![]() |
RADICAL RESPONSES TO THE GREAT
DEPRESSION Voices from the Right |
||
![]() |
An Open Letter! To the AFL and All Other
Labor Union: To All Labor and Fraternal Organizations, Negro and
White: To the Socialist Party. Of the radical right figures in the 1930s, Huey P. Long (1893-1935) was the only person to wield political power, becoming governor of Louisiana in 1928 and U.S. senator in 1932. During 1934 and 1935 the servile Louisiana legislature enacted without debate a series of laws that abolished local government and gave the Long machine control of the appointment of every policeman, fireman, and teacher in the state, while the "Kingfish's" control of the militia, the judiciary, the election officials, and the tax assessors put all citizens at his mercy with no possibility of redress. The end came only with his assassination in September 1935. The flamboyant oratory and populist vocabulary of this vulgar demagogue, his widely heralded "Share-Our-Wealth Society" and especially his slogan, "Every Man a King", made Long the idol of millions; his first name became popular for male infants. Robert Penn Warren's novel All the King's Men (Pulitzer Prize, 1947) was based largely on Long's career, and with its very successful filming Long is perhaps more familiar to contemporary audiences than any other political figure of the Thirties except Franklin Roosevelt. The flyer shown complains of actions by Long and the Louisiana legislature. |