Huey Long

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.

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 charts the life of one of America's most colourful politicians in an unbiased and very entertaining manner. Long's speeches were awesome. Absolutely tailor made for the audience before him, and guaranteed to win them over. It wasn't just his Louisiana electorate he won over though. At the time of his assassination in 1935 he controlled the board of education, the state militia several local police forces, as well as most of the state legislature, and most importantly, as senator, he also controlled state governor, O.K. Allen. Huey's brother Earl once said of O.K.: "A leaf once blew in the window of OK's office and landed on his desk and he signed it."

Ken Burn's is even handed in his criticism of Long, and justly so. Long did take Louisiana out of the mud by building over 2000 miles of road and several bridges over the Mississippi. Burn's manages to commit to posterity what would otherwise have been written off as a dark period in US political history. Again, I'm all in favour of stories that should be told.

Oct. 2012

"Huey Long" (1985) by Ken Burns tried to defame and demonize Huey Long, but failed...Long was a "good guy," and this doc shows that.

U.S. Senator (and former Lousinana governor) Huey P. Long was an opponent of Franklin Roosevelt, and might have won the 1936 USA Presidentail election, but he was murdered in cold blood in front of dozens of people in September of 1935, the year before the 1936 election.

Revisionist history instructs us all (especially if we attended government schools, which always provide doctrinaire political viewpoints when USA history is taught) to revere President Franklin Roosevelt and all he did (nobody much now questions the USA entering World War II which killed half a million USA citizens in less than 4 years, even though most of pre-WWII America opposed entering the war, and many historians opine that Roosevelt engineered and manipulated USA entrance into that war...many state that entrance into WWII was neither desirable nor justified).

That same revisionist history demonized Sen. Huey P. Long, and anti-Long slogans from his opponents have made their way into post WWII history books and movies and become "respected facts." The Ken Burns "Huey Long" (1985) tries to be anti-Long, but fails.

Many anti-Long partisans, some very famous and influential, state the anti-Long case, but somehow, they are not believable.

What comes through in this documentary, in spite of the obvious bias of the filmmakers who present it, is that Sen. Huey P. Long was a man of astonishing ability and accomplishment who had goals many politicians of the 1930's and later stated they shared, but came much closer to delivering on his public promises than most others stating they shared his same "redistribute the wealth" agenda ever did.

Huey Long delivered.

That is the unmistakable message of this documentary.

The anti-Long sentiment and invective melts away in the face of that message, and the considerable evidence which supports it.

He was a good man who died young, and people hoping for good people part of politics in the USA's future can and should remember who he was, and how close he came to getting national leadership power, and using it well.

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Written by SAG Actor Tex (David) Allen.

Email to TexAllenRocketmail.Com

Visit WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen for movie actor credits and biography information.

Ken Burns is properly regarded for the outstanding quality of his documentaries. This early work shows the exceptional qualities that would lead to better-known later works like "The Civil War", "Baseball" and "Jazz".

Burns examines Huey Long, Louisiana's Kingfish. Long rose from poverty and became one of the most powerful leaders in the nation's history. Long was an outstanding orator, hero of the common people, advocate of big government, revolutionary political strategist, and totalitarian. Utilizing corrupt practices that had been common in Louisiana since the end of Reconstruction, Long built a political machine that constructed thousands of miles of roads, hundreds of bridges, and millions of school books (every child, black or white, received free textbooks). Long's tenure provided much delayed lasting benefits for regular people in the midsts of the depression.

Secret police were used at first to thwart the illegal efforts of major business efforts opposed to his tax-and-spend programs, and later the political vendetta of his national political opponents, including fellow-Democrat FDR, who dubbed him the "the most dangerous man in America". And yes, his secret police did what secret police do.

Among Long's national causes was the development of Social Security. Long's "Share-Our-Wealth" clubs had millions of members, distributed weekly papers, had weekly radio addresses, and elected many political candidates (including the first woman Senator elected to a full term in her own right, Arkansas' Hattie Caraway in 1932). Huey reputedly planned to run against Roosevelt in 1936 as a leftist third-party candidate, and expected to throw the election to the Republicans, clearing the way for his own 1940 election. Instead, Huey was assassinated in 1935, and largely forgotten outside of his home state.

Long is a truly significant national figure from a pivotal time. He cannot be understood without considering his accomplishments, the force of his enemies and the conditions of 1920's and 1930's Louisiana in addition to Huey's terrible flaws and dangerous corruption. Films don't have much time, but Ken Burns manages to balance all of these issues, presenting a lyric, intimate tale.

You doubt me? You haven't even heard about the "deduct box". Check it out.