[MRM]

I've been thinking of Huey a lot lately. People have to remember what times were like back then. Art Schleshinger said not long before he died that people forget how close the country was to revolution in the Depression, especially before the New Deal, and especially in the south. The Communist Party, Progressives, Populists, and Anarchist parties were legitimate political movements. Huey was the figure that could have risen and sparked the revolution. Demon, Demagog or Messiah, he was a threat to the powers that were more than anyone before or since.

Have you ever read All the King's Men? What an intense book. It takes a long time to wade through, but the effort is worth it. The Huey Long character is larger than life. Makes you wonder what would have happened if he lived.

As a side note, Richard Russell got a seat on the Senate Appropriations committee as a freshman senator in a round about way because of Huey. He was elected as a progressive reformer out of Georgia just after Huey hit the scene. Russell wanted a seat on Appropriations but freshmen don't get assignments like that. Fortunately that year the people wth seniority that cared either died, lost re-election or wanted other seat more, leaving a spot that could be assigned to a freshman without ruffling too many feathers. The Old Bulls of the Senate thought that since Russell was young, a reformer and progressive that he was going to be a bombthrower like Huey and if they gave into his demand for a seat on Appropriations he'd be easier to deal with. Thus started one of the most remarkable and powerful careers in the history of the Senate. Civil rights were probably held back two decades by the calm, intellectual arguments presented by Russell. But the US might not have survived WWII or Korea without him, either. All of which was made possible by the power Russell built on the strength of being the longest-serving member (and therefore chairman) of the Senate Appropriations Committee. For which he had Huey Long to thank.