Willie Stark wasn't exactly Huey Long. Robert Penn Warren, the author of the classic political novel All the King's Men always denied that Stark was based on Long, but it's hard not to notice the resemblance. Probably the most fictional part of the film was the lack of black faces in the movie, but that was typical of the time.
Huey Long was governor of Louisiana during the depression, and was later elected US Senator. He came out of and represented the poor farmers of rural northern Louisiana. He repealed the poll tax so that poor people could vote. He taxed the wealthy to build schools, roads, hospitals and other public works so that those poor people could live better lives. He made public school textbooks free. He built the Louisiana State University into a great institution, so great that many people actually think he founded it. He was wildly popular. And he did not like opposition.
Huey Long organized gangs of political thugs. He used the state militia as a force of personal bodyguards. He tried to shut down newspapers and radio stations that didn't toe the line and support his regime. He all but abolished local governments in many parts of the state, and took the power to appoint the local officials, and all state employees, himself. He created a force of plainclothes, secret police answerable only to himself. He was accused by many of being a fascist dictator little different from Mussolini.
Long continued his consolidation of power. Two months before he died he publicly declared that there was a conspiracy to assassinate him. He publicly named names of Congressional representatives and former governors of Louisiana who he said were in the conspiracy. Long was gunned down by medical doctor Carl Austin Weiss in the Capitol building at Baton Rouge. It was the end of Long's career but not the end of his legacy. He had great influence and is a controversial figure in the politics of Louisiana down to today. There are those who nearly worship him, and those who continue to revile him. It's hard to get an objective perspective on Huey Long.
Here are some views of the real Huey Long. Judge for yourself how closely he resembles Willie Stark:
2 comments:
This is very interesting and brings up some good points about Long. A book has just been released that is based on secret political papers that just surfaced. These papers were the personal property of Huey's Law Partner, Harvey G. Fields. Not only was he a law partner of Longs but he was the person that put the initial pieces of the Louisiana Scandal together that led to the Justice Department dispatching their assistant Attorney General to Lousiana to launch the prosecution of Leche. Fields was federal prosecutor at the time. Read about this interesting part of history at www.thomastfieldsjr.com . Names such as Long, Roosevelt, Farley and Leche are found throughout the book.
Willie's life and career is so similar to Long's. Along with the similarity is the fact that RPW spent much time observing Huey Long and his escapades. Coincidence? I believe that Warren denied the similarity so that he could still be seen as an original, creative artist. I think he feared being criticized for re-writing an already existing story, Huey Long's life.
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