Hi, I'm Jeff Sickinga, executive director of the Ashbrook Center, and this is the American

idea, where we discuss the ideas, people, and events that have made America what it is today.

We believe that by understanding our history and our principles, we can better

live up to the promise of the American founding and preserve our ongoing experiment in self-government.

Welcome to the American Idea. I want to welcome everyone to this episode of the American Idea.

Today we're going to be talking about one of the most interesting and colorful characters

of the 20th century in American history, Huey Long.

And I'm joined for the conversation today by someone who I would say has written what many people are saying is a contrarian biography

of Hewie Long, taking on something of the historical consensus about who Long was and what

his importance is for America. That's what we're going to be talking about today, Hewee Long

and American Populism, with Thomas Patterson. Tom is of the Patterson law firm

in the great city of Chicago. He is an independent historian who has a deep interest in Huey Long

and Huey Long's significance for America. This is going to be a really interesting conversation today. Tom,

thanks for joining us. Well, thanks for having me. Let me read something from your book to start

with. You say this in your work, it's time to retire the historical caricature of Huey as a menace.

Our listeners have heard of Huey Long.

They're historically minded, but what do you mean by that statement?

I think if you read any popular general history of the United States, when they mention

Huey Long, they say he was a dictator and a demagogue, and that he was one of the most dangerous people in the United States.

And that dangerous label was put on him by Franklin Roosevelt, supposedly in a conversation with

Rexford Tugwell in 1932. And that just has stuck with Huey Long throughout history, despite the great biography

of Huey by T. Harry Williams in 1969 or so.

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