Huey P. Long

Louisiana governor and senator whose Share Our Wealth movement challenged Franklin Roosevelt from the left.

Overview

Long built a powerful political machine as governor of Louisiana, paving roads, building schools, and providing free textbooks while ruling the state with an iron hand. Elected to the Senate, he took his seat in 1932, broke with Roosevelt, and in 1934 launched the Share Our Wealth program promising to cap large fortunes and guarantee every family a basic income. His marathon filibusters and national radio addresses made him a likely presidential challenger for 1936. In September 1935 he was shot in the Louisiana State Capitol and died two days later. His son Russell Long later served nearly four decades in the Senate.