Huey Long

Ken Burns gives us as detailed a picture of "Huey Long" as he could in the time permitted, but I'm sure there was much more fascinating material that he had to leave out.

Long was one of the most complex, loved, and hated politicians of his day - sometimes all at once. A sturdy-looking man who became governor of Louisiana and later Senator, Long was a gifted speaker and thinker who could certainly cast a spell on people. And the people who loved him were the poor. Long did a great deal for the unemployed, undereducated, and underfed of that state. He was a populist with tinges of socialism that had tinges of communism. He was a great proponent of a "Share the Wealth" program in which money earned over a certain amount had to be paid to the people. It's a twist on Warren Buffett's Giving Pledge, in which billionaires pledge at least 50% of their wealth to philanthropy when they die.

The problem with Long, according to this documentary, is that he became greedy for more and more power and then misused his power. For instance, while he was in the Senate, he was still running the state with a puppet governor. His final goal was the White House, but somebody finally bumped him off in 1935. Many of FDR's New Deal plans, however, are often attributed to his attempts to "steal Long's thunder." Long was against big oil and their profits, and opposed the National Recovery Act as a sellout to big business.

This documentary, which has footage of Long speaking, interviews with citizens of Louisiana, political scholars, etc., shows that Long had some excellent ideas and in a way was ahead of his time - but he believed the end justified the means and went about getting what he wanted at any cost. Still, some of his ideas have merit and seem pretty timely to me.

A really fascinating documentary.

This is really one very fine documentary. It presents lots of Louisianans who lived through his period of power and who give a wide range of views of him, from those who thought he was God's gift to the people to those who prayed for his early demise.

In the process it gives a great summary of how a modern dictator can engineer his rise to power. The film puts him in the context of Hitler and especially Mussolini. I wish it could have shown how Lindbergh would try something similar just a few years later.

Great use is made of contemporary newsreels and photos. Sometimes, when he is on a podium, Long looked like a caricature of himself. But evidently this did not bother his loyal followers, of whom there were many.

My only small objection: there are too many interviewees for at least me to keep track of, yet most were not identified again after their first appearance. I wish their name had been used every time they reappeared.

But that's a slight point. This is very well done, and I strongly recommend it for anyone interested in American history in the 1920s and 30s.

There were some excellent little touches to this film: Robert Penn Warren's interview, great video of Huey speaking, interviews with rural Louisiana folks who still love Huey, and even a great Randy Newman song during the title credits. That being said, the documentary was missing a few things that have already been mentioned. I think the main problem is that Huey's life was so incredible and packed with material, that it was hard to whittle it down to 90 minutes. Burns is usually known for these epic, multi-part documentaries (which I usually think are a bit too much), but in this case, Huey's life deserved such treatment! This could have easily been a four-part, eight-hour documentary.

I also think the documentary would have been stronger had it been made ten years later, after new details emerged about Huey's assassination. True, Burns wouldn't have gotten to interview Robert Penn Warren and some of the other people now in the film, but I think more material would have been available for Burns, and he might have considered making the film longer.

As far as the content, it was amazing to see the different views on Long: the old-timers living in the rural parts of the state still loved Huey, as opposed to the old anti-Longs who said they were happy at his assassination! I think these interviews, while not directly having to do with the facts surrounding Long's life, were a great indication of the powerful spell Huey cast on people, whether they loved him or hated him. The legend lives on.

All in all, a strong documentary, but leaves the audience wanting more.

This film, while very good, could have been so much better. Many issues in Huey's personal and political life were briefly covered (e.g. his 1932 campaign tour on behalf of Hattie Caraway for U.S. Senator from Arkansas), other issues were skimmed over (Huey's exercise of influence over the running of Louisiana State University) and still other issues not mentioned at all (the incident in the men's room at the Sands Point [N.Y.] Bath & Country Club; how'd Huey REALLY get that black eye?). Interviews with people who were there with Huey added much perspective.

Huey Pierce Long never became President of the United States. He hoped to, and (probably for the best) a gunshot stopped him. I say probably because there is considerable debate over him to this day.

If you love democracy, with a balance of power approach as in the Federal Constitution (or the states for that matter) Long is an evil aberration. He used the normal methods of rising up the political ladder as a state railway commissioner, a state senator, Governor, and U.S. Senator. On his way up he found ways of reducing the opposition to a set of shrill, impotent voices, and of manipulating the state legislature, the judiciary, and the local governments to do what he wanted. For all intents and purposes Louisiana was a dictatorship under Huey. And once he got into the U.S. Senate, he planned to spread his influence until he was in the White House, and could do the same thing there.

Therefore, his death by gunshot in the state capital building at Baton Rouge, La. on September 18, 1935, was a lucky break. Whether he was shot by Dr. Carl Austin Weiss (the son-in-law of an opponent who'd been racially smeared by Long) or by a trigger happy guard who was joining in the shooting of Weiss does not matter - he would have been bad news for American Democracy.

But here's the problem. Huey did not come from a state that had a history of two party democracy. Most of the states in the south were dominated for decades by the Democratic Party (which was opposed to big business in theory, but also highly racist towards African-Americans and minorities). So when he studied how to get higher in office, he learned how his predecessors did it. He also noted the success of others in other states at turning them into fiefdoms - like Senator Hiram Johnson of California.

Secondly, although his methods were crude and resembled fascist or communist models, Huey actually did do a lot of good for his state. One has to study the man's career in light of previous Democrats who were elected to public office. Huey came from the parishes - the back country, and knew the needs of the farmers (both white, Cajun, and black), and how they were neglected in favor of the large cities, particularly New Orleans and Baton Rouge. He was smart, and managed to get a college education, and eventually became a lawyer (a very good one - he actually argued before the U.S. Supreme Court). The Governors and the legislators and the judiciary were extremely conservative (the popular term in use was "Bourbons"). Huey, as he built up his machine, delivered services, such as roads and highways and power, to the countryside. He also improved school conditions for the countryside.

While still willing to use racial slurs (as with Dr. Weiss's father-in-law) Huey actually got more jobs going for the African-American community. He could also display anti-Semitism when he wished, but when someone pointed out that when he did that he resembled Hitler, Huey became furious: "Don't ever compare me to that son-of-a-bitch!", he yelled, "Every fool whose ever gone against those people has wrecked his state's economy!!" Not a comment of love, but obviously of sense.

Huey was an opportunist. To raise revenues in Louisiana he invited Lucky Luciano to install one armed bandits throughout the state. But he also could sacrifice for reasonable grounds. He signed a law reducing the cotton production from Louisiana to build up prices for the cotton outside the state.

So he is not an easy figure to totally condemn or admire. Ken Burns documentary on "the Kingfish" (Huey used that name, based on a character on the radio show AMOS AND ANDY, for himself) gives a fairly good balanced view. Burns shows what was frighteningly close to happening, but he does show that Huey was more than a power seeker or a buffoon (as some enemies suggested). While not as detailed as the Burns documentaries on THE CIVIL WAR, JAZZ, or BASEBALL, it is a good place to start studying this remarkable political career.