Culture
Episode 161: The Kingfish vs. Oligarchs - Huey Long’s War for the Working Class
In Episode 161 of History for Weirdos, hosts Andrew and Stephanie delve into the life and legacy of Huey Long, the controversial 'Kingfish' of Louisiana. This episode explores Long's ri...
Episode 161: The Kingfish vs. Oligarchs - Huey Long’s War for the Working Class
Culture •
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Interactive Transcript
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Hello and welcome to History for Weirdos.
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We're your host Andrew and Stephanie and we're going to take you on a journey into the
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strange obscure and relentlessly entertaining corners of human history.
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Now listen up friends because it's about to get weird.
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Weirdos, we are back in the same room and the same clothes as last time.
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How weird.
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How weird.
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I wonder how that happened.
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I have no idea but this time I have glasses so that's how we know we've begun a new.
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There you go.
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There you go.
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That's the episode.
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Weirdos, we are always so happy to bring to you a weird history story this week.
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This week is Andrew's week.
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So I have a nice iced matcha latte and I will be sitting back with you all and listening
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to Andrew who has a very incredible story that I don't think most people know about.
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Yes.
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Actually, this story I've been wanting to do since we came back.
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That's right.
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The very first episode we had back was on the 1954 Guatemala coup d'etat, instigated
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by the CIA.
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How to throw that in there.
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If you know, you know.
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If you know, you know.
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And I mentioned someone in that episode who I was utterly fascinated with as soon as I
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read about him and I was like I have to do a full episode on him and this is that episode
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months later.
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Yay, I'm so excited.
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Yes.
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And let's just dive in.
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We don't have any updates because for us time has not really passed since we all last met
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and spoke.
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So there's no news on our end.
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And I'm excited for story time.
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Okay.
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Let's do it.
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We're oh my god.
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Hold on.
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I'm doing ASMR.
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Story time.
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Okay.
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Let's do story time.
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Okay.
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So we're going to be covering the story of the man, the myth, the legend, Huey Long,
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the kingfish of Louisiana, the kingfish of Louisiana, the kingfish of Louisiana.
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Oh, wow.
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I didn't even mean to do that.
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That's other.
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I just came out Huey Long's in the room with us, I guess.
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So Huey Pierce Long, Jr. was born in 1893 in Winfield, Louisiana.
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He was, which was like poor rural parish with a tradition of like populous descent against
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the parasitic class or the elite.
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Um, his family was better off than I think most people, but still not like rich by any
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means, but just like sort of well to do.
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Do you think he was low income or middle class?
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Probably lower middle class.
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Okay.
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Maybe even maybe middle class, but probably lower middle class.
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Okay.
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He had a very early awareness of class differences.
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I think that was, and that would shape the rest of his life.
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So he was bright and argumentative as a youth.
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He excelled at debating and even won a scholarship to LSU.
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Oh, wow.
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Yeah, but he couldn't afford the cost to attend.
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Oh my God, even with the scholarship.
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And even back then, where it was like nothing compared to what is it now?
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Yeah.
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Instead, he became, actually, I should, I didn't even put it in my notes, but I read about
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it and I thought it was fascinating.
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He was like, he was going to go to LSU.
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He couldn't afford it, but then he probably was going to figure something out, but he was
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actually kicked out of high school because they added like a weird, there's a weird
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clause where he had to like do an extra year and he was like, no, that's dumb.
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He's argumentative.
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Like they changed a graduation requirement.
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Exactly.
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And so they just got expelled.
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That's what I would do.
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Yeah.
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So he's like, I'm going to be a traveling salesman.
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17.
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And this is where this was formative though for him because he was able to identify with
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people, talk with people.
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He had showmanship and he could connect with anybody.
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You know, what a great job to start off with.
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Traveling salesman because you learn how to improvise.
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You learn how to talk to people.
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You learn how different people live.
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Yeah.
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That's kind of like a little college education there.
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It was, I think it was like a very, an practical applied college education.
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So yeah, and these were skills that he would later, you know, like in a way weaponized
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when he was in politics.
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So, you know, for good and for bad, you know, we'll get into it.
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But he was a voracious reader.
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So despite, you know, despite not going to college, he read like crazy.
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He loved Shakespearean Dickens.
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Oh.
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But he also loved the biographies of Napoleon and one Julius Caesar.
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Oh my gosh.
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That's like both of our taste.
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Yeah.
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I like Shakespearean Dickens.
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You like Caesar.
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Yeah.
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Do you like Napoleon?
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Not in particular.
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Yeah.
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I like Napoleon and that he liked Caesar.
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Yeah.
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And I do, I do, Napoleon was also a voracious reader.
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He read like, crazy.
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That is true.
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To him, I think from a military standpoint, he was like consuming data.
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I was a voracious reader before the brain rock.
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Yeah, no me too.
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Good times.
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And I feel like this was really interesting because this was like some foreshadowing
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where he liked the Roman popularis and Caesar included.
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Long would emerge as like a fiery champion of the people.
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And he fought against the traditional establishment.
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So, and we know also like while working as a traveling salesman, he actually met the love of his life.
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Rose McConnell.
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And they married on April 12, 1913.
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Ooh, they like each other.
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So, and he knew though he wanted to do a little bit more.
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And so he, one of his buddies literally was like, hey, you want to be a lawyer?
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I'm going to give you like a really streamlined education so you can pass the bar like as quickly as possible.
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So he just studied his ass off, excuse my French.
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And he passed the bar in 1915 only like studying law for like I think a couple months or a few months.
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He even loved suits.
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Oh my god, he would have loved suits.
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He would have loved it.
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Screw it.
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We'll rewatch suits.
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We got to rewatch suits again.
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No, not even, I don't even want to be a lawyer.
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And I'm like, it made me want to be a lawyer for like a half second.
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Oh yeah, me too.
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I was like, wait, I should get into like forensic therapy work.
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Yeah, I was like, should I do constitutional law?
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Oh, that's a good one.
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That's like what I should have done.
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Oh yeah, just, I could have been like a Huey Long.
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Well.
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And instead now, I'm feeling the story is going to take some turns.
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So maybe it's going to be a deal.
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Maybe not, yeah.
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Because, you know, also foreshadowing, what did the popular is usually had bad things happen
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to them.
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And they died under tragic circumstances.
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Guy is Grakis.
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Who you generally see there?
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And his brother, Tiberius Grakis all had bad endings.
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So for spoiler, not spoiler.
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So he, like for the very beginning, his, in his practice as a lawyer, he fought for like
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the little man.
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He often represented small plaintiffs against large corporations and utilities.
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Very early on, I mean, he's still very young.
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He's in his 20s.
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And he has this, this mantra, his like a, the massage of like, I am like, I fight against
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the man for the common people.
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Kind of like a Robin Hood lawyer.
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Literally, yes, he's a Robin Hood figure.
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I mean, even at the time, that's what they described him as.
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Oh, wow.
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Yeah.
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So in 19, at just the age of 25, long one, the election to the Louisiana Railroad,
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the Code Commission, later the Public Service Commission.
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And he used this platform to battle corporate monopolies, most famously taking on standard
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oil over pipeline rates, which would, and basically make him an enemy of standard oil for
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the rest of his life.
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That's me snapping for him.
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Yeah.
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No, he's cool.
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I like him.
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By doing a telephone company for like, unjust rate increases and winning refunds, he
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actually changed the lives of 80,000 overcharged customers and earned him statewide acclaim as
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of people's advocate.
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I love that he's still in Louisiana.
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Yeah, he's still in Louisiana.
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He's fighting for his community.
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Absolutely.
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I mean, he will become a US Senator, but he, he, a lot of his work is in Louisiana still.
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I love that.
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Like, he doesn't like being in Washington DC.
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I don't think I wonder why.
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I know.
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Weird, right?
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Weird.
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So I, he was, but like Caesar, I, I, I do want to point out like I'm not just trying, trying
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to only point out the good things.
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Like he was very power hungry and we will go into some of the things he did, which are not
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great.
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Oh, boy.
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So, but again, that's like, I think, you know, that's what I love about our history
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podcasts is we really just, we give you the facts as they are and we try to give the
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whole complete narrative.
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I think anytime you're telling stories of real people, they're going to have flaws.
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Yeah, they're human.
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Some of us have way bigger flaws than others.
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Sure.
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Like, we're not bigger, but like flaws that impact more people.
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Yes.
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But yeah, we're all human.
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We're all going to mess up.
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Exactly.
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So he, he long actually ran for governor in 1924 so he would have been his 31 years old
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when he ran for governor, but he lost.
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He finished third.
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Um, but still, I mean, it's pretty good for a 31 year old.
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That's a young, that's really young.
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He's a governor, yeah.
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This was notably an election dominated by KKK influence and insane racist demagoguery,
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which long refused to engage in.
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He instead focused on economic inequality and attacking the rich elites.
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Wow.
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He didn't engage in the, oh, this is going to get me voters if I say racist things.
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He was notoriously anti-racist.
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Wow.
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And he was white.
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And he was white from the South Louisiana.
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Born in the 1890s.
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Yeah.
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Wow.
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Ahead of his time.
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Yeah.
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He was, he did not, because I think he saw through the facade, he saw through the
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massage, like it's, or the veil.
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It's not real.
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Like this, these are things that are imposed upon people to drive differences.
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Yeah.
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You know what's wild?
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I just have one random thing to say.
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Yeah.
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My Greek grandfather was born in like 1890.
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Is that weird?
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That's so weird.
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It does not that far away.
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Yeah.
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It would have been like, he belongs age roughly.
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Mm-hmm.
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So his class focused message, very unusual for Southern politicians at this time, resonated
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with many poor farmers.
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But again, alienated him from some traditional voters who were just racist, right?
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He's just like, no, I'm not, like he has his morals.
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He's not going to, he's not going to do that.
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That alone is very admirable.
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Yes.
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Um, the 1924 loss though, wasn't all for not.
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He did learn some valuable lessons, especially in building grassroots machines, which he
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would be come very good at.
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He doubled down on campaign showmanship, bar and storming rural parishes with lively rallies,
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jazz bands, and his catchy slogan, Every Man A King.
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Oh my gosh, that's a good one.
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Yeah.
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And he knew his audience.
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Exactly.
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He knew his audience.
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And again, I do think this is kind of my interpretation.
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I think he was very well influenced by the Roman popularist because this is exactly what
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they did.
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Like to the tea.
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Mm-hmm.
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Yeah.
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I mean, they didn't have jazz in ancient Rome, but you know, that was sad.
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I know.
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That is a little sad actually.
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They would have loved it.
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They would have gone nuts.
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Oh, they would have lost it.
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Yeah.
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Imagine just giving them Baja Blast, man.
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I don't know why that's our thing.
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But four years later, in 1928, he wins.
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He wins.
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He ran for governor and he won in a landslide.
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It was actually the largest margin in Louisiana's history.
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In four years, he went from coming in third place to winning by a landslide.
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Yes.
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Wow, that's impressive.
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Because I think this is the look at the context of the times, the roaring 20s.
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Some people are getting extremely wealthy and a lot of people are getting left behind.
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And he's like, screw that.
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I don't want that.
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I want better for everyone.
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And every mannequin.
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Every mannequin, literally.
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So some of the parishes, especially the rural parishes, like overwhelming, supported him,
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like 70% of the vote would go to him in these areas.
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And because you know what he did, this is crazy.
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Politicians maybe take a note from this.
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He promised roads, schools, and an end to oligarchy.
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Yeah.
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The basics.
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He said, need I say more?
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The point of government.
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Like literally.
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Mm-hmm.
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Oh.
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Anyways, Urban Elise hated him.
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He hated him.
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But this is around the time he earned the name, the Kingfish.
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After a brash comic radio character, super random.
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But that's what he would be known as.
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So he was seen as brash.
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He was definitely seen as brash.
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He was fiery.
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Mm-hmm.
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Very, very guy as Grokis like.
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Mm-hmm.
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Especially, yeah.
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I don't remember what the episode number was,
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but I think it's like in the 40s.
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It's a long time ago.
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Really?
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Is that long ago?
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Yeah.
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Wow.
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I definitely recommend listening to that too,
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after this episode.
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Oh, yeah, you're going to see so many similarities already.
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Yeah, exactly.
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He was, again, champion of the poor.
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He wasted no time enacting more populous agendas,
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especially the uplift like poor majority.
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He pushed through bills that delivered like tangible benefits,
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which I was on the heart of the South at the time.
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Mm-hmm.
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I mean, eat.
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And I would imagine how, like for Louisiana in this time period,
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how crucial more infrastructure would have been.
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Yes, when you nailed it, you nailed it.
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That was a big push was infrastructure within Louisiana.
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Yeah.
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But better is everyone's lives.
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Like literally the next bullet point I have is
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infrastructure revolution.
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They paved 9,700 miles of new roads,
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doubling the state's road network.
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And he built 111 bridges, bringing remote rural communities
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into the modern era.
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And for the first time, isolated farmers
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could drive on real highways instead of mud paths.
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That's going to save you so much time.
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Headaches.
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It's these big public work infrastructure projects
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that uplift everyone.
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It uplifts everyone.
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All those businesses, their logistics,
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just got a lot easier.
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The operations just got streamlined.
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Like the R-O-Y, if you're going to be brutal about it,
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and you think about like the R-O-Y from a cost perspective
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but also from a happiness perspective,
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it's very little about money to bring gigantic generational changes.
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Yeah.
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The impact is huge.
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And I think he saw that.
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And I think he really saw the greed of like, you know,
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probably Wall Street.
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Yeah.
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Wow, what's new.
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And so true.
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So I was just straight from money not going
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to things that benefit most people.
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Right.
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The everyday person getting left behind.
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Yeah.
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Well, keep telling us, because I know there's
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going to be some weird turns.
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Oh, there's going to be some weird, weird turns.
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Yeah.
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He also he provided education for all.
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So that was part of his his platform free textbooks to school
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children black and white.
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Damn.
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And he sent mobile libraries to rural areas and open night
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schools that taught an estimated 175,000 illiterate adults
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to read.
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Oh my God.
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Mobile libraries are a thing that right before the pandemic
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started getting traction.
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Yes, I remember that.
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Yes, that comes from Huey Long.
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That's okay.
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It doesn't come from Huey Long,
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but he institutes this in the 30s.
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That's wild.
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So this is like, it's funny because I'm to combat illiteracy
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is to empower the people.
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Yes.
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I when kind of reading and researching Huey Long,
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I was like, I feel like I don't really want to become
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governor of California.
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But if I ever were to become governor of California,
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I would want to do stuff like this.
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Oh, yeah.
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Because it's like, who cares if like these coastal tech,
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like billionaires, like get an extra billion dollars in tax cuts.
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They don't even care.
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Like why don't we just take that money and invest it in like
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where schools and for structure.
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Like it's so the answer is so blatantly obvious.
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And it's like frustrating that people don't see it.
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Yeah.
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And it's like, and it's not like, oh, I'm so brilliant.
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No, I'm
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literally just reading what successful people did in the past.
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And it's like, apply like this to the modern world instead.
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And living in LA, when we chat with people,
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like just random people you meet at a party, friends,
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whatever, like the everyday person we know what is needed.
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Yeah.
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So many people are like, we need a way to manage the fires
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that happen every year.
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Yes.
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We need more resources at schools.
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Our school district is terrible.
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I would just want to tell a quick story.
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Before I went to graduate school,
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I was working as a behavioral aid, which
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a whole nother story, behavioral aids for autism
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was kind of controversial.
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But anyway, I was in a high school with my student.
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And this is.
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This was in 2019 or 2018, maybe no, like 2017.
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Oh, okay.
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Before I started grad school.
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Oh, wow.
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Yeah, you're right.
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So it was here in LA, what uni, university high school?
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Like in the middle of a nice area.
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Like it's Brentwood.
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Yeah, it's Brentwood.
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Very rich area.
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Very rich area.
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Lots of like very well-to-do families
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connected to tech and entertainment, all of those things.
spk_0
When the first day that I went with my student into class,
spk_0
the first class we went to was the science class.
spk_0
I think it was biology.
spk_0
And the teacher who was older, probably close to retirement,
spk_0
just stands at the front of the class,
spk_0
and he's like, go to this page, hands out like a worksheet,
spk_0
fill in the questions, and then he went and sat down
spk_0
and was on his computer the rest of the time.
spk_0
There were not enough textbooks for everyone in the class.
spk_0
The ratio was four students to one textbook.
spk_0
That's absurd.
spk_0
I watched four kids huddle around one textbook
spk_0
to try to learn about the anatomy of a cell on their own.
spk_0
Yeah, and...
spk_0
Isn't that the most heartbreaking thing?
spk_0
Yeah, I mean, it really shouldn't be controversial
spk_0
to say there should be a one-to-one ratio of textbooks
spk_0
to children in school.
spk_0
Yes.
spk_0
Like that is you're investing in the future of a country.
spk_0
If you're basically like, I don't want to get into it,
spk_0
but right now I feel like the older generations
spk_0
are caching out.
spk_0
They're like, screw, I got what's mine.
spk_0
I'm going to continue extracting,
spk_0
and I want my 401k.
spk_0
Yeah, exactly.
spk_0
I want my investment accounts to go up even higher.
spk_0
I don't give a shit about the kids in school.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
And that's that.
spk_0
And I really, as you can tell,
spk_0
it beyond frustrates me,
spk_0
because we don't even have kids.
spk_0
We don't even have kids, guys.
spk_0
And I would like...
spk_0
We have a dingo.
spk_0
We have a dingo puppy.
spk_0
Not even a real dog.
spk_0
And it's like, how can...
spk_0
It's like art.
spk_0
We know the government takes enough of our money.
spk_0
I don't even want to get it.
spk_0
That's a whole nother situation.
spk_0
There's money for this.
spk_0
They choose to not do it,
spk_0
because they want to do other things.
spk_0
That again, I'm not going to get into.
spk_0
But...
spk_0
Even on a personal level,
spk_0
where your money flows, like your values show.
spk_0
Exactly.
spk_0
And where do art, as a country,
spk_0
goes to weapons, it goes to...
spk_0
The military industrial complex in general.
spk_0
It's not going to kids.
spk_0
Yeah, exactly.
spk_0
Or it goes to like...
spk_0
Even social security spending.
spk_0
It's very high, but look at...
spk_0
What is it actually going to?
spk_0
It's been...
spk_0
Because that's what a lot of people will say,
spk_0
well, we have so much money in social security.
spk_0
No, it's going to like corporations.
spk_0
It's going to like...
spk_0
Just like...
spk_0
Follow the money.
spk_0
Yeah, exactly.
spk_0
Thank you.
spk_0
We said we weren't going to do this.
spk_0
I know when we're doing it.
spk_0
With this episode, and yet here we are.
spk_0
I'm sorry.
spk_0
So mobile libraries to combat illiteracy.
spk_0
Yeah, free textbooks.
spk_0
He even expanded LSU ironically enough.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
As a governor.
spk_0
He's construction new buildings,
spk_0
tripling enrollment,
spk_0
founding the medical school,
spk_0
even personally meddling in campus affairs
spk_0
if it was his university.
spk_0
That's cute.
spk_0
I know.
spk_0
It's kind of cute.
spk_0
He abolished the regressive poll tax
spk_0
that kept poor citizens,
spk_0
especially black folks and poor whites from voting.
spk_0
And he exempted the first $2,000 of personal property
spk_0
from taxation.
spk_0
It's effectively like tax relief for small homeowners.
spk_0
These moves empowered tens of thousands of new voters
spk_0
who were paid long with fierce loyalty for the rest of his life.
spk_0
And even...
spk_0
We'll get into it,
spk_0
even into the political dynasty that he's creating.
spk_0
That means...
spk_0
I mean, he's revolutionarily...
spk_0
All of those things are amazing.
spk_0
So far...
spk_0
This is not...
spk_0
This is just to be clear.
spk_0
Like, it's funny.
spk_0
Like I feel like a lot of people's views
spk_0
enforce their reality.
spk_0
I...
spk_0
My views are enforced by reality.
spk_0
Like I...
spk_0
Especially history.
spk_0
We've been...
spk_0
We've seen studied cultures over the course of thousands of years.
spk_0
And I think my political views are based off of like what works
spk_0
and what doesn't work.
spk_0
It's simple as that.
spk_0
What makes for a good society?
spk_0
I've had a lot of weirdos agree.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Even if like...
spk_0
Even if we disagree on how to do that.
spk_0
But that's the mantra that I have.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
So, healthcare and welfare,
spk_0
he also built charity hospitals,
spk_0
expanded the public health facilities,
spk_0
and...
spk_0
Doubleed the capacity of state charity hospitals,
spk_0
improved care for mentally ill,
spk_0
expanding facilities in that area as well.
spk_0
That's right.
spk_0
Enacted labor laws and a state pension system.
spk_0
Precursors for what would be...
spk_0
Components have actually the new deal, funny enough.
spk_0
Oh, wow.
spk_0
That was giving you new deal vibes.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
And we'll get into it actually.
spk_0
He was not a fan of the new deal.
spk_0
Interesting.
spk_0
But for different reasons than...
spk_0
Than you would think.
spk_0
spk_0
So...
spk_0
And he even erected a new state capital building.
spk_0
It was a tower...
spk_0
It's actually a beautiful building.
spk_0
It's a towering art deco,
spk_0
skyscraper in Baton Rouge.
spk_0
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
What does it love art deco?
spk_0
It's really interesting.
spk_0
It is a beautiful building.
spk_0
And it's really interesting.
spk_0
It's...
spk_0
We're gonna get...
spk_0
It's actually plays a very pivotal part
spk_0
of...
spk_0
In later in his story.
spk_0
And we'll get back to it.
spk_0
So...
spk_0
Just keep that in the back of your mind.
spk_0
A lot of his...
spk_0
Detractors at that time
spk_0
could start comparing him to Caesar at this point.
spk_0
Funny enough.
spk_0
That's not good.
spk_0
You don't want to be compared to Caesar.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Unfortunately.
spk_0
Yeah, and not from like a...
spk_0
Oh, he did so much for the plebeian class.
spk_0
spk_0
Because the modern understanding of Caesar
spk_0
is he was a tyrant.
spk_0
Especially at this time.
spk_0
Yeah. And he got shanked.
spk_0
Most people...
spk_0
No, most classesists now actually have kind of like reversed that.
spk_0
And they're like, oh no, he was actually like...
spk_0
The Republic was gone.
spk_0
It was an oligarchy and he was fighting against it.
spk_0
Damn, I should do an episode and Caesar.
spk_0
I can't believe we haven't done one.
spk_0
I feel like Caesar is like...
spk_0
His name was synonymous.
spk_0
Yeah, it's like his last...
spk_0
His name was synonymous with Emperor for like 2000 years.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Like I can't, you know?
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
So...
spk_0
Let us know weirdos in the comments.
spk_0
Should we do an episode on Caesar?
spk_0
Caesar has been mentioned in probably like 100 episodes.
spk_0
I know.
spk_0
He's like one of my favorite like historical figures of all time.
spk_0
Should we do one?
spk_0
It's like super basic.
spk_0
It's like saying, yeah, like the Roman Empire.
spk_0
It's like...
spk_0
It's basic, but it's basic for a reason.
spk_0
Because it's like the right answer.
spk_0
Mm-hmm.
spk_0
Anyways.
spk_0
So all these things that cost money, right?
spk_0
So how are they gonna pay?
spk_0
How is he gonna pay for these things?
spk_0
So...
spk_0
He was unafraid of squeezing the rich.
spk_0
He definitely made them pay taxes.
spk_0
So one of the things he did was he slapped a tax on oil refining five cents per barrel,
spk_0
directly targeting standard oil and the petroleum barons who had long gone untouched.
spk_0
Wow.
spk_0
So these super rich people not paying taxes, but like, you know, your mom and pop, I mean,
spk_0
to pay taxes.
spk_0
That is so unfair.
spk_0
Yeah, I mean, that's why I think income tax in the United States is inherently regressive
spk_0
and needs to be completely overhauled.
spk_0
But that's again, a whole another issue.
spk_0
But that's kind of like what he's tackling.
spk_0
So he was loved by the people, but this also gave him an undying hatred from like the
spk_0
ultra wealthy, right?
spk_0
Of course, yeah.
spk_0
He, I mean, he loved it.
spk_0
He relished class war.
spk_0
He was brash.
spk_0
He was brash.
spk_0
He, like, he called the people that he represented the folks at the forks of the creek.
spk_0
That was those were his people.
spk_0
And, and you know, it's interesting, wealth and equality was always like his white whale.
spk_0
He said modern capitalism had run a muck and like he wasn't against capitalism.
spk_0
He was for it to be clear.
spk_0
But this modern capitalism is him.
spk_0
He was like a hell no.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
Because it's not a real free market.
spk_0
Exactly.
spk_0
Oh my gosh.
spk_0
But he wouldn't really hate today.
spk_0
So, yeah, he's basically, I mean, same with today, like a very small click of people were
spk_0
hogging immense wealth while everyone else is suffering.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
His campaign model from 1928, every man, a king, but no one wears a crown encapsulated
spk_0
his creed.
spk_0
So he promised to break the grip of the oligarchs so that even the poorest Louisianaans
spk_0
could live with dignity.
spk_0
That was his whole mantra.
spk_0
That's very admirable.
spk_0
The dignity.
spk_0
Exactly.
spk_0
He had a specific plan.
spk_0
It was owning a home, owning a car, a radio and putting a chicken in every pot.
spk_0
That was his like, stand basically like creating a baseline standard of living.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
He wanted to address basic needs and equity.
spk_0
Exactly.
spk_0
Which is cut to be fair.
spk_0
I think that's kind of the way I view things is like we should have a bare minimum standard
spk_0
of living in the United States.
spk_0
We have enough wealth.
spk_0
Like, we can make that a reality if we want it to.
spk_0
It's all about this is kind of where manifesting comes into play.
spk_0
If we all manifested this and acted on it, we could make it happen.
spk_0
I wrote a sub stack article where it's like, I don't remember the number, but we like
spk_0
outnumber these elites like 100,000 between 100,000 and a million to one.
spk_0
So we can do it if we want it to.
spk_0
Anyways.
spk_0
Remember, we have a time limit.
spk_0
I know we have a time limit today, guys.
spk_0
It's this long story.
spk_0
I'm just going to kind of skip this stuff.
spk_0
It's basically like we already kind of win over it.
spk_0
He has brush tactics though.
spk_0
That is the one thing I really want to highlight.
spk_0
He was feeling buoyant.
spk_0
He was confrontational.
spk_0
He publicly punched a rival editor in the face during the 1928 campaign for governor.
spk_0
Only back then, could you get away with it?
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
And even slugged the sitting governor over an insults.
spk_0
Oh my God.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Once in office, he demolished the governor's mansion as a statement calling it, or
spk_0
even calling in prison inmates to literally knock it down as like just a massive like
spk_0
middle finger.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Straight to the establishment.
spk_0
Okay.
spk_0
And he's the kind of guy he is.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Exactly.
spk_0
He's sending a clear message like I'm coming for you.
spk_0
This is the new paradigm.
spk_0
Mm hmm.
spk_0
Like either love it or hate it.
spk_0
I'm here, baby.
spk_0
Mm hmm.
spk_0
On the house floor, he would actually like also cow opponents with lines like sit down
spk_0
and shut up.
spk_0
Using humiliation, the microphone and the galleries as weapons because you get people
spk_0
involved.
spk_0
He was, he really did crowd work well.
spk_0
He's a showman.
spk_0
He was a showman.
spk_0
Mm hmm.
spk_0
So in 1929, the old guard started striking back.
spk_0
They even tried to impeach him.
spk_0
And it looked like it could have happened.
spk_0
I mean, long, to be fair, long was kind of abusing some of his powers.
spk_0
And even alleging he'd, and part of it was like he like insulted legislators with abusive
spk_0
language, which was a big no no back then.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Now it's like, I mean, the president of the United States does it all the time.
spk_0
So yeah, but back then they actually had like decorum.
spk_0
Yeah, and he's a little different in that.
spk_0
He we fought back just ferociously.
spk_0
He didn't give a shit.
spk_0
He like he just, I mean, he straight up accused standard oil and political bosses applauding
spk_0
to retake the government via corrupt legislature.
spk_0
He alleged that lawmakers were offered $25,000 bribes.
spk_0
And this is back in the, you know, early 30s.
spk_0
That's a lot of money.
spk_0
Oh, I'm sorry, late 20s.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Uh, enough money to burn a wet mule, quote unquote.
spk_0
Damn.
spk_0
Ultimately long maneuvered his foes.
spk_0
He secured the loyalty of a critical block of state senators who signed pledges to block
spk_0
any conviction, probably getting like the people, their constituents saying, no, we like
spk_0
this guy.
spk_0
You better support him.
spk_0
Mm-hmm.
spk_0
To again, you know, that's politics.
spk_0
So the impeachment fell short and he we emerge victorious.
spk_0
This close brush with like political death.
spk_0
He didn't, it didn't deter him any.
spk_0
And in fact, if anything, it emboldened him to go even harder.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
He said afterwards, quote, I used to try to get things done by saying, please now my
spk_0
dynamite.
spk_0
And quote stop.
spk_0
That was his version of saying, please before.
spk_0
Well, to be fair, I think all those things happen like while he was governor and then I
spk_0
kind of went back and time.
spk_0
That's too funny.
spk_0
Yeah, but like he doesn't sound like he was saying, please.
spk_0
I don't think he was ever really truly saying, please, but I think now dynamite.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
He like his opponents called it a tyrants playbook.
spk_0
Mm-hmm.
spk_0
And I mean, to be fair, he did start purging political opponents, not like, you know, with
spk_0
violence, but like, you know, getting him out.
spk_0
Getting rid of them.
spk_0
Yeah, getting rid of them and tightening his grip on power.
spk_0
And from here on out, Huey abandoned like any pretense of gentle persuasion.
spk_0
He was like, no, like the people are going to get what the people need.
spk_0
And if I have to do extraordinary measures to do it, I will do it.
spk_0
Mm-hmm.
spk_0
But those measures go against democracy in a lot of ways.
spk_0
Exactly.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
It's kind of like, and again, very popular, a very sussarian of him.
spk_0
Mm-hmm.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
In the early thirties, Huey, Long, wielded, unprecedented control over, basically over an
spk_0
entire US state.
spk_0
No one had really in any state.
spk_0
I think no one had really had so no so much power had never been controlled by a single
spk_0
person, right?
spk_0
I think it was New York had time in any hall, but that was kind of a coalition of different
spk_0
like interests.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
This is one person.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
He dominated every branch of Louisiana's government through patronage or fear.
spk_0
That's definitely going to make enemies.
spk_0
Yeah, he's making enemies here.
spk_0
And again, it's, we will see.
spk_0
It comes to a head.
spk_0
So he passed hundreds of laws by stacking state legislature and centralized authority in
spk_0
the governor's office, dissenting lawmakers, read or bribed, black mailed, or bullied
spk_0
into submission.
spk_0
It kind of reminds me of what, what was that Narco?
spk_0
The famous one.
spk_0
Pablo Escobar.
spk_0
He said, Plata Oplomo.
spk_0
I felt like it was kind of like that silver or lead.
spk_0
Yeah, you choose.
spk_0
You choose.
spk_0
I would take the silver.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
But, you know, lead in this case is like political death.
spk_0
Yes.
spk_0
So, he packed courts like so like he has a state legislature on the side.
spk_0
So the judicial branch within Louisiana, he has courts that are filled with judges that
spk_0
are friendly to him.
spk_0
He fought just straight up, fired straight state employees who wouldn't pledge loyalty,
spk_0
replacing them with his supporters, government contracts and jobs flowed to those in his machine
spk_0
ensuring loyalty, right?
spk_0
So this is I think where we kind of go into like the dark side of that where he.
spk_0
I think, you know, in my own kind of like interpretation of all of this, he is.
spk_0
He went into it with good reasons, but he's starting to kind of go to the dark side of
spk_0
like he's going too far.
spk_0
He's doing the thing of like, oh, well, the ends justify the means.
spk_0
Exactly.
spk_0
Exactly.
spk_0
That's such a slippery slope.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
I mean, he even like muzzled the press a lot of the times.
spk_0
That's and that's really stepping over the line.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
He proposed gag laws.
spk_0
He created his own newspaper to spread propaganda.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
When one newspaper was just one back down, he sent the national guard to shut it down
spk_0
and destroy the presses.
spk_0
He literally had troops with bayonets marching into a newspaper office.
spk_0
Nope.
spk_0
Yeah, do that.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
I mean, he even literally did it to a student named newspaper later that criticized him
spk_0
snarling.
spk_0
I'm assuming LSU.
spk_0
I built that university.
spk_0
I won't stand for any students bad mouthing me.
spk_0
Oh.
spk_0
Yeah, so he has a he's an ego too.
spk_0
Definitely in the dark side.
spk_0
He really could have benefited from some like Marcus Aurelius.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Some anchor management.
spk_0
Yeah, I was like, you really like like Caesar.
spk_0
Maybe you also look at.
spk_0
Read meditations.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
See what it's about.
spk_0
I mean, yeah, like he used state police and national guard kind of as his personal enforcers.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Not good.
spk_0
Can you do that?
spk_0
spk_0
Even even joked, give me the militia and they can have all the laws they want.
spk_0
So again, very dictatorial.
spk_0
Yeah, you can't be a good guy and do stuff like that.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
No longer the good guy.
spk_0
So and at this point, he people either loved too long or they hated him.
spk_0
Adulation and hatred.
spk_0
It reached unreal heights, right?
spk_0
Because to the his rural base, um, long, long was he was a man of the people.
spk_0
He was not only that, he was a savior to them.
spk_0
He was a savior of the people.
spk_0
I mean, he genuinely was.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
They're not wrong in that.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
And not only were they they weren't horrified by his attacks on like his detractors, they
spk_0
actually encouraged it.
spk_0
Hmm.
spk_0
They were on his side completely.
spk_0
Because they felt protected by him.
spk_0
They felt protected by him.
spk_0
And remember, like this is in the middle of the Great Depression.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
And he's he's promising like, like a certain level of dignity.
spk_0
Yes.
spk_0
When like, there is none for most people across the country.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Because not only did he talk about doing stuff for them, he actually did it.
spk_0
He did it.
spk_0
He got results, which was just, I mean, I can tell you one thing before, like since and
spk_0
before no one helped the poor person as much as he belonged in Louisiana.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
Yeah, that's just that's just the way it is.
spk_0
But he did so by being a little bit of a dictator.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
A little bit.
spk_0
Okay, a lot of it.
spk_0
I know.
spk_0
It's funny because I do have a little bit of sympathy for him.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
But at the same time, I'm also like, like reading these things.
spk_0
I'm horrified.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Both are true.
spk_0
Both are true.
spk_0
I mean, again, it kind of goes, he's like the perfect weirdo because there's good and
spk_0
bad.
spk_0
Like really good and really bad.
spk_0
He's layered.
spk_0
He's very layered.
spk_0
Yes, steam journalists like Hodding Carter labeled him quote, the first true dictator
spk_0
out of the soil of America, end quote critics whisper that he would crown himself
spk_0
and outright fascist if he could comparisons to Napoleon and Caesar, of course, were really
spk_0
starting to be ramped up at this time.
spk_0
And he was like, I love those guys.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Long brush it off.
spk_0
He was like a perfect democracy can come close to looking like a dictatorship, end quote.
spk_0
Oh.
spk_0
In his view, he was doing right by the common person, right?
spk_0
And if that required steam rolling the opposition, so be it.
spk_0
That was his mantra basically.
spk_0
So I mean, yeah, his like his oration, by the way, was incredible.
spk_0
You should watch like videos of him.
spk_0
It's really cool.
spk_0
I might post a few like, you know, when we release this episode, but yeah, it's really,
spk_0
really cool speeches that he has.
spk_0
So yeah, I mean, his faction or even called Longites, they were basically even seen
spk_0
as popular as, wow, which was like the Roman, the late Roman Republic equivalent of Longites.
spk_0
He's like a cult leader.
spk_0
He kind of is like literally.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
And like he, and it's interesting because like, and if look at party politics, he was a
spk_0
Democrat, but he had probably even more hatred towards what he called the bourbon Democrats,
spk_0
like the rich Democrats of the South, then he did against the Republicans.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
Because they're being fake.
spk_0
Exactly.
spk_0
The phonies.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
And in some ways, he was more aligned with Republicans at the time than he was Democrats.
spk_0
Really interesting.
spk_0
So he could only stay governor for a period of time.
spk_0
And he wasn't going to push that.
spk_0
He wasn't going to break that constitution.
spk_0
So he was term limited, which again, I guess goes to show that he wasn't fully dictator.
spk_0
He just, and he really meant what I guess what he said is like, sometimes I can look
spk_0
like a dictator shut.
spk_0
Mm hmm.
spk_0
But he had no plans to try to extend his terms.
spk_0
No, because he had bigger, he had bigger plans.
spk_0
So he ran for the United States Senate, actually, interestingly in 1930.
spk_0
And he won easily.
spk_0
And interestingly though, remember, like this is 1930, he's like governor in like 1930,
spk_0
like two even.
spk_0
So what happens?
spk_0
He wins easily, easily wins.
spk_0
But he actually refused to take his Senate seat for two years.
spk_0
He delayed it so that he could be governor longer.
spk_0
And then that's so weird.
spk_0
Run out his time.
spk_0
Yeah, I don't know.
spk_0
It is strange, honestly.
spk_0
Why not wait until you're done being governor?
spk_0
I don't know.
spk_0
Maybe just like secure, maybe like a succession plan.
spk_0
I don't know.
spk_0
Okay.
spk_0
That's what I'm guessing.
spk_0
Uh-huh.
spk_0
Detractors saw it as a dictatorial mindset.
spk_0
His supporters saw it as safeguarding his revolution.
spk_0
Okay.
spk_0
I actually see both sides, honestly.
spk_0
So he arrived in Washington in 1932.
spk_0
The Great Depression is like terrible.
spk_0
He arrived, like kind of similar to actually Jimmy Carter in some ways, very different.
spk_0
In others like see as a political outsider.
spk_0
Oh, I see.
spk_0
He played that up.
spk_0
I am a political outsider.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
That's a good thing.
spk_0
That's what he did.
spk_0
Oh, like Jimmy Carter, but just very different personalities.
spk_0
Two quarters so introverted.
spk_0
spk_0
And that's about, that's the only thing they have really in common.
spk_0
Oh, and they didn't, they weren't racist.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
So that's a good one.
spk_0
But they're like really the two things they haven't common.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
And they, I guess, and like a genuine, like interest in helping, like the poor middle
spk_0
class.
spk_0
Yeah, not like my whole life is about being a politician.
spk_0
Exactly.
spk_0
Like they were there for a reason.
spk_0
And his very first months as Senator, long gave fiery speeches denouncing wealth inequality
spk_0
on the Senate floor.
spk_0
So like he took it from Louisiana to the national stage.
spk_0
And this is again right in the middle of the depression.
spk_0
So this is going to hit hard.
spk_0
Like this is going to hit.
spk_0
That's powerful.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
He lambasted both Republicans and his own Democratic party leaders for failing to tackle the
spk_0
crisis.
spk_0
Often in colorful theatrical filibusters that grew crowds to the gallery.
spk_0
In fact, a very young LBJ reported a watch and trans by Huey's performance in like 1932
spk_0
or 1933.
spk_0
I do admire.
spk_0
It's not my style necessarily, but I do admire that he made it a performance because it
spk_0
gets people involved.
spk_0
Yes.
spk_0
It gets attention.
spk_0
And I think he was about results.
spk_0
He wasn't about intention.
spk_0
He really thought like this is the way they get people interested.
spk_0
Yeah, because most people, especially his constituents, don't feel represented by the
spk_0
government.
spk_0
So they're not going to be paying attention to those discussions.
spk_0
They're kind of checked out, but he made them pay attention.
spk_0
Exactly.
spk_0
So his senate colleagues were not quite as immune.
spk_0
They didn't think it was cute.
spk_0
They didn't think it was as cute.
spk_0
Okay.
spk_0
So by 1933, his marathon speech as an antics had nearly paralyzed senate business prompting
spk_0
the Washington Post to call for his resignation.
spk_0
Long didn't care.
spk_0
His real audience was the nation at large.
spk_0
Initially, he and FDR were buddies initially.
spk_0
Okay.
spk_0
They saw each other's kindred spirits that didn't last long.
spk_0
So, but before they had a falling out, Huey Long did how FDR win the 1932 presidential
spk_0
election.
spk_0
So he backed him?
spk_0
And he secured key delegations for the nomination.
spk_0
Okay.
spk_0
But once Roosevelt was actually in office, Long very quickly grew disillusioned with him.
spk_0
He thought that FDR's new deal was way too timid.
spk_0
He called him basically like a little bitch.
spk_0
Like, that would put in today's terms as kind of like what he saw FDR as.
spk_0
So he's like, you're being a weeny.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
You're not fighting hard enough.
spk_0
You're kind of like FDR maybe was thinking I'm going to be a little more centrist with
spk_0
this.
spk_0
Yes.
spk_0
Less polarizing and Huey Long's all about being polarizing.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
He lives to be polarizing.
spk_0
I see.
spk_0
And, and literally Huey's metaphor was quote Roosevelt was just sprinkling nickels around.
spk_0
Like while Americans starved.
spk_0
Wow.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
I could, you know, that's so funny because I've only ever heard the opposite criticism.
spk_0
Oh, that like from like the more like conservative side like being like, oh, he's a socialist or
spk_0
whatever.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
No.
spk_0
Not at all.
spk_0
In fact, some of his more radical things was so that like Huey Long would shut up.
spk_0
Wow.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
I'll get into that in a second.
spk_0
But yeah.
spk_0
Um, he accused FDR of cuddling bankers and big businesses.
spk_0
Probably.
spk_0
I mean, I think he was genuinely.
spk_0
I think that's not a, that's not an unfair assessment.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Um, he sarcastically even named Roosevelt Frank to deny him like the dignity of the office
spk_0
and pointedly referring to the president's national recovery administration.
spk_0
Ironically called the NRA.
spk_0
No relation.
spk_0
Different.
spk_0
Different RRA.
spk_0
As, and I'm sorry, this is a little bit of a disclaimer.
spk_0
I'm used antiquated language here, but he called it the quote Negroes ruined again.
spk_0
Unquote to undermine FDR in the South.
spk_0
Wow.
spk_0
So the break was complete.
spk_0
Long had effectively formed his kind of like own one man radical opposition within the
spk_0
Democratic Party, but clearly not aligned with the Republican.
spk_0
So you kind of have like three different like like points here.
spk_0
And he is pretty isolated in that he has his followers.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
But there are, but as a politician, yeah.
spk_0
He doesn't have like people.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
He doesn't have allies necessarily not that I really saw John Snow would not approve.
spk_0
We need more allies.
spk_0
It's all he said the last season.
spk_0
Yep.
spk_0
Last few seasons.
spk_0
So.
spk_0
On February of 1934, Huey Long unveiled his grand solution to the depression.
spk_0
The share our wealth program.
spk_0
Mm-hmm.
spk_0
Very radical for the time.
spk_0
Mm-hmm.
spk_0
But basically this sweeping plan was nothing less than a frontal assault on the nation's
spk_0
extreme wealth inequality.
spk_0
And it made Long not just a household name in Louisiana now, but across the entire country.
spk_0
You can tell that this was probably very popular with people who weren't absurdly rich.
spk_0
Most people, which is a vast majority of people.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
So.
spk_0
So.
spk_0
Some key features of this plan included fortune caps.
spk_0
Basically, personal fortunes would be capped at roughly $50 million.
spk_0
Later Revise actually to only $5 million.
spk_0
Oh, snow.
spk_0
But again, this is also in the threese.
spk_0
spk_0
He put it bluntly like, how can there be men with hundreds of millions and millions of people
spk_0
with nothing?
spk_0
Bro, you have no idea.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
What about hundreds of billions now?
spk_0
Mm-hmm.
spk_0
Anyways, every family would be guaranteed a basic household grant, around $2,000-$5,000 per
spk_0
year, enough to buy a home, a car, a radio, and staples of comfort.
spk_0
So basically, kind of like a universal basic income.
spk_0
For the United States, this would be insanely radical for today.
spk_0
Insanely radical for today.
spk_0
And we have other countries that do these things already.
spk_0
And wow, like, their citizens are reportedly happier.
spk_0
They're more educated.
spk_0
They're more educated.
spk_0
They're more educated.
spk_0
They have better, they're just better outcomes.
spk_0
Better health outcomes, yeah.
spk_0
It's like, and even with that sort of decades and decades of evidence, this would be considered
spk_0
very radical.
spk_0
Oh, absolutely.
spk_0
You know, they also old age pensions and benefits, free college education, vocational
spk_0
training, veteran bonuses, you know, all these things.
spk_0
And he also even proposed shorting the work week and giving workers four weeks of vacation.
spk_0
Like in Europe?
spk_0
Like in Europe.
spk_0
This is what they took from us.
spk_0
The parasite class.
spk_0
This is what they took from us.
spk_0
I would love to not have over $100,000 in student loan debt.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Wow, yeah.
spk_0
So he also implemented this is FDR is like, I'm stealing this.
spk_0
That's the next point, which is massive public works programs.
spk_0
So that is the one that he does take.
spk_0
He envisioned federal public works projects, guaranteeing a job to every American who could
spk_0
work, building schools, roads, hospitals, basically doing what he didn't leave the
spk_0
end up on an entire national scale.
spk_0
That's a good one.
spk_0
I see why FDR chose that one.
spk_0
It's the most palatable because it further can justify the existence of the government.
spk_0
Exactly.
spk_0
It's like, okay.
spk_0
Yeah, FDR, I actually, I'm pretty anti FDR.
spk_0
I'm not going to lie.
spk_0
I'm not going to get into it.
spk_0
But yeah, I think he's the most overrated president we have.
spk_0
He was president for forever.
spk_0
Yeah, talk about being a dictator.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
He got elected for a fourth term and he just dies immediately.
spk_0
It's like, do you want whatever?
spk_0
I love his wife.
spk_0
Yeah, she was cool.
spk_0
So long took to the nation to broadcast on the radio and promote his share our wealth
spk_0
program, booming in his unmistakable Southern draw, like, ever Mayan a king, you know, I'm
spk_0
so sorry for people who were from the South who are listening.
spk_0
I just, I had to.
spk_0
Yeah, to try.
spk_0
I have ancestors from the South like hundreds years ago.
spk_0
I get inspired.
spk_0
Yeah, it's fine.
spk_0
I'm sure that's fine.
spk_0
I'm sure it's fine.
spk_0
So the radio is like, that's that's how he got their version of social media.
spk_0
Exactly what I was going to say.
spk_0
Exactly.
spk_0
So and in by even by like 1935, share our wealth clubs had sprung up in every single state,
spk_0
boasting over 7.5 million members.
spk_0
This was a very popular idea.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
It was an instant.
spk_0
And this was all grassroots.
spk_0
It was astonishing.
spk_0
It was astonishing.
spk_0
Very impressive.
spk_0
His senate office was inundated with up to 60,000 letters a week from supporters.
spk_0
He hired dozens of secretaries to answer fan mail essentially.
spk_0
Wow.
spk_0
Among desperate Americans, he, along was the folk hero.
spk_0
He was the Robin Hood.
spk_0
He was a, he was an icon.
spk_0
Like of someone actually offering not only just hope, but surreal solutions.
spk_0
One contemporary observed that from the outside of like, Hollywood's Charlie Chaplin and
spk_0
president FDR himself, long was probably the most famous face in America.
spk_0
Damn.
spk_0
So I've never even heard of him until you.
spk_0
Really?
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Once, to be fair, I didn't know of him until either late last year or beginning of this
spk_0
year.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
I think about that.
spk_0
I was like, oh my god, this, of course they, they're not going to teach about him in
spk_0
school.
spk_0
Of course they're not.
spk_0
One point he was one of the most recognizable faces in America.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Interesting.
spk_0
Guys, like we can do this also.
spk_0
Like I think a lot of the ideas are very applicable.
spk_0
It's very applicable to today.
spk_0
Like, oh my gosh, like Bezos can't get his seventh yacht.
spk_0
Okay.
spk_0
I'm okay with that.
spk_0
I think he'll live.
spk_0
So one of the, one of the, my favorite things that he will alongside and I've, I,
spk_0
I think I've seen this in video, but he had this kind of like snapshot.
spk_0
And this is so Southern.
spk_0
Like he, he, he, it's called his barbecue metaphor.
spk_0
He's like, if one man piles his plate with all the meat, what is everyone else supposed
spk_0
to eat?
spk_0
What's wrong with fellow are going to do with all that grub.
spk_0
I don't know.
spk_0
You can't eat at all.
spk_0
I just realized I did that in Southern accent.
spk_0
Your stomach's only so big.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
But basically that was this thing.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
And he's not wrong.
spk_0
I don't know what to say.
spk_0
So FDR was noticeably alarmed because he, FDR was a power hungry as well.
spk_0
I think that's something that we don't talk about, but he was.
spk_0
He was a power hungry.
spk_0
Very power hungry.
spk_0
I mean, literally, anyway, I'm not going to get into it.
spk_0
Again, I've said that like half a dozen times in this episode.
spk_0
But he privately remarked that Huey was one of the two most dangerous men in America.
spk_0
The other one being general Douglas MacArthur, who helped us win World War II.
spk_0
But so when he said dangerous men in America, it meant he meant dangerous men to himself.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Wow.
spk_0
How sad when your ego takes over.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
He feared that like he was going to run against him in the primary or even run third party
spk_0
against him and siphon away votes.
spk_0
And he didn't think he was going to win in the 1936 election against Huey Long.
spk_0
Because he would have had to fight Huey Long and whoever the Republicans, I don't even
spk_0
know who they ran in that election who cares.
spk_0
But yeah.
spk_0
So they did everything they could to against him.
spk_0
They investigated him for corruption, digging into his finances via the IRS and the FBI.
spk_0
They planted Long's enemies in charge of federal relief programs in Louisiana to undermine him.
spk_0
It's also very dictatorial.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
No, FDR was so much more dictatorial than Long could have ever hoped to be.
spk_0
I do not like FDR.
spk_0
So you said that three times.
spk_0
It's not even the best Roosevelt those president.
spk_0
His cousin was so much better.
spk_0
Oh my god.
spk_0
So FDR also, and this is where FDR was really smart though.
spk_0
He co-opted his ideas.
spk_0
Remember I told you about the.
spk_0
He's like, I'll make him more palatable.
spk_0
Yes.
spk_0
Like he gave him a PR spin.
spk_0
Yeah, he social security that came from Huey Long.
spk_0
But he instituted it for pensions.
spk_0
He instituted have your taxes on the wealthy, the WPA for huge public works programs, the
spk_0
National Youth Administration for Student Aid.
spk_0
And he noticeably like did not go as far as the share our wealth because he has incredibly
spk_0
wealthy backers who don't want, who don't actually want.
spk_0
I would piss off.
spk_0
Yeah, your donors.
spk_0
But he had to do something.
spk_0
And so he's like, I'll just take this like middle road.
spk_0
And so publicly like Roosevelt was really trying to act unruffled, even joking that long
spk_0
was a demagogue.
spk_0
But in private, he's terrified.
spk_0
He's terrified.
spk_0
He's terrified of long private.
spk_0
He'd mentioned that most of the times.
spk_0
He even went to commission the first ever nationwide poll to gauge how, how much of a threat
spk_0
Huey Long was to him.
spk_0
Oh, he's getting paranoid.
spk_0
He's getting paranoid.
spk_0
But he's handling it well.
spk_0
He is handling it really well.
spk_0
spk_0
So even as he battled like the Democratic establishment, Huey Long forged alliances
spk_0
with other discontented populists.
spk_0
He befriended a actual radical Catholic radio priest, father Kaufflin, and a doctor, doctor
spk_0
Francis Townsend, who was an advocate of old age pensions.
spk_0
And there was talk that like he was diving into these other communities like Catholics,
spk_0
to create this coalition of different people.
spk_0
Because this is what Huey Long was really good at building these coalitions, grassroots
spk_0
movements, to fight against Roosevelt when the Democratic nomination and ultimately
spk_0
when the presidency.
spk_0
It's just talk.
spk_0
But like that is what Huey Long wanted.
spk_0
His charisma.
spk_0
I mean, he had crazy as the you say, Riz.
spk_0
Yeah, he Riz, he Riz, he Riz up everyone from poor constituencies in Northern states who
spk_0
loved him.
spk_0
Even though he was a southerner, they loved him and minorities, specifically a black folk.
spk_0
They saw him as the rare Southern politician who didn't spew racism in his speeches.
spk_0
We covered that a little bit earlier.
spk_0
He even invited like infamously to some of his supporters, more racist ones, that he
spk_0
invited a black choir to sing at one of his rallies in the deep south.
spk_0
It's kind of just like a what are you going to do about it?
spk_0
Big thing that's going to piss off a lot of people.
spk_0
He didn't do it in the north.
spk_0
He did it in the south.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
That's quite a statement.
spk_0
So his ego though was I think going to be his downfall and his was his downfall.
spk_0
It made him it made it hard for him to share any sort of limelight.
spk_0
And he was and I think he was the star of his show.
spk_0
So yeah, like I mean nationwide in 1935 political commentators are literally openly comparing
spk_0
him to Julius Caesar.
spk_0
I mean, there's a lot of parallels to be honest.
spk_0
So it's not an unfair comparison.
spk_0
But I think he would have loved that.
spk_0
And I think ironically, Pompey, because he's like he's a populist hero who's openly
spk_0
defying the nation's leader kind of like Roosevelt being like a Pompeo's magnus.
spk_0
I see.
spk_0
And completely just threatening to overturn the established order.
spk_0
Not like overthrow the government, but being like this order that's in control of the
spk_0
government, you guys suck.
spk_0
I'm the future.
spk_0
You're just you're just like a cheap imitation.
spk_0
Your team.
spk_0
Me is like kind of like what he's saying and putting in today's terms.
spk_0
He's not wrong.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
I mean, he had a self published book called quote, my first days in the White House end quote.
spk_0
Wow.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
It's a which was a future memoir.
spk_0
I actually really want to read this.
spk_0
A future memoir where he imagined himself as president meeting with a humbled FDR.
spk_0
That's manifesting.
spk_0
I think he was.
spk_0
He was trying to manifest.
spk_0
So this was like, this was all unprecedented.
spk_0
All of it was unprecedented.
spk_0
And this I think led to his downfall, unfortunately.
spk_0
So his influence just continued to grow.
spk_0
But along with the influence worth threats against his life.
spk_0
And he was despised by many incredibly powerful people, not only Louisiana, but the entire
spk_0
country.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
I mean, we actually kind of went over it very briefly in the 1940 or I'm sorry, the 1954
spk_0
coup d'etat episode.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
With, oh, Samuel's a Murray.
spk_0
They hated each other.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
Hated each other.
spk_0
So.
spk_0
Look at how powerful that guy was.
spk_0
Yeah, that guy ended up becoming very powerful.
spk_0
I mean, lead the foundation to overthrowing a democratically elected government in South America.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Central America.
spk_0
Central America, yeah.
spk_0
So there were whispers of lots of plots.
spk_0
So in mid 1935, long dramatically claimed to have uncovered a conspiracy of local officials,
spk_0
including for congressman and a mayor who allegedly scheme to assassinate him.
spk_0
We don't know if this is true or not, but there is.
spk_0
It is a fact that he had an armed militia that was formed primarily against him called
spk_0
the square deal association that talked of violent rebellion against Long's rule.
spk_0
So this is definitely like funded by the aristocrats.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Death threats and even drive by shootings targeted Huey and his family prompting him to
spk_0
travel with a squad of armed bodyguards at all times.
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So.
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And here we, we arrive to September 8th, 1935, which is interesting because we were actually
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recording this on September 11th, 1935.
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I'm sorry, 2025.
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We can go back in.
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Yeah.
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It's been.
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Yeah.
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Like 90 years.
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90 years.
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Yeah, it was like not 100.
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Yeah, 90 years, just a couple of days ago from the time of this recording.
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So Huey Long, he walked through the marble corridors of the Louisiana State Capitol, that
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building that I had mentioned earlier, that was really pretty art.
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Articled building.
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He's walking through it late nights.
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This is a special legislative session, right?
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He's a US Senator, but he's like still involved in Louisiana.
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He loves the building he built.
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Yeah, building he built.
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He was there to ran through a last minute bill to basically gerrymander a district of
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a long time opponent, which was judge Benjamin Pavey, effectively like ousting the judge
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during like from the next time he would be up for a reelection.
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Okay.
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So around 920 PM as long exited the house chamber.
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He passed by Dr. Carl Austin Weiss.
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He was a young Baton Rouge eye doctor who also happened to be judge Pavey's son-in-law.
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Oh, okay.
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So in a split second, Weiss confronted Long at close range and fired a single shot into
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his abdomen from a pistol.
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Wow.
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So Huey's bodyguards reacted instantly, drawing their guns and just like open fire on
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this guy just riddling him with bullets.
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Wow.
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So that guy died instantly.
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There were dozens of shots fired at him, which is interesting.
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Weiss was dead instantly.
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Our Weiss was dead instantly, cut down by Long's guards and Huey Long astonishingly ran
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down a flight of steps, crying for help.
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So it's really interesting because hours before the shooting, hotelier see more Weiss.
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I don't think there's any relation.
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Reportedly ask about the campaign deduct box.
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So what I, it's basically just like money, the money box.
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He replied, I'll tell you later, see more and the box was never found.
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That's suspicious.
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So it's very suspicious little like tidbit there.
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So Huey Long was rushed to the hospital and at first it seemed he might actually survive.
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Yay.
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But the abdominal one was too serious.
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Surgeons operated through the night, but the internal bleeding and organ damage was too
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severe.
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He lingered for around 30 hours.
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Oh.
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Just terrible, terrible way to die.
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And in his final moments, the 42 year old kingfish reportedly grasped a friend's hand
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and uttered, God, don't let me die.
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I have so much to do.
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Oh, that's sad.
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And then on September 10th, 1935, it's 90 years ago yesterday, Huey P Long succumbed to
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his injuries.
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Wow.
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An enormous crowd attended his funeral at the Capitol.
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I bet tens of thousands of people sobbing and distraught, filing past the cabinet of the
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man who they had felt had been their champion.
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They're like, they're savior even in some ways.
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He was buried on the Capitol grounds and a statue of him now stands at the spot.
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So the medium motive for Dr. Weiss's action was presumably personal, given his relationship
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to Judge Pavey.
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And notably Longhead insulted Weiss's wife, Pavey's daughter, with a vicious rumor about
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her ancestry.
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I don't know what that was.
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I didn't want to get into it.
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She's also.
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Yeah.
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So those close to Weiss believe he acted alone out of revenge.
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However, to this day, obviously controversy swirls around Long's assassination, given
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his litany of very powerful enemies.
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So many people could have paid that guy.
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Yeah.
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That's what I'm thinking too.
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Some alternate theory suggests perhaps Long's own guards even accidentally shot him in
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the chaos.
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Or that Weiss might not have intended to kill him at all.
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But it was like an accident.
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Yeah.
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No,
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You wanted to threaten him or something.
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Exactly.
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But yeah, and the thing is to this day, no solid evidence is ever emerge of any sort of
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wider conspiracy.
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I'm just gonna ask the guy.
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Yeah, I can ask him.
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A federal probe in the 1930s, late 1930s found no midnight.
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Found that no plot was behind the deed.
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But again, like who's running that probe?
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It's gonna be FDR.
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Right.
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He's gonna be like, yeah, no, it's fine.
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Just like how he hates the guy.
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Yeah.
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I was like, even just a couple because he can't even if it wasn't related to FDR, he can't
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admit if someone had a assassinated because it makes him a martyr.
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Exactly.
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And he can't have this guy be a martyr, especially to like his powerful backers.
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So, you know, like to this day, we still don't know who killed he belonged.
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I or like, or we do know who killed he belonged, but like we don't know the motive.
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The motive necessarily.
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It's still a little bit of mystery.
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So I mean, it's, and again, like I kind of alluded to this earlier, there was a really
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interesting parallel between the popular is and and and and he long.
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Yeah.
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He was a Caesar's death right there.
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He literally died as like a Caesar's death, right?
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A populous like leader, seemingly invincible, cut down, you know, at the height of his power,
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like a muds to swirl of political intrigue, right?
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And I longs death, you know, did bring massive relief to the Roosevelt administration.
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Of course.
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So they had a lot to benefit from his death, which I find very suspect.
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It was an unimaginable tragedy to millions of his followers around the country.
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Yeah.
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And in the weeks after his death, he kind of had that there was a slogan that was like carry on for Huey.
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It was seen at signs.
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It was like yelled at rallies of people, especially that continued like vowed to continue his work.
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Louisiana plunge into turmoil because he really had a grasp of everything.
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There was that kind of political vacuum that happened and it split into pro and anti long
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faction that would persist for like the next like 30 years.
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That's incredible.
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Actually, yeah, what an impact.
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So his his mark on Louisiana politics was massive.
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To this day, he enjoys like a near mythic status amongst many in the state.
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So for the next 25 years, at least Louisiana politics was essentially a civil war between
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Long's heirs and his foes created a political dynasty where his wife and son each actually served
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in the US Senate and his brother Earl became governor.
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Good for them.
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Yeah, ensuring that the long name and but more importantly, his agenda continued on.
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Good for them.
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That's good.
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So and even Louise or even long staunchest critics admit fully admit that no one before or
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since did as much for Louisiana's poor as Huey did.
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He dragged in a poversh like feudal state, which was Louisiana and from the same like into
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the 20th century from the 19th century, paved roads, modern infrastructure, public education,
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healthcare for poor and genuinely, this improved the lives of everyone.
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Wow.
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Thank you so much.
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I like I said, I didn't know anything about him.
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So this is like really powerful.
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Given me a lot to digest.
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I know, right?
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Is it?
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It's like it's a lot.
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He definitely kind of inspires me a little bit, but then also kind of like terrifies me and
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other powers.
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It's oh yeah.
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I can see that.
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Like he's just like from a political historical perspective, he's utterly fascinating to me.
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I really want to hear from any weirdos in Louisiana if you grew up.
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Yes.
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Definitely.
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Let us know in the comments.
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Let us know in the comments of this episode on Instagram or email us like let us know because
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I'm very interested.
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Did you hear about him and what did you hear?
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Yeah, we want to know.
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Thank you Andrew.
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That was incredible.
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And thank you so much weirdos for joining us for another episode.
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Thank you weirdos.
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Until next time.
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Adios.
Topics Covered
History for Weirdos
Huey Long
Kingfish of Louisiana
Louisiana politics
CIA Guatemala coup
populist movements
economic inequality
anti-racist politician
grassroots campaigning
Robin Hood figure
corporate monopolies
public service commission
storytelling in history
human flaws in history
political advocacy