American Populist: How a Depression-Era Radical Still Shapes Today’s Politics

Few political figures in American history evoke as much fascination, controversy, and enduring curiosity as Huey Long — the charismatic, combative, and complex Louisiana governor and senator whose vision of economic justice and populist reform electrified the nation in the early 20th century.

In American Populist: Huey Long of Louisiana, attorney and author Thomas E. Patterson presents a vivid, deeply researched portrait of Long’s meteoric rise, dramatic conflicts, and lasting impact on American politics.

We caught up with Patterson to explore his journey from legal scholar to political biographer, and to discuss what drew him to one of the most compelling and divisive figures of the Depression era.

A seasoned litigator with decades of experience and a passion for history, Patterson brings a unique perspective to Long’s legacy — one that blends legal insight, political nuance, and narrative flair.

In our conversation, Patterson opens up about his career in law, his fascination with Huey Long, and the striking parallels between Long’s populism and today’s political movements. He also shares the behind-the-scenes process of writing American Populist, what makes this biography different from previous works, and why Long’s ideas — some nearly a century old — remain urgently relevant today.

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Tell us a bit about your background and career.

I was born in Boston and lived in Petersburg, Virginia, during my teenage years, before moving to Illinois and graduating from Naperville Central High School and then Illinois Wesleyan University, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.

I worked part-time while attending law school, graduating from DePaul University College of Law, where I was on the law review and published a Note, Judicial Control of Ex Parte Contacts in Informal Rulemaking: Home Box Office v. FCC, 27 DePaul Law Review 489 (1978). After law school, I was a Law Clerk for Illinois Supreme Court Justice William G. Clark. Then I joined a large Chicago law firm. I started my own law firm in 2000, and we represent businesses, professionals, and entrepreneurs in their business lawsuits.

In 2009, the American Bar Association published my book, Handling the Business Emergency: Temporary Restraining Orders and Preliminary Injunctions (ABA 2009). I successfully defended David L. Paul in a lawsuit filed against him by Chemical Bank, an appellate court Judge wrote that I was an “especially good lawyer,” and I have been rated as a Super Lawyer, a Leading Lawyer, and a Preeminent Lawyer.  Through the efforts of my partner, we won the largest legal malpractice verdict in Ohio history.

Tell us about your upcoming book American Populist: Huey Long of Louisiana. What was your impetus for writing your book?

Huey Long is the most fascinating and perhaps the greatest American politician in the twentieth century. He started from a poor town without a High School education. He won victories, suffered defeats, and made comebacks.

There are interesting conflicts: with his brothers, with the largest bank in his hometown, with the New Orleans political machine, with the Louisiana oligarchy, and, ultimately, with Franklin Roosevelt, the IRS, the FBI, and all of Roosevelt’s cabinet members and allies in the U. S. Senate. There are football games, fights, legislative brawls, an alleged kidnapping, and lots of political intrigue.  It is a rollicking, compelling story.

Huey brought Louisiana out of the mud and into the twentieth century and some of the best features of Roosevelt’s New Deal resulted from Huey’s advocacy.

What do you hope readers take away from the book?

I want readers to understand the characteristics that led to Huey’s successes and failures, the patterns of his career, and the causes he fought for, against the backdrop of the rise of the robber barons, World War I, the roaring twenties, and the Great Depression.

Tell us about any awards or accolades American Populist has received.

I appreciate the kind words I have received from general readers, Professors and authors Michael Martin and Robert Mann, who both wrote excellent books about Huey’s son, US Senator Russell Long, and from Jack McGuire, who has written extensively about Huey’s brother Earl Long, and who is writing what I expect to be the definitive book on Huey’s assassination, and many other scholars such as Brady Banta.

The LSU Press awarded the book the Landry Prize, which was previously won by John Hope Franklin and William Ivy Hair, to name only two of the many historians honored with that prize.

Michael Taube was kind enough to write a favorable review, as did Bargain Sleuth Reviews.

How do Huey Long’s views and political career relate to the current political climate? How would Huey Long feel about MAGA and Trump?

The book would be instructive to both proponents and opponents of MAGA. The similarities of Huey and Trump with respect to campaign slogans (Make America Great Again vs. Every Man a King); nicknames for opponents (Sleepy Joe Biden, Lyin’ Ted Cruz vs. Turkey Head Walmsley and Whistle Britches Rightor); the blizzard of proposals, rumors of proposals, and actions that dominate the media; the frequency and reach of media communications; and their salesmanship and promotional activities are all similar. It wouldn’t surprise me if Trump or his advisors, perhaps Steve Bannon, had read quite a bit about Huey.

But Huey campaigned against the oligarchy of his time, and he proposed to tax their wealth to provide a minimum income and homestead for deserving families, a free college or vocational education for qualified students, shortened hours of work, and generous veterans and old-age benefits. These ideas lack any counterpart in Trump’s proposals.

Whether this is articulated or not, populism reduces to a belief that the American Dream is being denied or threatened and that this could be prevented or the American Dream advanced by the proposals of those who would lead the country.

Populism has seemed progressive or reactionary depending on who is blamed for threatening or denying the dream: Communists, Jews, Bankers, illegal immigrants, minority groups, government bureaucrats, or Wall Street businessmen have been deemed enemies of the American Dream at various times by different leaders.

Huey thought the concentration of wealth was leading to a modern feudalism in which the wealthy few would dominate the economy and government and everyone else would end up as serfs or peasants. Inequality was reduced because of World War II and its aftermath, but the concentration of wealth and power has now resumed, making Huey’s views and proposals relevant today.

To the extent that Trump proposes tax breaks for the wealthy, Huey would oppose him.

What makes this biography of Huey Long different from others?

Huey’s papers and those of his son, Russell, were discovered after T. Harry Williams’ magisterial biography, written in 1969. While Williams’ interviews of Huey’s contemporaries remain an indispensable source of information, Huey’s contemporaneous correspondence with his family, boyhood and other friends, businessmen, law clients, and political allies and opponents provide a fresh perspective. The internet and digitization made the organization and evaluation of newspapers easier. Modern social movement and revolution theories helped explain Huey’s success. Later books and thesis writers added depth to Williams’ analysis on many issues. My law practice provided opportunities to visit distant libraries for sources that had not been tapped by prior biographers, and it gave me a perspective on some of the legal issues presented by Huey’s actions.

The working title of my book was Deconstructing Huey Long. I was able to isolate the characteristics that made him successful, trace the specific influence of his sales and legal training on his actions, and show clear patterns to his political career. It makes him more accessible and more worthy of study by general readers, lawyers, businesspeople, politicians, sociologists, political scientists, and activists as opposed to just historians.

What was Long’s relationship to Franklin Roosevelt?

Without Huey, Roosevelt might not have been nominated at the Democratic National Convention in 1932. Roosevelt told Huey that they were alike in their devotion to the common man, and when Roosevelt accepted the nomination, his speech asserted the right of the people to a more equitable distribution of wealth, which was Huey’s primary contention throughout his life.

But when Roosevelt took office, Huey opposed Roosevelt’s  initial conservative and counterproductive actions, such as cutting veterans benefits, federal salaries, and federal research, his appointment of conservative industrialists to the Treasury Department, and his refusal to increase taxes on the wealthy.  Huey worked to save state as well as federally chartered banks and was responsible for the insurance of bank deposits, which Roosevelt opposed but eventually accepted. The banking legislation was the most successful part of the early New Deal because it restored public confidence in the banks.  Because Huey opposed conservative Roosevelt measures, Roosevelt cut off his patronage, and he later directed the IRS to investigate and indict Huey’s allies and the FBI to monitor his activities. Huey announced a complete break with Roosevelt in January 1935.

Roosevelt was very worried that Huey would defeat him in 1936, but Huey was assassinated in 1935.

What are you working on now and what can we expect from you next?

I am still a practicing lawyer and I will take some time to promote this book.  But I have three ideas for future books: one could be directed to lawyers, another to historians, and a third to the general public.

Where can people find out more about you and your work?

My law firm website is www.pattersonlawfirm.com.

There was a facebook launch of the book, at https://www.facebook.com/LSUPress/videos/1368053787700789/.

I spoke by zoom to the LA State Museum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVc6JWh05TE&t=22s.

I’d be happy to try to speak at other events at bookstores or conventions.

Get in touch with Tom Patterson at tpatterson@pattersonlawfirm.com