Huey Pierce Long: An Extraordinary Man in Extraordinary Times

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject History - America, grade: 1,0 (A), , course: The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Years, language: English, abstract: A real conflict developed between Huey p. Long and Franklin D. Roosevelt to the point when Roosevelt recognized: “He [Huey Long] is one of the two most dangerous men in the country.” And ...

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject History - America, grade: 1,0 (A), , course: The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Years, language: English, abstract: A real conflict developed between Huey p. Long and Franklin D. Roosevelt to the point when Roosevelt recognized: “He [Huey Long] is one of the two most dangerous men in the country.” And he reasoned that “We must tame these fellows [Long and his political allies] and make them useful to us.” At this moment a secret poll had already shown that 11 percent of the people preferred Kingfish to Roosevelt or a republican and Long had become a serious power for an election. Nobody can know how the relationship between both would have developed without the assassination and if Huey Long could have changed his mind according the New Deal, if Roosevelt had offered him a position on the national level in exchange. But apparently a lot of Long’s opposition to Roosevelt’s bills came from his interests in gaining power. He tried to establish his own Share Our Wealth program not only for Louisiana, but for the whole country. It seems that both reasons come together: Huey Long selected those New Deal bills that he considered useful from the others. Later the conflict with president Roosevelt became increasingly important to his policy.