| Huey Long | |
|---|---|
| |
| 13th President of the Confederate States | |
| In office February 22, 1934 – September 10, 1935 | |
| Vice President | John N. Garner |
| Preceded by | B. Carroll Reece |
| Succeeded by | John N. Garner |
| Governor of Louisiana | |
| In office 1928–1932 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 30, 1893 Winnfield, Louisiana, C.S. |
| Died | September 10, 1935 (aged 42) Richmond, Virginia, C.S. |
| Political party | Dixiecrat |
| Spouse(s) | Rose McConnell (m. 1913) |
Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893 – September 10, 1935) was the 13th president of the Confederate States, serving from 1934 to 1935. A member of the Dixiecrat Party, he previously served as Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932.
He was assassinated while in office on September 10, 1935, marking the beginning of the Confederate Civil War.
Biography[]
Long was born in the impoverished north of Louisiana in 1893. After working as a traveling salesman and briefly attending three colleges, he was admitted to the bar in Louisiana. Following a short career as an attorney, in which he frequently represented poor plaintiffs, Long was elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
After a failed 1924 campaign, Long used the sharp economic and class divisions in Louisiana to win the 1928 gubernatorial election. Once in office, he expanded social programs, organized massive public works projects, such as a modern highway system and the Louisiana State Capitol, the tallest capitol building in the nation. He also proposed a cotton holiday.
Through political maneuvering, Long became the political boss of Louisiana. He was impeached in 1929 for abuses of power, but the proceedings collapsed in the State Senate. His opponents argued his policies and methods were unconstitutional and dictatorial. At its climax, political opposition organized a minor insurrection.
As governor in June 1932, he won the Dixiecrat nomination for the presidency. Long made a platform known as Share Our Wealth, which was designed to give benefits to the poor in the South. He would win in a landslide victory in the election of 1933 against the Readjuster Henry D. Hatfield, a representative of Virginia.
Presidency[]
Long began pushing his liberal policies through the Confederate States Congress as he attempted to lead Dixie out of the Depression. Though many of the communist leadership felt he was not a true friend of the working man, most of their rank and file supported him. Long kept his promises, but made many enemies in the process on both sides of the aisle. These enemies eventually took action as President Long was assassinated on September 10, 1935. Though the assassin was publicly known as Carl Weiss, the people felt that he was working for conservative members of the Dixiecrats.
| ||||||||||||||||||
