"Most obviously, he lives in popular culture. Robert Penn Warren's 1946 novel, All The King's Men-a negative portrayal of a Long-like figure-stands both as great literature and as an enduring touchstone of political machination. Another work, Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here (1935)is an even harsher portrayal of a Long-ish dictator. To this day, the title serves as a steady hook for commentary: It can't (or can) happen here. Needless to say, the mainstream media has often cited Donald Trump as the malignant "It.""
"Comes now a new biography: Thomas E. Patterson's American Populist: Huey Long of Louisiana. It's a perfectly fine work of scholarship, detailing Long's brief, wild life: up from a hardscrabble farm in Winn Parish-where he memorized Bible verses even as he smoked and drank and schemed-to his days as a traveling salesman, as a successful lawyer (he argued, and won, a case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1922, drawing praise from Chief Justice Taft),"
"The author provides plenty of color along the way: Meeting the staid Calvin Coolidge, Long introduced himself as "a hillbilly, more or less, like yourself." Of course, not everyone liked Huey's act. A sitting member of Congress, a former governor, and many other Pelican State luminaries attended the 1935 funeral-of Long's assassin. As a master of the soundbite and populist provocation, Long seems akin to, well, you know."
Huey Long rose from a hardscrabble Winn Parish farm to become a traveling salesman, successful lawyer, governor, and U.S. senator. He won a Supreme Court case in 1922 that drew praise from Chief Justice Taft. Long became a nationwide populist crusader with plans for a presidential bid before his assassination in September 1935. His theatrical persona, mastery of soundbites, and provocative populism earned both admiration and opposition, and prominent Louisiana figures attended events surrounding his death. Long's image persists in popular culture through works like All The King's Men and It Can't Happen Here and through comparisons to modern populist figures.
Read at The American Conservative
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