First published 1970
T. Harry Williams examines the life of Huey Pierce Long, the Louisiana politician who transformed from a small-town lawyer into one of America's most controversial figures. Williams traces Long's meteoric ascent from his humble beginnings in Winnfield through his tenure as Louisiana's governor and U.S. Senator. The author documents how Long built a political machine that brought roads, bridges, and schools to impoverished Louisiana while simultaneously consolidating unprecedented power. Williams explores Long's populist "Share Our Wealth" program that promised to redistribute America's riches and his growing conflict with Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. The narrative follows Long's increasingly authoritarian methods and his national ambitions for the presidency, cut short by an assassin's bullet in the Louisiana State Capitol in 1935. Williams offers readers a comprehensive portrait of a complex figure who championed the poor while wielding power with an iron fist, revealing how Long's legacy shaped both Louisiana politics and American populism.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, political-science, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: power-struggle, rise-and-fall
Setting: Louisiana, Winnfield
Period: Great Depression
906 pages · Hardcover · Alfred A. Knopf