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How Did Huey Long Contribute To The Rise Of Populism

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The United States Constitution was drafted at a time of social upheaval and strong desire to create a well-protected republic that promoted democracy, civil liberties, and economic stability. The framers of the Constitution took advantage of this political atmosphere by creating a framework of government that outlined the American political institutions and channeled core American principles. The Constitution was intended to subsist against time and to design a government that could withstand trials.The rise of political figures like Huey Long, a populist demagogue, exposed the weakness of the constitution from shielding the accumulation of political power from a sole political authority. The framers of the Constitution did not foresee American …show more content…

The Framers set up the checks and balances system to serve as an impediment to the concentration of political authority by populist demagogues. Populism can be described as a political movement that champions the common man against political elites and establishments. Huey Long was regarded as an ideological figure to the common man. He served as the Governor (1928-1932) and Senator (1932-1935) of Louisiana where he ruled with an iron fist and amassed a great deal of political influence. At the peak of his political career, Long was assassinated soon after declaring his run for the presidency. During the 1930’s, the United States was undergoing the Great Depression and wealth inequality was increasing. Long exploited the political environment and the sentiments of the working class by often criticizing political elites for undermining the working man. Long often had good policy ideas like providing free textbooks, building roads to rural areas, and creating a program to curb wealth inequality, which would serve the better good of the public. However, his means of implementation were corrupt, viewed as undemocratic and heavily disparaged by his political counterparts. Long was a strategic politician and supposing he was able to secure the presidency, the separations of powers set in place by the branches of the federal government would not enable him to maneuver the system as he did with the states. The United States Constitution has separated institutions that ensure that one political institution does not have more political authority than another. Political institutions structure the rules in which the government and political “activity” run by. The framers of the Constitution feared a government that was too powerful and needed a means to mitigate tyranny. In Federalist paper No.

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The poor thought he was a common man who swept into power my large majorities. The poor agreed with him more and thought he was a champion. Long often used the law against the people by pushing for a few bills from his campaign promises, including a free textbook program for schoolchildren, night courses for adults and piping natural gas for New Orleans. To pay for these programs Long taxed oil operators,

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