manner.
 

Zioneer

Banned
I think others pretty much nailed it. Long was a true believer who really seemed driven in politics by a desire to change how things operated, not personal power or gain. I've never seen any real hints he used populism, for example, for personal graft.

As for his authoritarian tendencies, keep in mind that Louisiana before his rise was very far from what we'd call a Democratic state, with the vast majority of whites not even having the right to vote. His enemies were oligarchs, and willing to fight dirty. Long went down into the muck, and successfully defeated them without stooping to accommodating them in any major manner.

Agreed; he was probably the best of a lot of authoritarians in Louisiana. Definitely a true believer, but perhaps enough of a true believer that he thought that he was the only one who could fulfill his dreams.

You know, speaking of Long, are there any good timelines about him? I would write one myself, but 1930s American politics isn't my specialty.
 
Definately an unsavoury character but not completely bad i.e. fought the KKK but effectively a fascist with an American brand. Earl Long I find likeable or is it the Paul Newman portrayal I am thinking of?
 
Kind of O/T:

My great-granddad wrote one of the earliest books on him. This one, in fact:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Oz...&resnum=3&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false

_________

That said, I think the Kingfish was an OK leader and one of the more dictatorial politicians to come out of the United States. I think he also reflects on the more than somewhat authoritarian nature of Southern politics in general. I call Huey Long OK primarily because his authoritarian was not that effective in resolving actual issues in Louisiana and his primary difference from several of his precursors were in using that power to benefit the poor, which would qualify him for good if he hadn't made himself as authoritarian as he was. In my view people who are authoritarian are at most OK regardless of how they wield that power.
 
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