Every Man a King: Resources

WEBSITES

The Official Huey Long Website

As you can imagine, there's some bias as to which side of the narrative the site prefers to discuss. Still, it's a good resource on some facts about Long and an affectionate look at the man himself.

A Treasure Trove of Primary Sources

Louisiana has been digitizing its history for some time now, so a lot of context and aftermath of Longist Louisiana can be found at this digital history archive.

VIDEO

Share Our Wealth

Here's the man himself, expounding in 1934. He trots out the "100 lunches" story but this time it's barbecue. Long often said he gave his best speeches while drunk; we think this is one of those times.

The Soapbox on Huey Long

An interview with the granddaughter of Huey Long and the administrator of the Huey Long Website. It's an interesting perspective on the man and his life, if decidedly biased (naturally). Even so, there are a number of points where dissension in the family comes through.

A Brief (Very Brief) Biopic

This newsreel about the Huey's life has some great clips of his speeches. You can see why people called him one of the great orators of all time, although "orator" seems a little highfalutin' to describe his rants.

Ken Burns Freebies

You have to buy the DVD to see the full version of Burns' biopic of Long, but here are a few clips.

Huey Explains It All

So that's the difference between Democrats and Republicans…

MUSIC

Coulda Won a Grammy

Huey co-wrote a song called "Every Man a King" that became an unofficial anthem of Louisiana. He's a better orator than a singer, as you'll see here. Randy Newman recorded his own arrangement in 1974; we think he meant it as satire.

Huey, Louis, and the News

Long and legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong are part of a permanent exhibition at the Louisiana State Museum in Baton Rouge. Not everyone thinks it's a match made in heaven.

ARTICLES-INTERVIEWS

Back in Time

On the 80th anniversary of Long's assassination, Time magazine takes a look back at his short, tempestuous political career.

We Dig Carl Weiss

Well, some people did. In 1991, Weiss' body was exhumed to perform some forensic examinations in order to figure out if he really killed Long.

Post-er Boy

Stating that "The 2016 presidential campaign season doesn't have a monopoly on charismatic, polarizing candidates with unconventional political ideas," the Saturday Evening Post reruns an article from 1935 about Huey's career.

Antiques Roadshow's Take

We guess you could consider Huey Long an antique at this point. Anyway, A.R. produced a colorful profile of a colorful politician after someone brought in a campaign poster for appraisal.

Huey Long: The Movie

The New York Times interviews Ken Burns, whose Long biopic had just been released.

BOOK-MOVIES-TV-ADAPTATIONS

All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a southern populist politician's rise to power in the 1930s was inspired in part by the colorful career of Huey Long. The title's supposedly a reference to the "Every Man a King" speech.

If I Did It (Won the Presidency, That Is)

Long couldn't wait for someone to write his presidential biography, so he did it himself.

All the King's Men (1949)

The 1949 adaptation of Warren's novel won the Oscar for Best Picture. Huey Long would've loved that.

All the King's Men (2006)

A 2006 remake of the 1949 award-winning film won Sean Penn a "Stinker Award" nomination for Worst Fake Accent: Male; the movie got a Worst Movie nom.

Feel the Burn(s)

Ken Burns' first bio-documentary was about the Kingfish. The PBS site for the film has a cool timeline of Long's life with an accompanying timeline about what the rest of the world was doing during that time.

Did He or Didn't He?

As the trailer to the film 61 Bullets hints, some people wonder whether Dr. Carl Weiss really killed Huey. Warning: the site contains a graphic image of a bullet-ridden Dr. Weiss.

John Goodman, of Course

Who else to play Huey Long in a TNT made-for-TV movie? Critics thought he was the best thing about the otherwise meh Kingfish.

All About Me

Huey Long hoped that lots of people would write about him, but just in case, he wrote an autobiography.

Number One

John Dos Passos also wrote a novel about a politician who seems suspiciously like our boy Huey.

But Wait, There's More

Long was figured to be the inspiration for six—count 'em—novels, and somebody just had to write a book about that. Here it is.

IMAGES

Baby Huey

No, not that one. Or that one. Here's the young traveling salesman.

Just a Family Man

Long looks harmless here with his wife and family.

Local Hero

Long brings his message to the people of Louisiana.

Larger Than Life

Long towers over the state in this sculpture in Louisiana.

Large in Life

A painting of Long's assassination made the cover of Life magazine in 1937.

Long in Mid-Sentence

A typical speechifyin' pose.

The Most Dangerous Man in America

So why did he have to be surrounded by armed guards all the time?