436 Huey Long: Bogeyman or Superman?

436. Stephen and Bruce discuss a couple of articles on Huey Long, and the men who wrote them. On February 13, 1935, the New Republic published two articles on Huey Long: “How Come Huey Long? 1. Bogeyman? 2. Or Superman?” Hodding Carter II wrote the article calling Long a bogeyman, and Gerald L. K. Smith wrote of Long as a superman. The articles use the usual evidence to make the usual arguments pro and con about Long. What makes them worth a second look is the identity of the authors themselves. Carter was a New Deal Democrat who hated Long for his more radical politics. Mrs. Carter later told Ken Burns that when she heard on the radio that Long had been shot by a man in a white suit, she rushed through the house to locate Hodding and make sure it was not him who pulled the trigger. Gerald L. K. Smith was equally problematic as a commentator. A staunch ally of Long, after the assassination, he took over the Share Our Wealth for a time, moving it in a white supremacist direction. Eventually he became fascist and formed the America First Party, an isolationist party that opposed America’s involvement in World War II. With friends like that, who needs Hodding Carter II?

1. This week in Louisiana history. September 25, 1912. Grabow Lumber Shootout murder suspect Charles Smith, shot by Calcasieu Parish Deputy. The ones who were captured and put on trial were acquitted. 
2. This week in New Orleans history. Oswald Leaves New Orleans, September 25, 1963.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Tour du Teche Canoe Race
   October 01, 2021 - October 03, 2021
   Canoe race on the entire length, 133 miles, of Bayou Teche.  "C'est pas juste une course!  (It's not just a race!)" All age groups invited to paddle, either complete race or predetermined shortened race legs between cities along the Teche.
   Phone: 337-394-6232
   
4. Postcards from Louisiana. Fat Catz on Bourbon St.

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Huey Long

Gerald L. K. Smith

Hodding Carter II