Long split with Roosevelt in June 1933, becoming a prominent critic of his New Deal. Every family was to be guaranteed an annual family income of at least $2,000 to $2,500, or not less than one-third of the average annual family income in the United States. Many of today’s federal programs address causes championed by Huey Long: “The same mill that grinds out the extra rich is the same mill that will grind out the extra poor, because, in order that the extra rich can become so affluent, they must necessarily take more of what ordinarily would belong to the average man,” said Long. If we could only succeed in having the government hold fortunes down to a few million dollars to any one man, then there would be something on which to run the country and for the people. In subsequent speeches and writings, he revised his graduated tax levy on wealth over $1 million to cap fortunes at $5 - $8 million (or $60 - $96 million today). “Our present plan is that we will allow no one man to own more than $50 million,” Long told the radio audience of millions. In 1932, Senator Long began throwing his energies into a new plan to rid the nation of its most integral problem: the concentration of wealth. FDR was a popular president amongst the people, but many politicians were concerned. Sincerely, Huey P. Long… Long countered that Share Our Wealth was meant to help all poor people, and black people were welcome to participate since they were the poorest people in the country – a radical inclusion for a deeply segregated society. To build grassroots support for his program, Long announced the formation of the Share Our Wealth Society with the slogan "Every Man a King", and he encouraged the public to write to him to learn more. This is an edited version of Huey Long's famous 'Share Our Wealth' Speech, also known as the 'Barbeque Speech'. To organize a network of Share Our Wealth clubs around the country, Long enlisted the help of Reverend Gerald L. K. Smith, a charismatic minister from Shreveport with a gift for public speaking. from his Share Our Wealth movement. But on September 10th 1935, Huey Long died after being shot by the vengeful son of a local political rival in New Orleans, leaving the Share Our Wealth … Huey Long first came to national attention as governor of Louisiana in 1928 and U.S. His program, including America's first forms of federal insurance through things like social security, was called the New Deal. In a national radio speech on February 23, 1934, Huey Long unveiled his Share Our Wealth plan, a program designed to provide a decent standard of living to all Americans by spreading the nations wealth among the people. According to aides, Roosevelt hoped to “steal Long’s thunder” by embracing some of his causes. To balance agricultural production, the government would preserve/store surplus goods, abolishing the practice of destroying surplus food and other necessities due to lack of purchasing power. In 1934 he transformed his … He ruled Louisiana as a virtual dictator, but he also initiated massive public works programs, improved public education and public health, and even established some restrictions on corporate power in the state. They have bitten off the hoof of this situation in the … Huey Long was Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1930. Huey Long never received credit for the government reforms that resulted After Huey Long restructured the tax code in Louisiana, the average family saved the equivalent of $5,100 in today's dollars. Read the full text of Huey Long's original Share Our Wealth speech. [1] Long, a left-wing populist,[2] first proposed the plan in a national radio address, which is now referred to as the "Share Our Wealth Speech".[3]. He later proposed a debt moratorium to give struggling families time to pay their mortgages and other debts before losing their property to creditors. For the Huey Long book, see, "Huey Long's Programs - Share Our Wealth, Share the Wealth", Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, "Assassination of Huey P. Long - Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Death of the Louisiana Kingfish", "Huey P. Long's Last Operation: When Medicine and Politics Don't Mix", "Share Our Wealth (a.k.a. Share Our Wealth Plan explained:-use income tax to tax away large fortunes-Promised every family in the entire country: … His Share Our Wealth Plan and Share Our Wealth Society (established late 1934) proposed a heavy tax on the wealthy and established a maximum limit to accumulated wealth. Radio Speech - Share Our Wealth (as entered into the 12 March 1935 Congressional Records) Broadcast 7 March 1935, National Broadcasting Company, New York. The poor regarded Long as a champion of the common man and swept him into power by large majorities. Courtesy of LSU Libraries Special Collections, Baton Rouge, Now, my friends, we have got to hit the root with the ax. Long believed that it was morally wrong for the government to allow millions of Americans to suffer in abject poverty when there existed a surplus of food, clothing, and shelter. Share Our Wealth Plan. Ladies and gentlemen, it has been publicly announced that the White House orders of the Roosevelt administration have declared war on HUEY LONG. [10], "Every Man a King" redirects here. Free education and training for all students to have equal opportunities in all schools, colleges, universities, and other institutions for training in the professions and vocations of life. He blamed the mass suffering on a capitalist system run amok and feared that impending civil unrest threatened the democracy. His “Share the Wealth” plan proposed that no one would make more than a million a year. According to the tables which we have assembled, it is our estimate that 4 percent of the American people own 85 percent of the wealth … "It may be necessary, in working out the plans that no man's fortune would be more than $10 or $15 million. Annual incomes would be limited to $1 million and inheritances would be capped at $5.1 million. For this activity, 1. students work in groups to examine Huey Long… Expect that. Smith traveled the nation, drawing huge crowds in support of Long’s program, and by the end of 1934, the movement already had three million members. It will all become greater with this effort. As an alternative, he proposed the Share Our Wealth program in 1934. Long frequently used national radio addresses to champion his causes to an estimated 25 million listeners. Huey P. Long, “Every Man a King” and “Share our Wealth” (1934) Amid the economic indignities of the Great Depression, Huey P. Long of Louisiana championed an aggressive program of public spending … Long proposed capping personal fortunes at $50 million each (roughly $600 million in today's dollars) through a restructured, progressive federal tax code and sharing the resulting revenue with the public through government benefits and public works. As … [4] The Share Our Wealth program was going to become the capstone project for Long's populist agenda. Liberal journalists alleged that a prominent Wall Street bank hired a public relations firm to plant negative stories about Long in the media. Long’s deluge of fan mail prompted the Senate to provide Long with extra office space to accomodate 32 typists, who worked around the clock to respond to all the mail. 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