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| - Huey Pierce Long, Jr. (August 30, 1893-March 15, 1948) was 34th President of the United States . Known as the "Kingfish" during his term as Governor of Louisiana, Long gained the favor of the masses with his populist radicalism. He initially rose to prominence during the Roosevelt Administration as a supporter of Roosevelt's New Deal, although he would later criticize the program. Long created the Share Our Wealth program in 1934 with the motto "Every Man a King", proposing new wealth redistribution measures in the form of a net asset tax on corporations and individuals to curb the poverty and hopelessness endemic nationwide during the Great Depression. To stimulate the economy, Long advocated federal spending on public works, schools and colleges, and old age pensions. He was an ardent cr
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| - Huey Pierce Long, Jr. (August 30, 1893-March 15, 1948) was 34th President of the United States . Known as the "Kingfish" during his term as Governor of Louisiana, Long gained the favor of the masses with his populist radicalism. He initially rose to prominence during the Roosevelt Administration as a supporter of Roosevelt's New Deal, although he would later criticize the program. Long created the Share Our Wealth program in 1934 with the motto "Every Man a King", proposing new wealth redistribution measures in the form of a net asset tax on corporations and individuals to curb the poverty and hopelessness endemic nationwide during the Great Depression. To stimulate the economy, Long advocated federal spending on public works, schools and colleges, and old age pensions. He was an ardent critic of the Federal Reserve System's policies. Charismatic and immensely popular for his programs and willingness to take forceful action, Long was accused by his opponents of dictatorial tendencies for his near-total control of the state government. At the height of his popularity, Long was nearly killed by a gunman on September 8, 1935, at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge. The incident had given him a renewed drive in his pursuit of the Presidency. He would later remark that the incident was "the best thing that ever happened to me in terms of my political career." In 1936, he backed U.S. Congressman Burton K. Wheeler of North Dakota as a primary challenger to Roosevelt. Although Lemke failed to win the nomination, he ran as Union Party candidate , with Long's support, and split the Democratic caucus, causing Al Landon to be elected President. According to recently found evidence, Long purposefully tried to derail Roosevelt's candidacy in order to prove that his ideas, which later became known as " Longism, " could be politically viable. Roosevelt seemed to have known this and adamantly opposed Long's bid in 1940 . After his landslide victory, he began to push through Congress his Share the Wealth program , for which is remembered most. Meeting resistence initially, he used his constitutional power of dismissing Congress until they would agree to pass his proposed legislation. He would not achieve true success until the 1942 Congressional election in which the newly elected congressmen supported Long's agenda. Also during his administration, World War II raged on the European continent. Both Congress as well as his Secretary of State, the ardently isolationist William Borah, repeatedly issued statements of neutrality, even during the fall of Great Britain to Nazi Germany . In retrospect, many historians have come to condemn the isolationism which was embraced by Americans at that time. In the fall of 1947, Long announced his bid for a third term as President, shocking many in the political beltway. Despite Long's seemingly presumptuous action, the majority of the American people supported his efforts to the point that many believed he would be successful.
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