Dec 10, 2018
Imagine, for a moment, that there was a politician in the United
States very unlike the others. One who was willing to promise all
things to all people, who had no qualms about changing his position
on a daily basis. One who viciously attacked the establishment,
made personal attacks on his opponents and gave them derogatory
nicknames and violated every democratic norm in the book. One who
fought against freedom of the press, and constantly denounced the
'lying newspapers', when they reported on the corruption that he
was steeped in. A politician who was perfectly happy to tear up the
constitution, and anyone who stood in his way, in order to achieve
his ends. A demagogue whose rise and rise to power seemed absurd to
the establishment, but made sense to the people, many of whom loved
him and believed that he was the only one on their side. And, on
this wave of popular support and crazy promises, and with a
complete disregard for the way things should be done, a politician
who set himself up as a ruthless, corrupt, kleptocratic
dictator.
Now imagine there was a politician in the US who fought against
vested interests, big corporations, and argued tirelessly and
energetically for redistribution of the wealth. A politician who
was never afraid to speak his mind, and to speak truth to power:
who had contempt for Washington because it was contemptible. A man
of the people who was frustrated with being blocked and slandered
at every turn, and the ineffective methods of his fellows at
dealing with crisis, and subverted a corrupt and contemptible
democracy on behalf of the ordinary people. He destroyed a system
that needed destroying, and sought power in order to do the good
that he knew other politicians couldn't do. A man with a sense of
destiny, who was unfairly slandered and maligned by the vested
interests and the wealthy elite that he sought to undermine. He
would argue he was only doing openly what everyone else had done
covertly for years. A man who said: 'A demagogue is someone who
doesn't keep his promises to the people, and I kept every one of
mine' - and many went along with him, and refused to believe any of
the attempts to smear him, because they knew he was on their
side.
Both men existed in the manic, whirlwind frame of Huey P Long, who
cut such a dramatic figure in Louisiana politics, and later
national politics, in the 1920s and 30s. The man and the methods
make him an irresistible figure for politicised histories. There
are always two Hueys: the straight-talking man of the people who
sought power to make things better, and the vicious demagogue who
exploited lies and popular support to dominate the state and enrich
himself. Now, more than ever - when there seem to be two of every
major political figure floating around, depending on your stripes -
we should examine such a life. It helps that it's also a quite
incredible story, and Huey himself is as quotable a politician as
has ever lived.
In these episodes, we will deal with his origin story, from
obscurity in Louisiana to running for office for the first
time.