Earl Long

Earl Kemp Long (August 26, 1895 – September 5, 1960) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Louisiana on three occasions (1939–1940, 1948–1952, and 1956–1960). A member of the Democratic Party, he held the same position that his brother, Huey Long, held years earlier (1928–1932).

Long served as lieutenant governor of Louisiana from 1936 to 1939. Trying to keep a close hand in state government, he failed in three other bids to be elected lieutenant governor, in 1932, 1944, and 1959.^{[citation needed]} Long was nominated in the summer of 1960 to the United States House of Representatives for Louisiana's 8th congressional district, and was running unopposed in the general election, but he died before he could take office.

During his career, Long promoted a progressive agenda by expanding school-lunch programs, teacher pay, public-works projects, and minority voting rights. Known as "Uncle Earl", Long connected with voters through his folksy demeanor and colorful oratory. His sometimes erratic behavior – including a liaison with New Orleans stripper Blaze Starr – did not affect his electoral success.

Long first ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1932 without the support of his brother, Governor and U.S. Senator-elect Huey Long, who was committed in that election to the successful candidates, Oscar K. Allen of Winnfield for governor and John B. Fournet of St. Martinville for lieutenant governor. In his autobiography, Every Man a King, Huey Long said that Earl Long's first candidacy for lieutenant governor brought forth charges of a family dynasty in the making.

"I sought to discourage [Earl], stating that it would be disastrous for a brother to undertake to have a brother succeed him [as governor] or to have him elected as lieutenant governor. It was already being charged that I was a dictator and that I had allowed many relatives to be placed on the state payrolls (nepotism). To have added a family name to the head of the ticket either for governor or lieutenant governor would have been disastrous to the whole ticket. My brothers and sisters, however, could not see the matter in that light. I gave everyone to understand that I was irrevocably committed to Allen for Governor and Fournet for Lieutenant Governor. ... I finally declared openly and publicly that I would not be [Earl]'s supporter for either office; that I was under lasting obligations to others; that I had done the best I could for my brother, but that I could not and would not undertake to persuade any of the candidates to whom I had given my promise to step aside. ..."

Not long after Huey Long's assassination, however, Earl Long handily defeated fellow Democrat Clement Murphy Mos (much later a judge in Lake Charles) in the primary held for lieutenant governor in January 1936. Richard W. Leche of New Orleans was elected governor in 1936, but he resigned in scandal in 1939, and Long succeeded for 11 months to the governorship.

Long failed to win a gubernatorial term of his own in the election of 1940. During his abbreviated term, Long appointed a cousin, Floyd Harrison Long Sr., as the custodian of the Central State (Mental) Hospital in Pineville. Earl Long's brief first tenure corresponded with the "Louisiana Hayride" scandals that engulfed both Governor Leche and the president of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, James Monroe Smith.

Long was defeated in the Democratic primary by the conservative lawyer Sam H. Jones of Lake Charles. After the abbreviated governorship, with Coleman Lindsey of Minden as lieutenant governor, Long was indicted in New Orleans on charges of embezzlement and extortion. The charges involved placing a "deadhead" (an unneeded state worker who performs few or no duties) on the payroll of a special state board.