Daniel JB Mitchell: ‘Huey Long Seen as Threat to FDR in 1930s’

Source:Daniel J.Mitchell- the U.S. Congress, where Huey Long once served, as a U.S. Senator from Louisiana.

Source:The Daily Times

“Senator Huey Long of Louisiana led a populist “Share the Wealth” movement during the Great Depression. Long planned to run for president on a third-party ticket in 1936. He thought he could throw the election to the Republicans who – he expected – would make a hash of things. Then, in 1940, he expected to make it to the White House. The grand plan came to an abrupt end when Long was assassinated in 1935. He left a legacy, however. His son, Russell Long, became a senator and – in an echo of Share the Wealth – promoted Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs) through various tax breaks.”

From Daniel J.B. Mitchell

Franklin Roosevelt and Huey Long were very similar leftist Democrats in that they were both economic Progressives who believed in things like infrastructure investment funded by the public and making American capitalism work for more people. But there were several differences in the two and they mostly resulted around character.

Franklin had a lot of it and wasn’t a corrupt man or a corrupt politician looking to become some dictator over the United States. Huey was exactly that, but a dictator over Louisiana first as Governor where he basically ran the whole state under his leadership and when he left the Louisiana governors mansion to serve in Congress as a Senator, he was still running Louisiana.

But now Huey Long as a U.S. Senator had more national power and since these two men were similar ideologically at least on economic-policy, President Roosevelt saw Senator Long as a threat to his leadership and power and someone who needed to be put down. But Huey Long would’ve gone down anyway because of his lifestyle and how he carried himself in office.