 |
Reign
of Huey P. Long
|
April 06, 2006
[LSU
NEWS]
More than 30 years after the publishing of the
late Louisiana State University history professor
T. Harry Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning
biography on Huey P. Long, another LSU professor,
Richard White Jr., has taken on the legend of
Louisiana’s most notorious governor in a
new biography, “Kingfish: The Reign of Huey
P. Long.” Today, book publishing company
Random House released the biography in bookstores
and online.
White, a professor of public administration at
LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business, approaches
the life of the storied Louisiana politician as
both an academic expert and biographer. He does
not attempt to recreate Williams 800-plus page
“Huey Long.” Instead, White’s
“Kingfish” is an accessible chronicle
that mixes public policy analysis and colorful
anecdote in a way that mirrors the character of
Long himself. He has created a very readable,
just under 280-page biography that accounts Long’s
rural origins and rise to demagogue status. White
gives equal attention to Long’s unique and
often scandalous governing approach as well as
his ability to generate lore.
“Huey did not let anyone or anything stand
in his way,” said White.
According to White, this singular drive allowed
Long to accomplish more for Louisiana than any
other public official in the state’s history
at a time when money and public resources were
in short supply during the Depression.
“Huey built more roads, more schools, provided
more books and aid to the poor than it seemed
economically possible to do. But once he decided
something was important, he found a way to make
it happen,” White said.
The dark companion to Long’s service to
the public was his thirst for power.
“During his reign he seized more control
over an American state than any politician before
or since,” said White. “Dominating
every aspect of government, he used political
whim to hire thousands of state workers, from
cabinet secretaries to laborers shoveling gravel
onto highways.”
Among Long’s most corrupt endeavors were
padding voter lists and directing ballot counting,
censoring newspapers that were critical of him,
using the state militia as a personal police force,
declaring martial law in cities that did not bend
to his will, and ordering the Louisiana Legislature
to pass bills that increased his power. He also
decimated his enemies, and often pushed the boundaries
of the Constitution.
White also met with film makers on the movie
adaptation of “All the King’s Men,”
Robert Penn Warren’s famous novel inspired
by Long, which was shot in Baton Rouge in 2005.
The movie is set to be released later this year.
He provided nearly 30 minutes of interview footage
that may be included as a special feature on the
DVD release.
White is the Marjory B. Ourso Excellence in Teaching
professor at LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of
Business. He teaches in LSU’s Public Administration
Institute and specializes in administrative history,
ethics and human resource management. He is also
the author of “Roosevelt the Reformer,”
a 2004 release from the University of Alabama
Press, which examines President Theodore “Teddy”
Roosevelt’s tenure as a civil service commissioner
before his run for president.
“Kingfish” can be purchased online
at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, powells.com,
and other online retailers and in bookstores everywhere.
For more information on “Kingfish,”
visit www.randomhouse.com.
“Kingfish” can be purchased at amazon.com,
barnesandnoble.com, powells.com, and other online
retailers and in bookstores everywhere. The public
will also have the opportunity to purchase the
book and meet White on Thursday, April 27, from
6-8 p.m. when The Foundation for Historical Louisiana
hosts a champagne reception and book launch party
in the house that Huey built – the Old Governor’s
Mansion, located at 502 North Blvd in downtown
Baton Rouge. To R.S.V.P. for the event, call 225-387-2464.
For more information on the E. J. Ourso College,
visit www.bus.lsu.edu.
White can be reached at 225-578-6738 or rwhit12@lsu.edu.
Wendy Osborn Luedtke
LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business
225/578-8865
