Earl K. Long

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Uncle Earl
God, guns, and freedom
U.S. Politics
Icon politics USA.svg
Starting arguments over Thanksgiving dinner
Persons of interest
Earl is my brother but he's crooked. If you live long enough he'll double cross you.
Huey Long

Earl Kemp Long (1895–1960) was a Louisiana politician, and member of the Long dynasty. Critics characterized him as mentally unstable and a red baiter.[1] Earl was committed to an asylum while governor and promptly used his executive powers to free himself.[2]

He became governor of the state for the first time after the previous governor resigned for "health reasons". The fact that he was soon convicted for mail fraud had nothing to do with his resignation.[3] Outside of the swamp, he is mostly known for being portrayed by Paul Newman in a film about his affair with a stripper.[4] "Uncle Earl" was an extremely effective campaigner, particularly in the field of mud-slinging.[5]

Good Uncle Earl[edit]

  • Mandated equal pay for teachers regardless of race
  • Right before he died, decried segregation.[note 1]
  • Advocated a free lunch program for students

Bad Uncle Earl[edit]

  • Dissolved the Civil Service System to increase his power.
  • Participated in his brother's corruption framework.[6]

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. Though he was pretty loopy at the time, and was likely motivated by his own pull with black voters

References[edit]