Huey Long Biography Video

  1. Before the movie: Explain the statement: “every man a king, but no one wears a crown.”
  1. According to his little speech, how many times was Huey Long impeached from government jobs?
  1. How did Huey Long die?
  1. Huey Long liked to give the impression that he was born poor. Describe his upbringing.
  1. What type of work did Long do early on?
  1. Explain why the Robert Penn Warren said that Huey had “first rate brains.”
  1. Describe Long’s first campaign: what he did, what he said.
  1. Identify at least three things that Governor Huey Long did for the people of Louisiana.
  1. According to some of his critics, Huey Long’s primary goal was to gain power and influence. What evidence was there of this?
  1. How many suits did JP Morgan have? How many suits did Huey Long have?
  1. Explain Huey Long’s “methods:”
  2. What did he do with the governor’s house?
  3. How did he go about getting free text books and building roads?
  1. Some say that Long was impeached because he was making the rich corporations pay for the “school book” programs. However, he was impeached for other reasons. Identify at least two of the charges against Huey Long during his impeachment.
  1. What was Huey Long’s involvement in Louisiana State University (LSU)?
  1. As a lawyer, Long had the reputation of being a “friend of the friendless.” Was this true of his life? Or do you think he manipulated the people of Louisiana? Explain.

Critical Thinking: Answer the following questions on the back of this paper.

  1. Huey Long was characterized as a buffoon: a clown, a fool, a fumbling idiot. Was he? Explain.
  1. “Had Huey Long lived long enough to lead this country he would have become one of America’s greatest presidents.” Agree, disagree and explain.
  1. Read the following excerpt from Long’s speech. Do you agree or disagree? Explain.

Now we got a barbecue. We have been praying to the Almighty to send us to a feast. We have knelt on our knees morning and nighttime. The Lord has answered the prayer. He has called the barbecue. "Come to my feast," He said to 125 million American people. But Morgan and Rockefeller and Mellon and Baruch have walked up and took 85 percent of the victuals off the table!
Now, how are you going to feed the balance of the people? What's Morgan and Baruch and Rockefeller and Mellon going to do with all that grub? They can't eat it, they can't wear the clothes, they can't live in the houses.
Giv'em a yacht! Giv'em a Palace! Send 'em to Reno and give them a new wife when they want it, if that's what they want. [Laughter] But when they've got everything on God's loving earth that they can eat and they can wear and they can live in, and all that their children can live in and wear and eat, and all of their children's children can use, then we've got to call Mr. Morgan and Mr. Mellon an Mr. Rockefeller back and say, come back here, put that stuff back on this table here that you took away from here that you don't need. Leave something else for the American people to consume. And that's the program. [Applause]
We will call in Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Morgan, Mr. Mellon....Dear Mr. Mellon, We're not going to destroy the capitalistic system, but we're going to put in a limit, you can have up to 4- to 5-million dollars and that's all. We're not going to destroy the Gulf Refining Company; we're not going to destroy the Standard Oil Company, but we're going to say that the limit of any one man's stock ownership in the Standard Oil company is from 3- to 5-million dollars for that individual and the balance to the people of America who own the balance of what the Standard Oil company is worth! [applause]
--Huey Long, “Share the Wealth” Speech

At one point, Huey Long uses a poem about a woman named Evangeline who waited for her lover Gabriel who never came. “But Evangeline,” said Huey Long, “ is not the only one who has waited here for her lover in disappointment. Where are the schools that you have waited for your students to have but have never come? Where are the roads and the highways that you send your money to build? They are no nearer now than ever before. Where are the institutions to care for the sick and the disabled? Evangeline wept bitter tears in her disappointment, but it lasted only through one lifetime. Your tears have lasted through generations. Give me the chance to dry the tears of those who still weap here.” Is it the duty of the government to serve people in this way?