![\"Photograph](\"https:\/\/media.ccconline.org\/ccco\/2019Master\/HIS122\/eText\/Sections\/Section4\/..\/..\/Images\/Huey-Long-and-Share-Our-Wealth-Button.jpg#fixme\")
Huey Long was an indomitable force who campaigned tirelessly for the common man during the Great Depression. He demanded that Americans \u201cShare the Wealth.\u201d\u202fSenator Huey Long, a flamboyant Democrat from Louisiana, was perhaps the most important \u201cvoice of protest.\u201d Long\u2019s populist rhetoric appealed to those who saw deeply rooted but easily addressed injustice in the nation\u2019s economic system. Long proposed a Share Our Wealth program in which the federal government would confiscate the assets of the extremely wealthy and redistribute them to the less well-off through guaranteed minimum incomes. \u201cHow many men ever went to a barbecue and would let one man take off the table what\u2019s intended for nine-tenths of the people to eat?\u201d he asked.1<\/sup><\/a> Over 27,000 Share the Wealth clubs sprang up across the nation as Long traveled the country explaining his program to crowds of impoverished and unemployed Americans. Long envisioned the movement as a stepping-stone to the presidency, but his crusade ended in late 1935 when he was assassinated on the floor of the Louisiana state capitol. Even in death, however, Long convinced Roosevelt to more stridently attack the Depression and American inequality.<\/p>\r\nBut Huey Long was not alone in his critique of Roosevelt. Francis Townsend, a former doctor and public health official from California, promoted a plan for old-age pensions which, he argued, would provide economic security for the elderly (who disproportionately suffered poverty) and encourage recovery by allowing older workers to retire from the workforce. Reverend Charles Coughlin, meanwhile, a priest and radio personality from the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, gained a following by making vitriolic, anti-Semitic attacks on Roosevelt for cooperating with banks and financiers and proposing a new system of \u201csocial justice\u201d through a more state-driven economy instead. Like Long, both Townsend and Coughlin built substantial public followings.\r\n\r\nIf many Americans urged Roosevelt to go further in addressing the economic crisis, the president faced even greater opposition from conservative politicians and business leaders. By late 1934, complaints increased from business-friendly Republicans about Roosevelt\u2019s willingness to regulate industry and use federal spending for public works and employment programs. In the South, Democrats who had originally supported the president grew more hostile toward programs that challenged the region\u2019s political, economic, and social status quo. Yet the greatest opposition came from the Supreme Court, filled with conservative appointments made during the long years of Republican presidents.\r\n\r\nBy early 1935 the Court was reviewing programs of the New Deal. On May 27, a day Roosevelt\u2019s supporters called Black Monday, the justices struck down one of the president\u2019s signature reforms: in a case revolving around poultry processing, the Court unanimously declared the NRA unconstitutional. In early 1936, the AAA fell.2<\/sup><\/a>\r\n <\/p>\n Despite the unprecedented actions taken in his first year in office, Roosevelt\u2019s initial relief programs could often be quite conservative. He had usually been careful to work within the bounds of presidential authority and congressional cooperation. And, unlike Europe, where several nations had turned toward state-run economies, and even fascism and socialism, Roosevelt\u2019s New Deal demonstrated a clear reluctance to radically tinker with the nation\u2019s foundational economic and social structures. Many high-profile critics attacked Roosevelt for not going far enough, and, beginning in 1934, Roosevelt and his advisors were forced to respond.<\/p>\n Senator Huey Long, a flamboyant Democrat from Louisiana, was perhaps the most important \u201cvoice of protest.\u201d Long\u2019s populist rhetoric appealed to those who saw deeply rooted but easily addressed injustice in the nation\u2019s economic system. Long proposed a Share Our Wealth program in which the federal government would confiscate the assets of the extremely wealthy and redistribute them to the less well-off through guaranteed minimum incomes. \u201cHow many men ever went to a barbecue and would let one man take off the table what\u2019s intended for nine-tenths of the people to eat?\u201d he asked.1<\/sup><\/a> Over 27,000 Share the Wealth clubs sprang up across the nation as Long traveled the country explaining his program to crowds of impoverished and unemployed Americans. Long envisioned the movement as a stepping-stone to the presidency, but his crusade ended in late 1935 when he was assassinated on the floor of the Louisiana state capitol. Even in death, however, Long convinced Roosevelt to more stridently attack the Depression and American inequality.<\/p>\n But Huey Long was not alone in his critique of Roosevelt. Francis Townsend, a former doctor and public health official from California, promoted a plan for old-age pensions which, he argued, would provide economic security for the elderly (who disproportionately suffered poverty) and encourage recovery by allowing older workers to retire from the workforce. Reverend Charles Coughlin, meanwhile, a priest and radio personality from the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, gained a following by making vitriolic, anti-Semitic attacks on Roosevelt for cooperating with banks and financiers and proposing a new system of \u201csocial justice\u201d through a more state-driven economy instead. Like Long, both Townsend and Coughlin built substantial public followings.<\/p>\n If many Americans urged Roosevelt to go further in addressing the economic crisis, the president faced even greater opposition from conservative politicians and business leaders. By late 1934, complaints increased from business-friendly Republicans about Roosevelt\u2019s willingness to regulate industry and use federal spending for public works and employment programs. In the South, Democrats who had originally supported the president grew more hostile toward programs that challenged the region\u2019s political, economic, and social status quo. Yet the greatest opposition came from the Supreme Court, filled with conservative appointments made during the long years of Republican presidents.<\/p>\n By early 1935 the Court was reviewing programs of the New Deal. On May 27, a day Roosevelt\u2019s supporters called Black Monday, the justices struck down one of the president\u2019s signature reforms: in a case revolving around poultry processing, the Court unanimously declared the NRA unconstitutional. In early 1936, the AAA fell.2<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\nNotes<\/h4>\r\n
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![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:HueyPLongGesture.jpg\")
<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"Notes<\/h4>\n
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