Notes from watching Ken Burns' Huey Long.
read moreLouisiana govenernor in the late 20s and 30s. He was a populist, incredibly brilliant though. He made textbooks free for all of Louisiana school children. He also appeared to love money and power. He appointed himself counsel in lawsuits, causing him to get huge legal fees. He had over 100+ suits, even though he complained that JP Morgan had 100 suits even though most in Louisiana had no more than 1. Obviously quite a lot of similarity to Trump, but this guy was actually smart. Tried to make it like he came from poor, etc. He created a newspaper while he was running for senate so that it would vilify his opponents. He had public employees deliver the newspapers to people around the state, basically exploiting his existing power. 6 days before his senate election, two men threatened to reveal an affair he had. He had them kidnapped until the election was over. He was obsessed with LSU (Louisiana state), and micromanaged everything about the university. Later, he started going too far. Holding too much control over things, consolidating power. Firing people who didn't support everything he did. He basically became a dictator, closest thing to it in the United States. He gave the people what they wanted, wealth redistribution, to allow for his increase in power. So many people were glad when he was assassinated.