WW2 under President Huey Long?

Huey Long is elected President in 1936. Then re-elected in 1940.

How does the US involvement in WW2 change?
 
First off Long could never get elected in 36 without having no FDR and no new deal, so keep in mind industry will be somewhat weaker.

Long may succeed at turning the US into an overgrown Banna Republic for his Proto-Peronism: Now we don't really know what Lobg thought of WWII considering he got killed before then. But I think he developed a dislike for Hitler mostly because he got compared to him too many times. So he was not a fan saying he was treading the Jews badly (In 1933-6) so he wouldn't go axis. Now, he could go isolationist and not help Britain, which could mean a longer and bloodier war, with a murkier outcome. Let's also keep in mind Long wouldn't likely care much about China/Indochina, focusing on consolidating power at home. It's also possible that he joins the war, but friendly to the Soviets or not cooperating with Britain. Regardless, WWII will not happen as OTL.
 
Huey Long did not like Hitler, and he did not talk much about foreign policy, but from what I recall he was an isolationist sort. Maybe he'd go interventionist like George Norris, maybe not, hard to tell.
 
First off Long could never get elected in 36 without having no FDR and no new deal, so keep in mind industry will be somewhat weaker.

Long may succeed at turning the US into an overgrown Banna Republic for his Proto-Peronism: Now we don't really know what Lobg thought of WWII considering he got killed before then. But I think he developed a dislike for Hitler mostly because he got compared to him too many times. So he was not a fan saying he was treading the Jews badly (In 1933-6) so he wouldn't go axis. Now, he could go isolationist and not help Britain, which could mean a longer and bloodier war, with a murkier outcome. Let's also keep in mind Long wouldn't likely care much about China/Indochina, focusing on consolidating power at home. It's also possible that he joins the war, but friendly to the Soviets or not cooperating with Britain. Regardless, WWII will not happen as OTL.

I don't think Huey Long would side with the Soviets. He hated communists.

Huey Long did not like Hitler, and he did not talk much about foreign policy, but from what I recall he was an isolationist sort. Maybe he'd go interventionist like George Norris, maybe not, hard to tell.

Would Long join the war as an excuse to declare a state of martial law and increase his power even more?
 
But if Germany is sinking American ships with U-Boats, might he be forced to jump in if the American people are demanding it? I mean, he could use it as a chance to increase his power, after all.

And if Japan still attacks Pearl Harbour, then that'll basically mean he's gotta do something.
 
Any takes on what Longs cabinet would look like?

I am wondering If the likes of the Rockfellers, Ford, DuPont. ect... Would have had any traction with Long?
 
Without significant changes I doubt that Huey could have been elected in 1936. I think it would be more likely that he would get elected in 1940. Let's say that he went ahead with what many believe was his plan to split the left vote in 36 by putting forward a sacrificial third candidate on a Share Our Wealth program to let the Republicans win and to show that Share Our Wealth had popular appeal, and then, after the Republicans screw everything up, go for the Democrat nomination in 1940.

Of course getting that to happen would be difficult given the massive landslide ITOL. At the very least Alf Landon would have to go. He was quite an incompetent campaign manager, and even if he had won he was a very progressive Republican who would have continued the New Deal, or at the very least only slightly cut back on it for concerns about efficiency and corruption, so he wouldn't have been as incompetent a President as Huey would have hoped.

With regards to Huey's stance on the war I think there's a good chance he would have taken an isolationist stance, if anything to increase his appeal to right-wing conservatives who would have hated him. However, I think that a main factor would be whatever stance the incumbent President took, with Long taking the opposite view to polarise the debate.

Of course, if Japan still pulls a Pearl Harbour (so many butterflies by now), that's going to force America into an interventionist stance regardless of people's opinion on the matter.

Would Long join the war as an excuse to declare a state of martial law and increase his power even more?

I doubt he would be able to do that. Firstly, in order to have any hope of convincing the military and/or congress to hand him those sorts of powers there would have to be either massive unrest at home or a genuine threat of invasion. America is just too stable and too secure to face such a threat, and if Huey tried to pull it off he would end up impeached, if not just shot for trying (especially if MacArthur has anything to say about it). The most I could see him doing would be an Espionage Act 2.0, which he could probably use against isolationist conservatives, communists and other "unpatriotic" elements.

As much as people like to bring up the trope of President Long turning America into a dictatorship, I just don't think the conditions exist to make that possible, whether or not he wanted to. He was able to turn Louisiana into his own personal fife largely because it was already pretty much a dictatorship to begin with. He just usurped or replaced much of the machinery that kept the previous elite in power. Furthermore, he had also spent years building up a reputation in Louisiana as a champion of the people against big business, which is part of the reason he won elections despite the massive media backlash against him. This reputation was virtually unknown outside of Louisiana, where most Americans knew him as semi-dictatorial rabble rouser, so even if he had won power, he probably wouldn't have the popular support to sustain an outright dictatorship.
 
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