Earl Long

Who was Earl Long?

Earl Kemp Long was an American politician and the 45th Governor of Louisiana for three non-consecutive terms. Long termed himself the "last of the red hot poppas" of politics, referring to his stump-speaking skills. He served from 1939 to 1940, 1948 to 1952, and 1956 to 1960.

He was also lieutenant governor, having served from 1936 to 1939, but he failed in three other bids to be elected lieutenant governor. In 1932, he lost to state House Speaker John B. Fournet of Jennings in Jefferson Davis Parish; in 1944, he was defeated in a runoff by J. Emile Verret of Iberia Parish, and in 1959, the position went to the conservative Clarence C. "Taddy" Aycock of Franklin in St. Mary Parish. In that first defeat, Earl's brother, Huey Pierce Long, Jr., endorsed Fournet, but the rest of the Long family stood with Earl. The outraged Earl, at thirty-six, called Huey "the yellowest physical coward that God had ever let live." Huey Long said of Earl: "Earl is my brother but he's crooked. If you live long enough he'll double cross you." In the 1944 contest, Earl Long lost to a man whose previous political position had been no higher than a school board presidency. In the latter contest, Aycock won a second primary over the mayor of Alexandria, W. George Bowdon, Jr., as Long failed even to secure a runoff berth.