He was one of the most extraordinary figures in America's political history, a great natural politician who had become, at the time of his assassination, a serious rival to Franklin D. Roosevelt for the presidency.

From the moment he took office as governor in 1928 to the day an assassin’s bullet cut him down in 1935, Huey Long wielded all but dictatorial control over the state of Louisiana. A man of shameless ambition and ruthless vindictiveness, Long orchestrated elections, hired and fired thousands at will, and deployed the state militia as his personal police force. And yet, paradoxically, as governor and later as senator, Long did more good for the state’s poor and uneducated than any politician before or since. Outrageous demagogue or charismatic visionary? In this powerful new biography, Richard D. White, Jr., brings Huey Long to life in all his blazing, controversial glory. White taps invaluable new source material to present a fresh, vivid portrait of both the man and the Depression era that catapulted him to fame. From his boyhood in dirt-poor Winn Parish, Long knew he was destined for power–the problem was how to get it fast enough to satisfy his insatiable appetite. With cunning and crudity unheard of in Louisiana politics, Long crushed his opponents in the 1928 gubernatorial race, then immediately set about tightening his iron grip. The press attacked him viciously, the oil companies howled for his blood after he pushed through a controversial oil processing tax, but Long had the adulation of the people. In 1930, the Kingfish got himself elected senator, and then there was no stopping him. White’s account of Long’s heyday unfolds with the mesmerizing intensity of a movie. Pegged by President Roosevelt as “one of the two most dangerous men in the country,” Long organized a radical movement to redistribute money through his Share Our Wealth Society–and his gospel of pensions for all, a shorter workweek, and free college spread like wildfire. The Louisiana poor already worshiped him for building thousands of miles of roads and funding schools, hospitals, and universities; his outrageous antics on the Senate floor gained him a growing national base. By 1935, despite a barrage of corruption investigations, Huey Long announced that he was running for president. In the end, Long was a tragic hero–a power addict who squandered his genius and came close to destroying the very foundation of democratic rule. Kingfish is a balanced, lucid, and absolutely spellbinding portrait of the life and times of the most incendiary figure in the history of American politics.

Huey Long (1893-1935) was one of the most extraordinary American politicians, simultaneously cursed as a dictator and applauded as a benefactor of the masses. A product of the poor north Louisiana hills, he was elected governor of Louisiana in 1928, and proceeded to subjugate the powerful state political hierarchy after narrowly defeating an impeachment attempt. The only Southern popular leader who truly delivered on his promises, he increased the miles of paved roads and number of bridges in Louisiana tenfold and established free night schools and state hospitals, meeting the huge costs by taxing corporations and issuing bonds. Soon Long had become the absolute ruler of the state, in the process lifting Louisiana from near feudalism into the modern world almost overnight, and inspiring poor whites of the South to a vision of a better life. As Louisiana Senator and one of Roosevelt's most vociferous critics, "The Kingfish," as he called himself, gained a nationwide following, forcing Roosevelt to turn his New Deal significantly to the left. But before he could progress farther, he was assassinated in Baton Rouge in 1935. Long's ultimate ambition, of course, was the presidency, and it was doubtless with this goal in mind that he wrote this spirited and fascinating account of his life, an autobiography every bit as daring and controversial as was The Kingfish himself.

The study of two great demagogues in American history--Huey P. Long, a first-term United States Senator from the red-clay, piney-woods country of nothern Louisiana; and Charles E. Coughlin, a Catholic priest from an industrial suburb near Detroit. Award-winning historian Alan Brinkely describes their modest origins and their parallel rise together in the early years of the Great Depression to become the two most successful leaders of national political dissidence of their era. *Winner of the American Book Award for History*

A novel by the flamboyant Kingfish, one of Franklin Roosevelt's political rivals during the Great Depression.

Provides a look at the controversial Louisiana statesman who fought, with sometimes questionable methods, to improve the quality of life of the poor

In Accident And Deception: The Huey Long Shooting, Dr. Donald Pavy vindicates Dr. Carl Weiss of the false allegations connecting him to the shooting of Huey P. Long in the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, LA on September 8th 1935. In this book, he discusses his firm conviction that intensive medical and other evidence, paired with specific information, in a sworn affidavit, from the Superintendent of Louisiana State Police, Francis Grevemberg, that Huey Long was in fact not shot by Dr. Carl Weiss, but was instead accidentally shot by a named bodyguard escorting Long. Dr. Pavy's book on this thought provoking controversy is a must read. Take a look inside to uncover what has been hidden from the public through an elaborate cover-up engendered by public corruption regarding the death of Senator Huey Long for over half a century.

"If you think historians are dull . . . you need to read Boulard. . . . A brilliant history written with the verve and style most authors can only envy, Huey Long Invades New Orleans is a treat."-Dr. Michael Thomason, managing editorGulf Coast Historical Review By 1934, the senator from Louisiana stood on the precipice of national power. His Share the Wealth club had made him a national figure, and he set his sights on the presidency. One thing stood in his way-New Orleans. If Huey P. Long wanted to be considered a legitimate candidate for the presidency, he needed the support of the entire state. Or did he? The emotional, volatile Long despised the prim and proper politicians in New Orleans. They, in turn, regarded him as a thug. Their mutual animosity was palpable, and the powder keg finally exploded when Long ordered 3,000 militiamen into New Orleans. Was his decision a sound political strategy or a reckless personal vendetta? In his meticulous search for the answer, Garry Boulard interviewed more than two dozen people involved with Long and the conflict. He also unearthed never-before-published photos that complement his dramatic narrative. The result is an in-depth examination of the Kingfish and his attack on the city that dared oppose him.