Old Regulars

The backbone of Louisiana politics prior to the rise of Long, they were based in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. If you wanted a job, you had to go through them. They were old, white, rich, corrupt to the core, and had little interest in anything beyond maintaining power and the status quo. This set them square against Huey Long.

Square Deal Association

A paramilitary group of anti-Longists who organized in opposition of Long's abuse of power. They were associated with group of white supremacists who had overthrown the Reconstruction-era governor of Louisiana, so you can imagine what a fun bunch they were.

Populism

A political philosophy and strategy that relies upon appeals to the majority of the population. In practice, this more or less translates to appealing to the many poor people rather than the few rich people.

Share Our Wealth Plan

Long's "plan" to solve the systemic income inequality in the United States and to ensure that no American ever went without the basic necessities of life. This apparently included cars and radios.

Great Depression

The largest economic collapse in global history, caused by a lot of things. In America, this led to widespread unemployment, bank runs, financial collapse, and a new era of American politics. For everything you've ever wanted to know about the Depression, consult Shmoop's handy guide to the Great Depression.

Cronyism/Patronage

The political practice of rewarding supporters with political posts and government jobs. A "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours"-type situation that generally led to rampant corruption and inefficient bureaucracy where the most qualified were passed up in favor of the loudest supporters.

Wealth Redistribution

The belief and practice of spreading wealth more evenly across a population. This has been tried by countless governments across history at varying levels, mostly on a small scale like we have today in America: what you might call a "safety net" approach, where a small portion of taxes is used to provide a level of financial support to the bottom-most earners. While this has been the most common type of wealth redistribution (going a far back as Ancient Rome and beyond), grander schemes have been proposed as well, such as Huey Long's Share Our Wealth plan, which proposed that income should be cut off beyond a certain arbitrarily high level, with the rest being redistributed to the neediest.

The New Deal

A series of actions taken by the FDR administration to combat the effects of the Great Depression, seeking to shore up employment and provide some form of economic recovery and financial stimulus. Shmoop has a guide to the New Deal, too.

National Recovery Administration (N.R.A.)

No, not that N.R.A. An executive agency set up by the New Deal under the National Industrial Recovery Act in order to promote a healthier, regulated environment for business to grow (rather than the hands-off approach to business regulation that contributed to the collapse of the stock market in 1929). It was abolished by the Supreme Court for overstepping the executive branch's powers, but more or less resurfaced intact with the passage of the Wagner Act in 1935.