From the moment he took office as governor in 1928 to the day an assassin’s bullet cut him down in 1935, Huey Long wielded all but dictatorial control over the state of Louisiana. A man of shameless ambition and ruthless vindictiveness, Long 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, Long did more good for the state’s poor and uneducated than any politician before or since. 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.
White taps invaluable new source material to present a fresh, vivid portrait of both the man and the Depression era that catapulted him to fame. From his boyhood in dirt-poor Winn Parish, Long knew he was destined for power–the problem was how to get it fast enough to satisfy his insatiable appetite. With cunning and crudity unheard of in Louisiana politics, Long crushed his opponents in the 1928 gubernatorial race, then immediately set about tightening his iron grip. The press attacked him viciously, the oil companies howled for his blood after he pushed through a controversial oil processing tax, but Long had the adulation of the people. In 1930, the Kingfish got himself elected senator, and then there was no stopping him.
White’s account of Long’s heyday unfolds with the mesmerizing intensity of a movie. Pegged by President Roosevelt as “one of the two most dangerous men in the country,” Long organized a radical movement to redistribute money through his Share Our Wealth Society–and his gospel of pensions for all, a shorter workweek, and free college spread like wildfire. The Louisiana poor already worshiped him for building thousands of miles of roads and funding schools, hospitals, and universities; his outrageous antics on the Senate floor gained him a growing national base. By 1935, despite a barrage of corruption investigations, Huey Long announced that he was running for president.
In the end, Long was a tragic hero–a power addict who squandered his genius and came close to destroying the very foundation of democratic rule. Kingfish is a balanced, lucid, and absolutely spellbinding portrait of the life and times of the most incendiary figure in the history of American politics.


From the Hardcover edition.

Carlos Marcello was named the prime suspect in the assassination of JFK. John Davis tells Marcello's whole sinister story for the first time: from his roots in Sicily in the early 1900s, through his violent apprenticeship in the New Orleans Mafia to his reign over a $2-billion-per-year criminal empire.

Learn how to catch fish like a PRO. There are 7 books in this series.

Learn how to catch fish like a PRO. There are 7 books in this series.

“The best biography of Long written to date.”—New Orleans Times-Picayune “A remarkable work. . . . Of all the biographies of Huey Long, [Hair’s] best captures the atmosphere of public life in the Pelican State. . . . Written with passion and mordant wit, the book is literally hard to put down.”—Reviews in American History “Well proportioned and tartly written, Hair’s book is notable for its conceptualization and exhaustive research, for its analysis of Long’s extraordinary control of Louisiana and his role in national politics, and for its interpretation of the Long phenomenon.”—Journal of American History “A masterly biography of the redneck messiah. . . . A consistently engrossing portrait.”—Kirkus Reviews(starred review) “A fascinating and highly readable look at the improbable rise, and fortunate fall, of one of the most dangerous politicians in American History.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Kingfish opened his eyes at the exclamation and sat up. A young boy about six years old was playing just a few feet from him. A truck, toy soldiers, and a small boat were scattered around the boy on the sand. Looking up, he noticed Kingfish observing him. "Want to play?" the boy asked cheerfully. "Oh no," said Kingfish, "I'm a little bit old for that, don't you think?" "I don't know," said the boy, "When do you get too old to play?" Phil Fish, aka Kingfish, is about to find out he has a lot to learn. He's just an average guy who can't seem to catch a break. Life's not turning out the way he'd hoped. Until, that is, he gets some valuable advice from a mysterious lady and her tiny dog. This advice leads Phil to meet a prophetic mechanic, a dreamer on a four-wheeling beer cooler, an Asian named Bubba with a penchant for stone necklaces, and other memorable characters while he discovers what he should be when he grows up. The Kingfish Way explains the journey we're all on and how some of us have gotten off the path. The cast of characters in this wildly entertaining tale will make you smile, share a little common sense, and remind you that life was meant to be enjoyed.

Phil Fish, aka Kingfish, is about to find out he has a lot to learn. He's just an average guy who can't seem to catch a break. Life's not turning out the way he'd hoped. Until, that is, he gets some valuable advice from a mysterious lady and her tiny dog.

This advice leads Phil to meet a prophetic mechanic, a dreamer on a four-wheeling beer cooler, an Asian named Bubba with a penchant for rock necklaces, and other memorable characters while he discovers what he should be when he grows up.

The Kingfish Way explains the journey we're all on and how some of us have gotten off the path. The cast of characters in this wildly entertaining tale will make you smile and remember what your dreams once were and maybe -- just maybe -- how you can make them a reality.

Phil Fish, aka Kingfish, is about to find out he has a lot to learn. He's just an average guy who can't seem to catch a break. Life's not turning out the way he'd hoped. Until, that is, he gets some valuable advice from a mysterious lady and her tiny dog.

This advice leads Phil to meet a prophetic mechanic, a dreamer on a four-wheeling beer cooler, an Asian named Bubba with a penchant for rock necklaces, and other memorable characters while he discovers what he should be when he grows up.

The Kingfish Way explains the journey we're all on and how some of us have gotten off the path. The cast of characters in this wildly entertaining tale will make you smile and remember what your dreams once were and maybe -- just maybe -- how you can make them a reality.

Huey P. Long - Kingfish is a biography of Huey P. Long. Huey P. Long was a former Governor and Senator from the southern state of Louisiana. Long was nearly impeached as Governor in 1929 when he tried to institute a tax on oil. As a senator, Long was most famous for his "Share our Wealth" plan, which was a steeply graduated tax on personal fortunes. Long is know widely for his assassination in 1935 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Huey P. Long - Kingfish is highly recommended for those interested in learning more about the life and assassination of Huey P. Long and his lasting impact on Louisiana and American politics.

The Kingfish and the Constitution is an in-depth analysis of the poisonous relationship that evolved between Huey Kingfish Long, legendary governor of Louisiana, and the state's daily newspapers. Long's political battle over the newspaper tax in the Louisiana legislature in 1934 and the subsequent battle over the constitutionality of his attempt at censorship by taxation culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Grosjean v. American Press Co. in 1936, a landmark decision that laid the basis for the protection of modern freedom of the press in America. This fascinating study will be of interest to scholars and students of political science, constitutional law, and American history.

This is a great eBook that shows you how you can catch a Grouper, Pompano, Trout, Snook, Tarpon, Kingfish & Redfish.

This is a great eBook that shows you how you can catch a Grouper, Pompano, Trout, Snook, Tarpon, Kingfish & Redfish.