Editing Demagogue (section)

====Huey Long====

[[Huey Long]], nicknamed "The Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the [[List of Governors of Louisiana|40th governor of Louisiana]] from 1928 to 1932 and as a member of the [[United States Senate]] from 1932 until [[Assassination of Huey Long|his assassination]] in 1935. He was a [[Populism|populist]] member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] and rose to national prominence during the [[Great Depression]] for his vocal criticism from the [[Left-wing politics|left]] of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and his [[New Deal]]. As the political leader of [[Louisiana]], he commanded wide networks of supporters and often took forceful action. A controversial figure, Long is celebrated as a populist benefactor or conversely denounced as a fascist demagogue.

In 1928, before Long was sworn in as governor of Louisiana, he was already supervising political appointments to ensure a loyal majority for all his initiatives. As governor, he ousted public officers not personally loyal to him and took control away from state commissions to ensure that all contracts would be awarded to people in his [[political machine]]. In a confrontation over natural gas with managers of the Public Service Corporation, he told them, truthfully, "A deck has 52 cards and in Baton Rouge I hold all 52 of them and I can shuffle and deal as I please. I can have bills passed or I can kill them. I'll give you until Saturday to decide." They yielded to Long—and became part of his ever-expanding machine.{{r|Luthin|page=247–248}}

When Long became a senator in 1932, his enemy, the lieutenant governor [[Paul N. Cyr]], was sworn in as governor. Long, without authority, ordered state troopers to surround the executive mansion and arrest Cyr as an imposter. Long installed his ally [[Alvin O. King]] as governor, later replaced by [[Oscar K. Allen|O.K. Allen]], serving as stooges for Long. Thus even in Washington, with no official authority, Long retained dictatorial control over Louisiana. When the Mayor of New Orleans, [[T. Semmes Walmsley]], began to oppose Long's extraordinary power over the state, Long exploited a subservient judge to justify making an armed attack on the basis of cracking down on racketeering. At Long's order, Governor Allen declared martial law and dispatched National Guardsmen to seize the Registrar of Voters, allegedly "to prevent election frauds". Then, by stuffing ballot boxes, Long ensured victory for his candidates to Congress. Long's own racketeering operation then grew. With his "trained seal" legislature, armed militias, taxation used as a political weapon, control over elections, and weakened court authority to limit his power, Huey Long maintained control in Louisiana in a manner arguably comparable to that of a dictator.{{r|Luthin|page=258–261}}

[[File:Joseph McCarthy.jpg|thumb|upright|Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]], an American demagogue]]