Bonus: Huey P Long, Episode 1-2: The Whirlwind

Imagine, for a moment, that there was a politician in the United
States very unlike the others. One who was willing to promise all
things to all people, who had no qualms about changing his
position on a daily basis. One who viciously attacked the
establishment, made personal attacks on his opponents and gave
them derogatory nicknames and violated every democratic norm in
the book. One who fought against freedom of the press, and
constantly denounced the 'lying newspapers', when they reported
on the corruption that he was steeped in. A politician who was
perfectly happy to tear up the constitution, and anyone who stood
in his way, in order to achieve his ends. A demagogue whose rise
and rise to power seemed absurd to the establishment, but made
sense to the people, many of whom loved him and believed that he
was the only one on their side. And, on this wave of popular
support and crazy promises,  and with a complete disregard
for the way things should be done, a politician who set himself
up as a ruthless, corrupt, kleptocratic dictator.

Now imagine there was a politician in the US who fought against
vested interests, big corporations, and argued tirelessly and
energetically for redistribution of the wealth. A politician who
was never afraid to speak his mind, and to speak truth to power:
who had contempt for Washington because it was contemptible. A
man of the people who was frustrated with being blocked and
slandered at every turn, and the ineffective methods of his
fellows at dealing with crisis, and subverted a corrupt and
contemptible democracy on behalf of the ordinary people. He
destroyed a system that needed destroying, and sought power in
order to do the good that he knew other politicians couldn't do.
A man with a sense of destiny, who was unfairly slandered and
maligned by the vested interests and the wealthy elite that he
sought to undermine. He would argue he was only doing openly what
everyone else had done covertly for years. A man who said: 'A
demagogue is someone who doesn't keep his promises to the people,
and I kept every one of mine' - and many went along with him, and
refused to believe any of the attempts to smear him, because they
knew he was on their side.

Both men existed in the manic, whirlwind frame of Huey P Long,
who cut such a dramatic figure in Louisiana politics, and later
national politics, in the 1920s and 30s. The man and the methods
make him an irresistible figure for politicised histories. There
are always two Hueys: the straight-talking man of the people who
sought power to make things better, and the vicious demagogue who
exploited lies and popular support to dominate the state and
enrich himself. Now, more than ever - when there seem to be two
of every major political figure floating around, depending on
your stripes - we should examine such a life. It helps that it's
also a quite incredible story, and Huey himself is as quotable a
politician as has ever lived.

In these episodes, we will deal with his origin story, from
obscurity in Louisiana to running for office for the first
time.