Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long
by Richard D. White, Jr.
When I hear the name Huey P. Long, the first thing I think of is the bridge that signifies not only the northern edges of Baton Rouge, LA, but also the northernmost point that ocean going ships can travel up the Mississippi River. Located just south of the southbound hard right turn marking Wilkinson Point, which was renamed years ago but is still referred by towboat pilots today by it's original name Free Nigger Point, the bridge is a somber reminder to southbound river deckhands that hard work looms ahead. Breaking apart and putting together 35+ barge tows is the norm below this bridge. (Mosquitoes as big as your thumbnail and the humid Louisiana days make for a miserable time). Hard work exemplifies Huey P. Long and for all his faults, no one can say that he didn't work hard at what he did best and that was to manipulate politics for his own personal gain.
Many on the left today bemoan the administration of George W. Bush who everyone knows is just the trained monkey of Dick Cheney and Karl Rove. These guys didn't invent this brand of politics. It's clear they stole these ideas straight out of the Huey P. Long play book. In depression era Louisiana it was the far left that ruled with an iron fist, fascist and dictatorial, and the center-right made all the claims about unfairness. (Huey P. Long thought that FDR was too far to the right because FDR's redistribution of wealth plan didn't go far enough). If the reign of Dubya is the pendulum swinging the other way for the retribution against Huey P. Long, those who lean towards the left today should feel lucky they aren't being paid back in equal measures.
Huey P. Long was a traveling salesman for a lard substitute product and the days of criss-crossing the south taught him valuable lessons on what people are really made of and what is important to them. Politicians today give lip service to the common man, but Huey Long truly spoke the common man's language. Often course and combative, it was this trait, plus his quick mind and oratory skills, that rallied the common man to support him in his campaigns. But getting the common man to vote for you only gets you so far. To make it in the world of politics you have to understand how to build and manipulate alliances and no one until Karl Rove was better at it than Huey P. Long. Even Karl doesn't really measure up to Huey. Lord Acton famously said, 'Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely'. Six years into the Bush II presidency, Karl Rove is starting to learn that lesson as his power base slips away and members of the administration dodge the bullets of Patrick Fitzgerald and Congress. Huey P. Long eventually learned that famous axiom the hard way too, but he was able to grab more power and wield it more absolutely than anyone before or since. While Karl Rove may (hopefully) learn this lesson in an 8 x 10 cell located in a federal minimum security prison, Huey P. Long learned it by receiving the business end of an assassin's bullet.
You think that George Bush has his own fascist regime? Not even close. Huey knew that the way to influence people came in three forms. One, show the common man that you understand his plight by giving him things that no one else ever had. In 1920's Louisiana that meant free schoolbooks for children, schools to combat illiteracy, and miles and miles of paved roads. Two, control the message by belittling your opponents in scathing farcical comedy. While Dubya is awfully good at this, Huey P. Long was a master. I'd love to see a politician today get away with the name calling the Huey got away with. Jon Stewart may be able to call Joe Lieberman Droopy Dog, but it sure would be funny if Dick Cheney were to say the same thing. Thirdly, and most importantly, control the means of living by controlling as many patronage jobs as possible. If you hold the purse strings over another man, he most likely will do what you say or risk losing that means of income. So how did Huey do that? He did it by tactics that today would be seem unthinkable, although as witnessed by the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame in response to Joseph Wilson's pre-war criticism, still actionable by some willing to risk it. Huey P. Long, while governor, patrolled the Louisiana legislature floor during sessions instructing legislators on how to vote. We're not talking about back room deals made over dinner, drinks, and cigars, we're talking literal in-session, on the floor of Congress wheedling. Seems unthinkable doesn't it? Those that dare opposed Huey found themselves without patronage. Huey even made sure that relatives of his detractors were removed from patronage jobs and replaced with pro-Long supporters. The more anyone resisted Huey, the more vicious his attack against them, often taking away that one thing that hurt the most, their livelihood. Over time, Long managed to hold control of almost every teacher, professor, education administrator (including universities), fire, police, and committeeman/board member in every parish in Louisiana ... save for St. Landry parish whose Cajuns never gave in to the northerner. Huey was so powerful at one point that he even held the office of Governor of Louisiana, as well as being it's junior U.S. Senator. When he finally did give up the governorship, he merely made sure his machine elected a puppet so he could still control the state house. And he did, calling special sessions and writing bills that he himself presented to the house with no debate, passing as many as 20 bills an hour. Most of these gave him more power and on the off-chance they didn't, they usually stripped power from an opponent.
While the story of Huey P. Long himself is a fascinating read, Kingfish merely scratches the surface. There are no in-depth looks at what drove Huey, nor does the book contain any real analysis on the inner workings of his machine. Also missing are stories of his family life while in power. At one point, his brother Earl campaigned against Huey and there was real enmity between the two, but the book only offers the passing comment that Earl was slighted a patronage job as the reason for the rift. There had to be more and you would think a dysfunctional family dispute involving power and politics would merit more than just a passing comment. If you want to read the basics of the life of Huey P. Long, this is a good starting point, but if you are like me and want to know the inner workings of a man obsessed with power, the deals and tricks of how he gained that power, and the back room methods he used to hold on to that power, you'll be sadly disappointed by this book. For me, it reads like a Cliffs Notes version without the analysis of the underlying themes.
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