I just finished reading Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long by Richard D. White Jr. Huey P. Long was, like many legendary politicians, a puzzling blend between greatness and utter evil. He was rare for actually accomplishing many of his promises. The methods of his doing so greatly injured both his state and country. The fact is, he was unusually intelligent for a politician. He used that intelligence largely though not entirely for personal aggrandizement.

I read All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren in my senior year of high school, in 1975. The protagonist in that book was told, by Willie Stark, the fictional characterization of Governor Long, to "get something on (one of Long's opponents) and make it stick". Unfortunately, while fictional, according to Mr. White that was all too characteristic of Huey Long's reign. ( )

This was an okay book about an interesting man.  The information was very well-researched.  I'm from Louisiana and I'm very familiar with the Huey Long School of Politics", but even I learned new things from this book.  For instance, I never knew the animosity between Roosevelt and Long.  I did like how the author tried to explain all sides to the story.  He did not blame Huey entirely for everything and pointed out things others did that were just as bad (or worse depending on your perspective) as Huey in Louisiana.  My main complaint was the author's writing style.  He appeared to be going for an episodic type story.  He tried to explain Huey's life as a series of episodes.  The problem was that sometimes the chronological story got lost and confused in the episodes.  Once I got used to the style, I was able to enjoy the retelling of the life (and death) of our very own Kingfish.  I would have liked a little more information on the assassination and the aftermath, but that wasn't the author's focus in this book so I understand why he moved quickly through it." ( )