Why is Huey Long seen as evil?

In a lot of TLs, most notably being "the falcon cannot hear", Huey Long is portrayed as some dictator. Why?
 
Huey did more for the little people of the state than generations before him...and he was far more complex than most people think

I do wish a serious historian would look at the impact of the young men and women he enabled to get a college education at LSU during the period 1930-39 had on this country...considering that LSU ROTC contributed more officers during WW2 than West Point, and a lot of people ended up making major contributions later in life

I guess you could say I'm part of the second generation that Huey enabled to go to college....
 
But Long helped a lot of people. He gave free textbooks to schools, he helped both white and black. Just look at the point vl00 made. Why would he help a lot of people if he was a dictator?
 
But Long helped a lot of people. He gave free textbooks to schools, he helped both white and black. Just look at the point vl00 made. Why would he help a lot of people if he was a dictator?
You don't stay a dictator by having your population all hate you.
 

Japhy

Banned
When your government is based on the National Guard being dug in on the streets of Baton Rouge to prevent the elected opposition from challenging you by legal means you're not exactly a friendly "Progressive".
 
There's also the added angle of Huey Long was a rival to FDR, who is justifiably beloved on this site and others for his numerous achievements in domestic policy. So there's an inborn bias against anyone who is FDR's opposition.

It isn't to say that Huey Long didn't have numerous faults, but he had numerous achievements for the State of Louisiana as well, so my assessment of him is that he was a complicated figure. I wouldn't have wanted him to have been President since he had exactly the wrong temperament and approach for the Oval Office, but within the context of Louisiana state politics, he was far more effective.
 
America has a general lack of people who could have been Fascist dictators, so when a demogauge comes along and rules like an authoritarian TL writers make use of him.
 
Huey Long was seen as a kind of fascist menace that could have taken over the country. He was to the left of the New Deal, and many saw him as a kind of radical. He was also seen as someone who could begin mob rule. Since the US didn't have a real fascist organizations or leaders, Huey Long was the closest thing to it - a charismatic man who could start a mass radical movement.

If Long was merely a local Louisiana politician, he'd only be seen as just another corrupt Louisiana politician. But Long was also a national figure with a national following, and that scared people from other states where Louisiana style politics and corruption was not the norm. The other states had their own corrupt politicians, but it was different in degree and kind to Louisiana. If you from California or Kansas or Massachusetts, the idea of someone like Huey Long gaining control of the Presidency scared the hell out of you.

I don't know why people think it is absurd that bad people can also do good things. That Long was a populist who achieved some social improvements does not mean he was not a threat to the normal workings of a democracy like the rule of law. A lot of Europeans refuse to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization simply because it runs some charities. Hitler and the Nazis actively promoted a lot of "progressive" policies and ran charities like Winter Help and invested a lot in good things. Doesn't make them less evil. Hugo Chavez was able to temporarily improve certain social conditions in Venezuela en route of building his dictatorship and subsequently destroying the country.
 
I don't know why people think it is absurd that bad people can also do good things. That Long was a populist who achieved some social improvements does not mean he was not a threat to the normal workings of a democracy like the rule of law. A lot of Europeans refuse to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization simply because it runs some charities. Hitler and the Nazis actively promoted a lot of "progressive" policies and ran charities like Winter Help and invested a lot in good things. Doesn't make them less evil. Hugo Chavez was able to temporarily improve certain social conditions in Venezuela en route of building his dictatorship and subsequently destroying the country.

The difference being that in those cases, there were better alternatives that could have had power instead. Louisiana, maybe a bit less so. I think a better comparison might be between someone like Ivan the Terrible and his Boyar opposition. Neither counts as a liberal democrat, but at least one is inclined to move things forward.
 
So multiple fiefs instead of just one, then.

Indeed. But Louisiana being a dictatorship before Long doesn't make Long okay.

Not to mention he turned the state from one that could elect a guy who nominally fought against concentrations of power into his playground. Louisiana was democratic enough to elect Long, but after his governorship and tenure as senator, it no longer was.
 
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