Answer:
pretty much
Explanation:dapting his rhetoric to the techniques of broadcasting, Louisiana senator Huey P. Long used a nationwide radio address to spread his ideas about the redistribution of wealth.
- "I can't remember," Huey P. Long reminisced in 1935, "back to a time when my mouth wasn't open whenever there was a chance to make a speech." Long's oratorical prowess was a powerful asset in a colorful and cble base for his anticipated presidential bid. President Roosevelt's supporters feared that with Long as a third party candidate, the Republicans would win the 1936 election; Gerald L. K. Smith, head of the national "Share Our Wealth" organization, predicted that "the only way they will keep Huey Long from the White House is to kill him."
Long was assassinated by the son-in-law of a political rival in September 1935. Although he had portrayed himself as a poor man, his net worth at the time of his death exceeded $2 million. Long's proposals were never adopted, but the "Share Our Wealth" program did exert some measure of influence on an administration anxious to "steal Long's thunder." Roosevelt eventually conceded that the nation's tax laws had failed "to prevent an unjust concentration of wealth and economic power" and proposed legislation to increase inheritance taxes and impose a surtax on wealthy Americans. Long remains a controversial figure; but, while modern scholars question his motives and methods, all concur in the assessment of Roosevelt campaign strategist James Farley that Huey Long "put on a great show wherever he went."
______________________________________
Reprinted from Robert C. Byrd, The Senate, 1789-1989: Classic Speeches, 1830-1993. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1994.
Return to Classic Senate Speeches
Officers & Staff
Powers & Procedures
Institution
Historical Highlights
Oral History Project
Special Features
Art & Artifacts
Senate Historical Office
Information provided by the Senate Historical Office.
Questions about Senate History?
Email a Senate historian.
Senate Logo
SENATORS
Contact
Leadership & Officers
Former Senators
Qualifications & Terms of Service
Facts & Milestones
States
COMMITTEES
Membership & Assignments
