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Title details for Kingfish by Richard D. White - Available

Kingfish

The Reign of Huey P. Long

by Richard D. White
John Lescault
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available

Outrageous demagogue or charismatic visionary? In this powerful new biography, Richard D. White, Jr., brings Huey Long to life in all his blazing, controversial glory.

From the moment he took office as governor in 1928 to the day an assassin’s bullet cut him down in1935, Huey Long wielded all but dictatorial control over the state of Louisiana. A man of shameless ambition and ruthless vindictiveness, Huey orchestrated elections, hired and fired thousands at will, and deployed the state militia as his personal police force. And yet, paradoxically, as governor and later as senator, Huey did more good for the state’s poor and uneducated than any politician before or since.

With Kingfish, White has crafted a balanced, lucid, and absolutely spellbinding portrait of the life and times of the most incendiary figure in American politics.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 1, 2006

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781483050546
      • File size: 324919 KB
      • Duration: 11:16:54

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Patrick Cullen's voice is vital and sure, energetic yet objective as he narrates the life of Huey P. Long. The stuff of legend, Long was a governor, a U.S. Senator, and absolute ruler of the state of Louisiana from 1928 until his assassination in 1935. Robert Penn Warren's ALL THE KING'S MEN was inspired by Long. White's biography clearly disapproves of Long's methods to gain and maintain power, but his anecdotal approach to his subject allows listeners to enjoy the brash, often foolish behavior of a tyrant who ruled a constituency that loved him. Cullen wisely does not try to mimic voices. He reads with intelligence, using White's impeccable research to create a lasting portrait of a flamboyant politician. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 13, 2006
      The inspiration for Robert Penn Warren's demagogue in All the King's Men
      , Huey Long was Louisiana's governor, then U.S. senator and controlled virtually every aspect of the state government from 1929 until he was shot to death in 1935 at age 42. Long used the same skills he had honed as a charming traveling salesman for a lard substitute to appeal directly to potential voters and bypass the powerful political bosses. He filled the ranks of government employees with his own supporters, shamelessly appointing his brother as a tax collector even though he had promised to abolish the post and use the money for a TB hospital. Long may have started out as a populist with the admirable goal of providing free textbooks to schoolchildren, but squandering resources and lining his own pockets, he created Louisiana's first income tax.. Supposedly pro-labor, Long put the kibosh on pensions, unemployment insurance and a minimum wage. Crude and vindictive, Long had his eye on the presidency, influenced an Arkansas U.S. senate race and may have been killed by a "trigger-happy" bodyguard aiming at an attacker and not by an assassin's gun. LSU professor White's (Roosevelt the Reformer
      , etc.) latest is lively and well researched but isn't as groundbreaking as the biography by William Ivy Hair or as authoritative as Pulitzer-winner T. Harry Williams's. 16 pages of photos not seen by PW
      .

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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