American Populist

"Thomas Patterson's monumental biography of Huey P. Long covers his life from birth to death, the conditions of the nation and Louisiana during his life, his childhood and family environment, and his career in sales, law, and politics. Long transformed the politics of his state, shifted the burden of taxation to those better able to pay, revamped Louisiana State University, and influenced national policies during the Great Depression before an assassin's bullet ended his life. Nonetheless, many of those familiar with Huey Long understood him as a caricature: he was a genius and a spellbinder, but a dictator, a demagogue, unprincipled, corrupt, and a menace. Separating myth from fact, Patterson suggests that Long was a genius but is more easily understood than commonly thought. Long was also a speaker of compelling eloquence who commanded attention. Using his words, Patterson explains his ideas, how he came to have them, how he expressed them, and how they related to the conditions and ideas of the era. After seventeen years in state politics (1918-1935), Long obtained unprecedented power in Louisiana, but along the way, he was indicted, impeached, and defeated in the legislature. He represented the majority of voters, most of whose interests the state had previously repressed or ignored. When Long campaigned, there was no apathy in Louisiana elections; the vote meant something. Long removed suffrage restrictions so that more people could vote, and they endorsed his program of expanded government services. Franklin Roosevelt fostered the idea that Long was a dangerous menace and unprincipled in national politics. According to Patterson, the facts make Roosevelt's accusations impossible to take seriously. Instead, he suggests that Long was one of the most consistent politicians of all time, advocating wealth redistribution throughout his life, in good times and bad. His fights with other politicians were motivated first by ideology. He took significant risks when advocating his programs. Nothing in his program would have menaced the country. Many viewed Long's proposed "Share Our Wealth" program as a crackpot idea and unworkable scheme, proposed only to get votes during the Great Depression. Patterson suggests that while the proposed program had flaws, spending during World War II shows that it could have provided Long's promised benefits and defeated the Great Depression. The same is true for Long's proposals for expanded public works, increasing the money supply, insuring bank deposits, paying old age pensions and veterans' benefits, providing a minimum income for families, and supporting college educations, all of which politicians and political commentators derided. Long's ideas were far more advanced than the orthodox economic ideas of the 1930s or the ill-fated National Industrial Recovery Act proposed by President Roosevelt. Overall, Patterson's reevaluation of Long acknowledges his shortcomings but recognizes him as a progressive thinker and powerful influence on the New Deal"--