Earl Kemp Long: the Man from Pea Patch Farm Author(S): Morgan D

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Earl Kemp Long: The Man from Pea Patch Farm Author(s): Morgan D. Peoples Source: Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Autumn, 1976), pp. 365-392 Published by: Louisiana Historical Association Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4231630 Accessed: 29-07-2018 05:38 UTC

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This content downloaded from 138.47.53.7 on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:38:45 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Earl Kemp Long: The Mana From Pea Patch Farm

By MORGAN D. PEOPLES*

Department of History Louisiana Tech University Ruston, Louisiana

During the summer of 1959, Louisiana governor Earl K. Long appeared gaunt, tired, and erratic. He was ill, and he showed it. Nevertheless, he was doing what he enjoyed more than anything in the world-campaigning for Louisiana's top political office. A supporter of his once observed: "If they ever tell you ol' Earl is dead, you just ask them to call a governors' race. If Earl don't git [sic] up an' run, he's dead sure enough."1 In 1963, as another first Demo- cratic primary neared its completion, there was an almost complete absence of political activity in Winnfield, the home of the "Long Boys." A former Winnfield supporter of the Longs drawled: "When Ole Earl, hisself, was here directing political traffic nobody was confused very long-he soon had the voters lined up for or against his man-not wobbling about like they are doing now." An old boyhood chum of the Longs was in full agreement: "The master of the Pea Patch farm is gone-and now-political confusion prevails here in Winn Parish." 2 As early as 1951, Earl Long, the last of the great Louisiana stump speakers, had confided to a large gathering at Jennings, "I am going to stay in politics until I am taken from this earth." 3 And he was a man of his word. The end came nine years later. While campaigning for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Long was stricken with a severe heart attack; ten days later he died. "Earl

* Presidential address delivered at the Eighteenth Annual Meeting of the Louisiana His- torical Association in Lafayette, March 26, 1976. 1 "Earl's Whirl," Time, LXXIII (May 18, 1959), 24. 2 Harley Bozeman, "Winn Parish As I Knew It," Winn Parish Enterprise-News-American, November 21, 1963. 3Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, March 16, 1951.

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must have died happy," his cousin, David Bell, asserted, "because he died after doing what he loved best-politicking."4 Actually, Earl Long had three great loves: politicking, plain people, and his Pea Patch Farm. Plain people liked him because he was one of them-"hearty, bluff, and rough as a corncob." He talked like a field hand, and sometimes displayed the manners of a mule skinner. No city-bred politician, he asserted, could know or understand the problems of country people.5 The astute politico loved to "play country" at his Pea Patch Farm.6 This rural retreat was located three miles northeast of downtown Winnfield, in a parish so poor that "a man would skin a flea for the hide and tallow."7 The 320-acre plot of land was purchased from the Federal Land Bank of New Orleans on January 4, 1937, for the paltry sum of three thousand dollars. Included in the purchase was a dilapidated structure with linoleum floors, naked light bulbs, and picture calendars on the wall. Under its galvanized tin roof were two bedrooms, a storeroom, a kitchen, and a bath (the one luxury which was added by the politician-farmer). An oilcloth covered the kitchen table and a dish towel was draped over the bathroom window. Outside the front door stood a lone sweetgum tree.8 Pea Patch was never a permanent home for the Earl K. Longs, but a politician's retreat and a "hawg" hunting lodge. The Winn Parish native sometimes spoke lightly of his pastoral sanctuary. "I used to call it my Billy Goat Ranch. Just a small place where I can

4Lake Charles American Press, September 6, 1960. 5 Thomas Martin, Dynasty: The Longs of Louisiana (New York, 1960), p. 288; Richard B. McCaughan, Socks on a Rooster (Baton Rouge, 1961), p. 86. 6John T. Baldwin, Jr., "Election Strategy and Tactics of Earl Kemp Long As Seen in His Gubernatorial Campaigns," (M.A. Thesis, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana, 1973), p. 4. 7 Stephen Hess, "The Long, Long Trail," American Heritage, XVII, Number 5 (August, 1966), 41. 8 McCaughan, Socks on a Rooster, p. 127; Eleanor Harris, "The Truth About Earl K. Long," The American Weekly, September 20, 1959; Stan Opotowsky, The Longs of Louisiana (New York, 1960), pp. 135, 146; "Election Strategy of Earl Kemp Long," p. 4; Brooks Read and Bud Hebert (eds.), "Earl K. Long: Last of the Red Hot Papas," (Baton Rouge, 1961); Winn Parisb Enterprise-News-American, July 2, 1959. Miss Sadie who worked for the governor for many years at Pea Patch saw many improvements there. She said that it was sometimes called the "Lazy L" after Earl took office as governor in 1956. See New Orleans Times- Picayune, January 20, 1957.

This content downloaded from 138.47.53.7 on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:38:45 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 368 LOUISIANA HISTORY raise a little corn, a few cows, chickens, [and] guineas," he once stated.9 Blanche Revere Long, Earl's wife, referred to it at times as the "tin shack." Although some newsmen depicted her as hating the farm, the truth is that she visited it many times, staying there as long as two weeks at a time.10 Ole Earl especially enjoyed "hawg" hunting at Pea Patch. He owned a pack of champion Catahoula hog-and-stock dogs which could pin wild tusk hogs in the most difficult places.11 "I like to hunt wild hawgs," he once beamed. "You always come home with meat. Not so with deer hunting." 12 After the kill came the dirty, smelly, messy job of gutting and scraping the hogs. For this chore, Louisiana's top executive donned his oldest and most disreputable clothing, rolled up his sleeves, and set to work.'3 Clem Huffman, farm manager for many years, still recalls the day some "high-faluting" political friends of Governor Long came from Lake Charles to see him on an important matter. "Is the governor here?" they asked. "Yes suh," replied Rosa, the black cook. "He's back there behind the house." When the city folks entered the backyard, they failed to recognize the governor. He was covered from head to toe with hog hair, blood, and gore, but Earl was not chagrined in the least, he wanted his supporters to circulate such a folksy image to the voters of the Lake Charles area. 14 On almost any weekend while he was governor or lieutenant governor, Long might succumb to the urge to visit Pea Patch. A short time later, he would be headed toward Winnfield, his car laden with fruits, groceries, and at least two big garbage cans. Along the way the limousine stopped at restaurants to fill the garbage cans with slop for his penned farm hogs. Upon arriving, Earl would immediately fall into a farm routine, slopping the hogs and feeding the chickens. About 4:30 a.m. he would rise, dress in pants

9 "Last of the Red Hot Papas." In 1959 Earl Long claimed he raised about as much stuff on Pea Patch Farm as "almost any man in Winn Parish." "I Time, Vol. 74 (uly 6, 1959), 17; personal interview, C. C. Huffman, Winnfield, Louisi- ana, July 31, 1975; Opotowsky, Longs of Louisiana, p. 240. 11 ShreveportJournal, June 25, 1959; "Last of the Red Hot Papas"; personal interview, C. C. Huffman. 12 "Last of the Red Hot Papas." 13 Personal interview, C. C. Huffman. 14 Ibid.

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and undershirt, eat a hearty breakfast, and by eight o'clock be ready to meet his neighbors.15 The Pea Patch Farm was a good place to enjoy the sweet fruits of victory and to map out future political strategy, a process referred to by Long's fund campaign treasurer, Lewis Gottlief, as "making catfish bait." 16 It was also a good place for Earl to lick his wounds after suffering political defeat. At any rate, he always returned to Pea Patch whenever he was bone-tired, ill, hurt, or had suffered a severe setback.17 The rural appeal of the Winnfield native contributed greatly to his four major political successes. One observer wrote: ". . . Earl, like Huey, was the product of his environment-a politics-loving Louisiana rich in resources, and with lots of poor folks." 18 Mrs. Blanche Long noted that Earl's homespun manner endeared him to a large populace who believed that he would deliver whatever he promised.19 A hometown friend, Harley B. Bozeman, proclaimed, "Earl was an organizer and the man who got along with the little guy ever since he sold baking powder to a country store back 50 years ago."20 Early in his career, Long was referred to as a representative of the common man. On platforms all over the state, the rustic politician faced thousands of Louisiana's poor people and solicited their sup- port. "Vote for a man," he exhorted them, "that looks like ye, and works like ye-and smells like ye on Saturday."'21 A native of Marksville, Edgar Coco, once swelled with pride as he declared of his idol, "Earl was closer to the ordinary people than Huey. Earl really knew the poor people, the little people. He'd go back in the woods to shake hands with them, white or Negro."22

15 Martin, Dynasty: Longs of Louisiana, p. 174. 16 Cited, Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, p. 120. 17 Baton Rouge State-Times, SeDtember 4, 1961; personal interview, C. C. Huffman. "The Wizard of Winnfield" loved Pea Patch Farm so much he made eiaborate plans for its im- provement during his last days in an Alexandria hospital in 1960. See Baton Rouge State- Times, September 6, 1960, and September 4, 1961. 18 Winn Parish Enterprise-News-American, September 8, 1960. 19 Personal interview, Mrs. Earl K. Long, Baton Rouge, May 26, 1976. Also, see McCaughan, Socks on a Rooster, p. 51. 20 Wall StreetJournal, June 26, 1959. 21 Lester Velie, "Louisiana's Long, Long Dilemma," Reader's Digest, Vol. 76, number 458 (June, 1960), 141. Also see Opotowsky, Longs of Louisiana, p. 147. 22 Lake Charles American Press, September 6, 1960.

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"Uncle Earl," as Long often dubbed himself, invented "rock'em and sock 'em" politics in Louisiana.23 He mounted the stump over 500 times in the gubernatorial campaign of 1956, speaking mostly from the tailgate of sound trucks. A typical politicking day for the Louisiana official could begin at the Pea Patch Farm in Winnfield at 9:30 a.m. and end in Bastrop seven parishes and seven speeches later at 7:30 p.m. He traveled thousands of miles over country roads, carrying a work load of from 18 to 20 hours a day.24 "The only chance I can get before the people is with this big mouth of mine. If it ever closes up, God help Ole Earl. God help him," he proclaimed again and again to large gatherings or to personal friends. 25 Earl Long's speeches were not fashioned for sophisticated audi- ences, but, instead, designed to impress his enthusiastic country gatherings. They contained no flowery phrases, but were full of simple colorful words interspersed with pithy old sayings, prov- erbs, and Biblical quotations.26 During his campaign for Congress in 1960, Long boasted to his rural audience, "The three best friends you got are me, the Lord, and Sears Roebuck." 27 Margaret Dixon, managing editor, Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, wrote, "His quips were legendary, his invectives widely repeated, and his remarks, both public and private, witty enough to leave his listeners rolling in the aisles with laughter."28 His speeches did have a warm folksy quality about them that made them outstanding. Thomas L. Stokes, a New York columnist, noted that Earl was no Calvin Coolidge, but he did have "a backwoodsy wvise-cracking flair remi- niscent of some of the Coolidgeisms."29 There were others who took a dim view of the rustic politician's speeches. To them, they were nothing more nor less than campaign promises, Bible quotations, tart curses, and long-winded jokes.

23 Alexandria Daily Town Talk, July 25, 1960. Also, see Martin, Dynasty: Longs of Louisiana, p. 177; and Morning-Advocate, May 13, 1956. 24 State-Times, January 19, 1956; New Orleans Times-Picayune, April 15, 1956. 25 Martin, Dynasty: Longs of Louisiana, p. 205; Time, Vol. 76 (September 19, 1960), 25. 26 McCaughan, Socks on a Rooster, p. 156; and see Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, p. 3. 27 Linda Lou Popp May, "A Rhetorical Study of The Public Speaking of Earl K. Long From 1955-1960," (M.A. Thesis, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana, August, 1964), p. 38. 28 Morning Advocate, September 8, 1960. 29 New York World Telegraph, July 31, 1939.

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"His voice carries the fervor of the evangelist, and his arms fan the breeze with extravagant gestures," wrote one critic.30 Being born to a Bible-reading Baptist family in the North Louisi- ana hill country, nicknamed the "Baptist Bible Belt," insured the Pea Patch philosopher of a firm and basic religious background and an effective use of Biblical quotations. Earl did not join an orga- nized church, however, until 1955, when he was baptized by the Reverend J. Norris Palmer, First Baptist Church, Baton Rouge. For the remainder of his life, he regularly, but anonymously, do- nated to the church's activities.31 Earl followed the command of the Good Book by giving his tithe. To him this meant giving to the needy most of the vegetables he raised or the meat he slaughtered at the Pea Patch Farm. At Christmas time, the unselfish politician gave a dressed hog to every pastor, black or white, in Winn Parish and in Baton Rouge when he resided there. He provided milk cows to needy families, bread to hungry children, and clothes to his Pea Patch farm workers.32 Bigotry and religious intolerance were two subjects foreign to Long's political agenda in any campaign. "My mother was a rock- ribbed Baptist, but she was tolerant of other religions," Earl once said about his mother.33 Appreciative of the role the Catholic church had played in his education (he studied law at Loyola Uni- versity), he declared himself to be "about 40% Catholic and 60% Baptist." In that same Alexandria speech he also said, "I'm not against anybody for reasons of race, creed, or any ism he might believe in except nuttism, skin-gameism, or communism.... I'm in favor of every religion, with the possible exception of snake- chunking. . . . [they] deserve what's coming to [them]."34 Long was the first important gubernatorial candidate since Re- construction to openly and actively seek the black vote in his public speeches. He worked sincerely for black welfare while some of his

30 Opotowsky, Longs of Louisiana, p. 43. 31 "Last of the Red Hot Papas"; Shreveport Times, September 7, 1960. 32 Personal interview, C. C. Huffman; personal interview, Mrs. Lucille Long Hunt, July 28, 1975; personal interview, Mrs. Earl K. Long. Also see Times-Picayune, September 7, 1975. 33 "Last of the Red Hot Papas." 34 Speech made in Alexandria, August 2, 1959. See Alexandria Daily Town Talk, August 3, 1959; also, see Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, p. 93; and McCaughan, Socks on a Rooster, p. 220.

This content downloaded from 138.47.53.7 on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:38:45 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 372 LOUISIANA HISTORY sophisticated opponents merely mouthed a belief in black rights.35 During his campaigns he repeatedly emphasized the importance of good race relations. "If you show colored people you are their friend," he exclaimed, "you are in a position to talk to them."36 A concrete example of this concern for blacks was demonstrated in 1948 when Governor Long equalized the pay for black and white teachers within the state. Not everything the manipulator of Louisiana's masses said publicly about blacks, however, was complimentary or upgrading. While quietly negotiating political action for their welfare, he sometimes sounded like a staunch segregationist. Long's unorthodox approach was described by one supporter in this manner: "He stands up there and tells them they were eating each other in Africa a hundred years ago and things like that and they just smile and applaud. They get the welfare and they know that nobody has done more for them than Earl Long, wvhatever he says."37 As Earl himself saw it, the economic well-being of blacks took precedence over social standing. "What is more important," he once asked a group of blacks, "to ride on the front seat of a bus, or have a full belly?"38 During the most controversial action of his political career, the civil rights battle with the legislature in 1959, Earl Long fought an uphill struggle alone to prevent segregationists in the legislature from erasing thousands of Louisiana's black voters from the voting rolls. During an emotional session of the legislature Governor Long admonished segregation leader Senator XVillie Rainach to return to Summerfield, sit on his front porch and get close to God. Then he shouted toward Rainach, "And when you do, you got to recognize that nigers is human beings!' " 39 While Ole Earl did not win a complete victory on the issue, competent observers noted that while championing black suffrage and welfare payment, he was also reducing the militancy of Louisiana blacks on all other issues.40

35 A. J. Liebling, "The Great State: Blam-Blam-Blam," New Yorker, XXVI (June 11, 1960), 119. 36 "Last of the Red Hot Papas." 37 Cited in Opotowsky, Longs of Louisiana, p. 159. 38 May, "Rhetoric of Earl K. Long," pp. 52-53. 39 Cited, Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, pp. 29-30; also see the Concordia Sentinel, July 30, 1975, for a slightly different version. 40 T. Harry Williams, Romance and Realism in Southern Politics (Athens, Georgia, 1961), p. 83; also, see Liebling, The Earl of Louisiana, p. 5.

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In 1960, in his final race, Long strongly and publicly solicited the black vote. "I. want the nigger vote and I don't make any secret about it. I tell 'em I want it," he admitted. "And I get it because them colored people know I've tried to help 'em. "41 As Ole Earl campaigned about the state, some observers criticized him for making too many deals and too many promises. One well-publicized deal was made in 1948 with Dudley J. LeBlanc, a well-known supporter from Abbeville, who wanted money to campaign for Earl on a regular basis. The old campaigner is alleged to have given him $5,000 every two months.42 Then, after taking office, Governor Long was lambasted by the press and a majority of Louisianians for raising taxes, a move he had solemnly foresworn against during the race. B. B. "Preacher" Weeks, a Winn Parish farmer, while recording the first cotton bloom that year at the local newspaper office, blasted the governor saying, "I don't know who'll get the most of the cotton-the boll weevils or Earl Long. At least I can do something about the boll weevil."43 In 1950 Earl suffered his first heart attack not long after passing a rash of taxes; the New Orleans Times-Picayune promptly published this little ditty:

We warn the governor Before it's too late: Don't tax your heart Like you do the state.44

After losing the votes of Louisiana teachers in 1940, the master of promises never again failed to have something in his bag for them. He set up a minimum annual wage for teachers, improved schools, and kept annual education appropriations Up.45 When a political foe later declared that Earl had created a dictatorship in Louisiana, the governor quipped, "What dictator wants a better educated people and attempts to increase the total vote?"46

41 Alexandria Daily Town Talk, August 2, 1960. 42 Floyd Martin Clay, Coozan Dudley LeBlanc, From Huey Long to Hadacol (Gretna, Louisi- ana, 1973), pp. 159-160. 43 Winn Parish Enteaprise, June 17, 1948. 44 Times-Picayune, March 11, 1950. 45Times-Picayune, February 15, 1940; also, see McCaughan, Socks on a Rooster, pp. 94, 2 38. 46 Opotowsky, Longs of Louisiana, pp. 30-3 1.

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A shrewd politician, Earl Long sometimes promised one thing to one group, the opposite to another. A young newspaper reporter once thought he had the governor pinned down. The "Earl of Louisiana" finished a fiery speech in Lake Charles on an important state issue, and his youthful adversary moved in for the kill, "Gov- ernor, how can you say two different things about the same subject?" "What do you mean?" Long asked. "Well, in Baton Rouge, Monday, you claimed this." Then the newsman pointed to a newspaper clipping of the governor's earlier statement. "Now here in Lake Charles on Wednesday, you say the opposite. Can you explain that?" he concluded triumphantly. "That's easy to explain," Ole Earl replied with a glimmer of a smile. "On Monday, I lied."47 Earl Long possessed a keen and intelligent sense of humor and employed it cunningly to score many a triumph. "'Earl is the funniest man in the world,' " wrote Margaret Dixon. "'Life in the Capitol would be dull without him.' " His humor did have a rustic flavor that appealed to a large portion of his constituency. WNThen Mrs. Blanche Long moved into their new house in Baton Rouge, Earl complained that she had " 'dis-domiciled' " him. Visitors at Pea Patch Farm were sent into seizures of convulsive laughter over his funny stories, some of them unfit for relating in mixed company. In 1959, when he disembarked from a plane at Houston en route to a private sanitarium at Galveston, Earl said that he felt "'like a muley bull coming out of a dipping vat.' "48 The food at Mandeville Mental Hospital, he claimed, was "as bare as a cupboard in a poor man's house."49 When newsmen questioned him about his mental condition, he roared, "If I'm nuts, I've been nuts all my life. Them psychiatrists have to be as cuchoo [sic] as a tree full of owls." 50 Another critic asked him if he were a woman-chaser. He silenced his tormentor with a mild and accom- modating reply: "I'm not a married man. I can go out with a pretty woman if I want to. I'm 64 years old and just had the worst opera-

47 Shreveport Times, November 13, 1975. " Cited in Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, pp. 121-122. 4 Morning Advocate, July 24, 1959. 50 The American Weekly, September 20, 1959.

This content downloaded from 138.47.53.7 on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:38:45 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms EARL KEMP LONG 375 tion a man could have. What would I do with a woman if I caught one?" 51 In his public speeches, Earl attacked the privileged classes with wit as well as rhetoric. At Alexandria on August 2, 1959, he chided the rich with these words: "We got the finest roads, finest schools, finest hospitals in the country-yet there are rich men who complain. They are so tight you can hear 'em squeak when they walk. They wouldn't give a nickel to see a [sic] earthquake. They sit there swallowin' hundred-dollar bills like a bullfrog swallows minners [sic]-if you chunked them as many as they want they'd bust." 52 Among the several traits which endeared Earl Long to his beloved country folks were loyalty, sentimentality, a weakness for gambling, and a constant search for good bargains. The rural campaigner was especially devoted to his family, friends, and political allies. He even financially cared for individual members of his family, including the divorced wife of one of his brothers and an ill sister living in Colorado. 5 Earl's wife, Blanche Revere Long, played an important role in the Pea Patch farmer's public and private lives. A native of St. Tammany Parish, she lived most of her early life in New Orleans. She and Earl were married in Estes Park, Colorado, on August 17, 1932. They spent twenty-eight busy, fruitful years together. A striking looking brunette, Mrs. Long enjoyed her role as the wife of a successful state official, and always took an active, though covert, role in her husband's races. She stood by him in defeat as well as in victory. "He never lost courage, and neither did I . . . he was so bouyant, I just naturally was also. If he hadn't been he would never have been elected governor of the state of Louisiana," she confided to a Baton Rouge newswoman after her husband's stunning victory in 1948.54 Throughout his life, Earl was a loyal member of the national Democratic party. At one point in his career, he said, "I ain't never voted for the Republican ticket in my life. The Republicans are for

51 Alexandria Daily Town Talk, August 8, 1960. 52 Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, p. 96. 53 Personal interview, Mrs. Lucille Long Hunt. 54 Quoted in Morning Advocate, Magazine Section, May 9, 1948; also see State-Times, Feb- ruary 26, 1948.

This content downloaded from 138.47.53.7 on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:38:45 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 376 LOUISIANA HISTORY the rich man." 55 Hle was devoted to the Louisiana State University system, but never interfered with its operation as had his brother Huey. According to the student newspaper at L.S.U., "Hlistory does not record, nor will it ever show, an instance when the often criticized Long [Earl] turned his back on L.S.U."56 For most of his sixty-five years, the Pea Patch farmer appeared to be a knock-knuckled, hard-hearted, hard-headed he-man. He was always ready for a fight, it seemed. Yet, that rough dirt farmer exterior was a cover for the softest of hearts. Earl wept publicly on May 15, 1960, upon being informed of the death of former Lt. Governor Lether Frazar. " A finer man never lived," he cried through a torrent of tears.57 Upon release from Mandeville Hospi- tal in 1959, he complained about the condition of the patients there: " 'That place is a butcher shop. About a fifth of the people are senile, just dropped off by their kinfolks like people drop off a bag of kittens. Well, I never believed in that. When I was a kid I picked up the kittens.' "58 A great void in the married life of Earl and Blanche Long resulted from the absence of children. He once referred to himself as an old mule because he had not produced any heirs. He was sincerely fond of children and demonstrated it publicly. Steve Anderson, a Boy Scout, rode with him in his inaugural parade in 1948. A ten-year- old Newv Jersey girl, Lois Jean Hood, was the guest of honor at the ceremony. She gained this honor after writing the governor-elect about a social studies project of her fifth-grade class in East Orange. Eleven years later in 1959, the governor took a well-publicized vacation in the western part of the United States. Besieged by newsmen, Long was making his way to a limousine at the Ft. WN'orth airport with a pillowcase over his face when a twelve-year- old boy asked for his autograph. Replacing his curses witlh a smile, the ailing Louisiana governor autographed a five dollar bill and gave it to the boy. His new-found friend immediately teamed up with the governor by shooting at newsmen with a rubberband.59

55 Cited in McCaughan, Socks on a Rooster, p. 193; also, see State-Times, January 18, 1956. 56 Louisiana State University Daily Reveille, September 13, 1960. 57Shreveport Times, September 7, 1960. 58 MorningAdvocate, July 24, 1959. Earl felt deeply about firing anybody who had children, and he often hired the physically handicapped. See Winn Parish Enterprise, January 26, 1956. 59 American Weekly, September 20, 1959; Opotowsky, Longs ofLouisiana, p. 137; State-Times, May 6, 1948; New York Times, May 12, 1948; Martin, Dynasty: Longs of Louisiana, p. 273.

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Every year Ole Earl planted a patch of watermelons in a field on the backside of his farm for local boys to steal. When they were ripe for picking, the governor would place himself in a chair under a nearby tree. As the boys ran from the field with their arms full of melons, he would fire his shotgun into the air, laughing hilariously as the boys scrambled out of the field laden with melons.60 Earl's love for gambling, especially horse racing, dated as far back as his travelling salesman days in the 1920s. A humorous episode occurred while he was once vacationing at his boyhood home in Winnfield. Every Monday night the area salesmen met at the Nakatosh Hotel in Natchitoches, about 35 miles west of Winnfield, to play poker or roll the dice. Earl's cousin, Otho Long, and a friend decided to play a joke on him. Earl was placed in a car with another salesman, Bob O'Quin, a stranger. The two friends told Earl that O'Quin was a preacher and to watch his language, then they told O'Quin the same thing about Earl. On the ride from Winnfield to Natchitoches, very little was said by either passenger. O'Quin arrived at the crap game a little late, just in time to see "Reverend Earl Long" on his knees rolling the bones.61

The first time Earl played the horses he was with Dudley J. LeBlanc, Abbeville Hadacol salesman and state legislator. The Winnfield country boy had never been to a track before. "In fact," Earl asserted, "I was a kind of religious man in those days."62 While there, he placed a dollar bet on a horse and it won, thus, creating within him the eternal yearning to "watch the ponies run." He thereafter regularly attended the track in New Orleans. In the last year of his life, however, he journeyed to horse tracks more often than at any other time. He visited the tracks at Louisville, Baltimore, New York, New Orleans, and several other spots during his famous western trek. But, the last bet Long placed was not on the horses, it was an $8,000 wager that he would defeat Harold McSween for his congressional seat in 1960. Half of the amount was borrowed from a close member of his family.63 Ole Earl won the bet but forfeited his life.

60 Personal interview, Dr. Jerry Miller, Ruston, Louisiana, January 5, 1976. When the boys failed to show up, the owner of Pea Patch would visit their homes to see what ailed them. 61 Personal interview, Mr. Shirley G. Jackson, Winnfield, Louisiana, July 31, 1975. 62MorningAdvocate, September 18, 1960. 63 McCaughan, Socks on a Rooster, pp. 210, 197, 201, 170; Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, p. 42; personal interview, Mrs. Lucille Long Hunt.

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From the beginning to the end of his political career, Earl Long professed not to care for money. During his first campaign for "164 governor, he stated clearly, "I am not in politics to make money. Another time he pointed toward the sky and said, "'They keep records up there. Good works will be recorded. Dedicate your lives to service and not to profit.' "65 Nevertheless, his critics were always eagerly searching for possible malfeasance charges. In 1951, New Orleans newspapers disclosed with sensational headlines that the governor was using convicts as free farm labor in Winnfield. At about the same time a Long leader in the legislature was caught hauling sand to a privately owned project. Furthermore, the cagey old politico was investigated by the United States Internal Revenue Service more than once, but no charges were ever brought against him. (The federal investigators could never determine the differ- ence between his personal expenses and his campaign expenses, since he campaigned between elections as well as during elections.) 66 "I'd rather have the respect of the people than be the richest man in the world," he often stated. "I never took a crooked dollar in my life. A man can give you up to $3,000 and you don't have to report it. . . ." 67 He once said, "I got a deal with the Lord. I don't care nothing about money. If I go where I'm hoping to go, I won't need any. If I go to the other place, it'll burn."68 As the political war- horse began his third and unprecedented term as governor in 1956, he waxed eloquently about his financial condition: "I'll have enough honors and money to take care of me in my old age, and I want to dedicate the rest of my public life to getting Louisiana away from the gimme bag and pressure groups."69 In 1975, Earl's friends and neighbors in Winnfield were still insisting, "Ole Earl did not care anything about money." 70

64 Times-Picayune, July 24, 1939. 65 Morning Advocate, July 16, 1959; also, see the Shreveport Times, July 16, 1959. 66 State-Times, June 19, 1951; Opotowsky, Longs of Louisiana, pp. 152-153; Reader's Digest, Vol. 76, no. 458 June, 1960), 141; New York Times, July 1, 1959; Baldwin, "Election Strategy of Earl K. Long," p. 9. 67 "Last of the Red Hot Papas." 68 Morning Advocate, September 6, 1960; May, "Rhetoric of Earl K. Long," p. 83. 69 State-Times, March 8, 1956. 70 Personal interview, Johnny Jackson, Mr. Shirley G. Jackson, C. C. Huffrman, George Larson, Winnfield, Louisiana, July 31, 1975.

This content downloaded from 138.47.53.7 on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:38:45 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Governor Earl K. Long and his nepbew, U. S. Senator Russell B. Long, speak with friends after Inaugural Ceremonies at Baton Rouge, May, 1956, had seated Earl K. Long for the third time as Governor of Louisiana.

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Evidence discloses that the Winn Parish native did not amass a large fortune from his thirty-five years of service to the state of Louisiana. His last will and testament reveals that Earl owned land in St. Tammany Parish, the Pea Patch Farm, five shares of the New Orleans Times-Picayune Publishing Company stock (sold by Mrs. Long for $14,000), and the old Long homestead in Winnfield. There was also a loan of $164,000 that Governor Long had made to a Mansfield businessman, Frank Matthews, while he was campaigning. Mrs. Long received payment after a long court battle. The estate paid only $34,139.34 as full payment of income taxes owed between 1956 and 1960.71 Despite the apparent absence of greed in the life of the Pea Patch politician, he periodically launched erratic buying sprees with alac- rity. Earl's pleasure in securing bargains is illustrated in a story told by Governor Richard Leche. During a convention in Chicago, the two Louisiana officials went to Marshall Fields to buy presents. Lt. Governor Long tried to get a salesgirl to reduce the price of the items he selected, but he was referred instead to the store manager. He contacted the man and secured the bargain. Outside he said to Governor Leche, " 'Marshall Field or a little store in Winnfield is just the same. Dey'll all take a little less if you hold out.' "72 Whenever Reggie Gates, a Winnfield wholesale feed dealer, dealt with Earl he jacked up his prices by at least ten cents a sack so that he could then show a reduction when Earl started dickering.73 A Louisiana lawyer once reported that Earl "had deep pockets lined with fish hooks." He picks up a newspaper, "you lay down the nickel." 74 Sales especially intrigued him. Earl would stop at country stores to buy groceries, socks, overalls, rubber boots, water buckets, posthole diggers, horse collars-anything on sale. He once

71 Personal interview, Mrs. Lucille Long Hunt; personal interview, Mrs. Earl K. Long; State-Times, July 13, 1961; Morning Advocate, April 29, 1966; Winn Parish Enterprise-News- American, September 15, 1960. The State-Times article included the incorrect statement that Earl left 100 shares of Times-Picayune stock. Mrs. Earl K. Long corrected the error by substituting five shares. 72 Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, p. 105. Sometimes Earl's economy manifested itself in many little ways. He bought cheap gas for his Buick. He turned off lights in the mansion. He supplied turnips, milk, eggs, and butter for his Baton Rouge household without submitting the state a bill. See McCaughan, Socks on a Rooster, p. 24. 73 Personal interview, C. C. Huffman. 74 Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, p. 23.

This content downloaded from 138.47.53.7 on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:38:45 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms ~~~~(4 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 4

In a scene on Pea Patch Farm made in 1956, the Master of Pea Patch Farm sits on bis tractor talking to an unident fled friend shortly after bis successful bidfor the governorship of the state of Louisiana for the third time.

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bought a coop of chickens. Several unpainted rocking chairs which he had bought at sales were still stored at the Pea Patch Farm when he died.75 On one occasion, when the governor arrived at the mansion late for a press conference, a state trooper told a reporter "the Governor stopped at a few farms along the way to buy some guinea hens, but he couldn't get the right price on them." 76 On another occasion he was visiting an associate, James "Buddy" Monk, in Otis, Louisiana, when he saw a pretty mare in the pasture. "Whose mare is that out there?" he asked. "Mine," replied Buddy. "Bring her up to Winnfield tomorrow. I've got a black horse that'll do you," Governor Long ordered tersely. He got the mare, but he had to send for her.76 The rural public official also loved to swap hats and pocket knives. He had a large collection of knives which he traded often, always demanding a penny in exchange for each. If he liked a pair of shoes someone else wore, he would buy an identical pair for himself.77 On his western vacation in 1959, shopping became one of his principal recreational activities. He bought so much stuff in a Fort Worth store going out of business, "that it took two trucks to haul it back to the Pea Patch Farm in Winnfield." In El Paso he was seen with two crates of grapefruit tied to the top of his limousine.78 At a roadside stand he bought forty-four crates of cantaloupes and sent them by parcel post, collect, to his friends in Louisiana. An Army-Navy surplus store in Taos, New Mexico, was the scene of a haggling match between the governor of Louisiana and the store owner over the price of clothing which Long wanted for his farm workers. In Denver, Earl invaded a stockman's store and bought $700 worth of items. One of these was a hat for Clem Huffman inscribed "From Ole Earl to Clem Huffman." 79 He would frequently take trips into the country to give away to

Reader's Digest, Vol. 76, no. 458 (une, 1960), 140; Time, Vol. 74 (uly 6, 1959), 17; Baldwin, "Election Strategy of Earl K. Long," pp. 3-4; Morning Advocate, June 29, 1959. 76 Personal interview, James "Buddy" Monk, Otis, Louisiana, August 2, 1975. 77 McCaughan, Socks on a Rooster, pp. 25, 161. 78 Baldwin, "Election Strategy of Earl K. Long," p. 10. 79 Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, p. 20; Shreveport Times, July 22, 1959; Morning Advocate, July 22, 1959. According to a report in the MorningAdvocate, July 19, 1959, Gov. Long stopped at Tularosa, New Mexico, July 18, 1959, at a roadside grocery. He enjoyed a lunch of cheese and crackers while sitting in a grocery cart. "I'm enjoying this," he asserted, "that fancy stuff you get in restaurants gives me stomach trouble."

This content downloaded from 138.47.53.7 on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:38:45 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms EARL KEMP LONG 383 needy people items he had purchased. One of his greatest pleasures came from giving things to people in need. His critics said, however, that he did this to have people obligated to him.80 After intense campaigning and the rebuilding of his grass-roots organization, Earl Long emerged as a big winner in 1948. Thou- sands of the common people who loved the Pea Patch farmer came to Baton Rouge, May 11, 1948, for his first inauguration as gover- nor of Louisiana. "It looks like they all came," the beaming master of Pea Patch Farm asserted.8' It was their show. Barrels of ice water were placed in strategic areas in the downtown district. Of- ficial ceremonies were set in Tiger Stadium so that thousands could be seated in comfort. There were forty-one soft drink and buttermilk stands and seventeen hot-dog stands set up around the stadium, serving all visitors without charge.82 All through the ceremony, the governor-elect acted with dignity and decorum. His inaugural address was well-planned and well-delivered. "Better a little with righteousness than great revenues without right" was his theme. "I have always believed," he emphasized, "that the fortu- nate should assist the unfortunate, the strong should assist the weak, the citizens should be glad that God Almighty has bestowed upon them sufficient of life's blessings to be able to do something to make the burdens lighter for their brethren and fellow men." The ceremony ended with a nineteen-gun salute. Then, many of the thousands in attendance left the stadium to prepare themselves for the inaugural ball that evening in the L.S.U. Coliseum.83 Throughout his political career, the master of Pea Patch Farm was severely criticized by the press. He carried on a running battle with Louisiana newspapers during and between his eight political campaigns. Earl took boyish pleasure in performing certain crudi- ties-spitting, cursing, and rump-scratching-to accentuate his

80 After his death his sister, Mrs. Lucille Long Hunt, received hundreds of letters and telephone calls from people all over Louisiana who had been recipients of help from Earl Long. 8' Morning Advocate, May 12, 1948. 82 Times-Picayune, May 9, 1948; Morning Advocate, May 12, 1948; State-Times, May 11, 1948; Winn Parish Enterprise, May 13, 1948. 83 Morning Advocate, May 12, 1948. Thousands of letters were written to encourage the resurging state politician during the campaign in 1947 and 1948 by people who used lead pencils and cheap ruled paper. Mrs. Blanche Long personally answered all of them. See State-Times, May 9, 1948.

This content downloaded from 138.47.53.7 on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:38:45 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 384 LOUISIANA HISTORY position as leader of the poor people. Many members of the press termed him a "disgrace in the governor's chair," and also ridiculed him for his raging temper.84 The governor admitted that his worst habit was profanity, a fault which he hated but had trouble control- ling. If he were to "kick the habit," Earl maintained, he would be in a similar position to a cousin of his who joined a Baptist church and lost about 90 percent of his vocabulary.85 Even while engaging in heated verbal battles with newspaper editors, Earl Long treated reporters fairly. He always received them, whether at the governor's mansion or at the Pea Patch Farm. All he asked of them was to print the whole story. Among the reporters for whom he had a soft spot in his heart were Margaret Dixon, of the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate; Jim McLean, As- sociated Press; Ed Clinton, Baton Rouge State-Times; and Tom Kelly, Winn Parish Enterprise.86 Despite Earl's great appeal to poor folks, his political record contains as many losses as victories. He won only four races out of eight, including his last congressional race. After every defeat, his opponents and press enemies held his political funeral. The deter- mined politician always got off the deck, however, and came back for more. He always carried Winn Parish, in defeat as well as in victory. This was one achievement which his brother, Huey, was never able to claim; and in 1956, Earl became the first Long to carry Baton Rouge. He also won a high percentage of labor's vote, and captured about 80 percent of the black vote. Thus, he took the governorship in the first primary with 51 percent of the total votes.87 "Huey never done that," Earl gleefully remarked.88

84 New Yorker, XXXVI (June 11, 1960), 95-96; Concordia Sentinel, July 30, 1975; Martin, Dynasty: Longs ofLouisiana, p. 177; Michael L. Kurtz, "Earl Long's Political Relations with the City of New Orleans, 1948-1960," Louisiana History, X (1969), 251. 85 "Last of the Red Hot Papas"; State-Times, July 13, 1959. 86 Concordia Sentinel, July 30, 1975. 87 William C. Havard and Perry H. Howard, "The Louisiana Bifactional System and the Long Era: The Beginning of the End?," The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly, 44 (1963), 159; State-Times, January 18, 1956; Winn Parisb Enterprise, January 22, 1948; Harley Boze- man, "Winn Parish As I Knew It," Winn Parish Enterprise-News-American, November 28, 1963; Morning Advocate, January 19, 1956; Perry H. Howard, Political Tendencies in Louisiana (Baton Rouge, 1971), p. 288. Earl Long's political funeral was held several times by some of the state's daily newspapers. For further details of the Longs' "Swan Song" see: New Orleans States, March 1, 1940; New Orleans Item, March 2, 1940; and State-Times, May 14, 1940. 88 Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, p. 122.

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Some political observers in Louisiana rated Earl superior to Huey in producing the kind of politics demanded at the time.89 Harnett Kane, writing for a New Orleans newspaper, compared the brothers to a dray horse and a race horse: "Where Huey damned and roared and flew about like a whirling dervish, Earl narrows his eyes, pauses and calculates." 90 A Long supporter from South Louisiana explained that, "Earl was like us. He's like us- common. Huey was remote. You loved Earl and slapped him on the back. Nobody would just touch Earl. They'd say, 'Hiya, Earl! Howya doing?' "91 Both Earl and Huey Long enjoyed the challenge of a good political fight. But Earl, unlike Huey, also reveled in the participation of a physical battle. As a boy Huey started many fights which Earl had to complete. One of the most famous brawls in Earl's stormy political career occurred in 1929. It occurred while Huey was involved in a bitter impeachment struggle with the Louisiana house of representatives. Caddo Parish Representative Harney S. Bogan was talking to New Orleans Mayor Robert S. Maestri in the Capitol corridor when Earl approached and called Bogan a son of a bitch. Bogan struck Earl. They struggled to the floor.92 Later, Bogan claimed, "Long bit me on the face and neck and scratched me. He also stuck a finger in my mouth and attempted to tear my cheek."93 The Caddo solon reported that he took "antilockjaw serum." 94 Late in 1931, Earl and Huey had a bitter parting of the ways. Earl ran for lieutenant governor of Louisiana against strong op- position from his brother, who believed that one Long at a time was enough in a high state office. The resulting feud lasted two years. Each brother unloaded heavy political verbal barrages against the other whenever the opportunity presented itself. Huey called Earl a "Sorcerer's Apprentice." 95 "Huey," Earl retaliated, "will blow his

89 Ibid., pp. 1-2; New York Times, July 9, 1939; T. Harry Williams, Huey Long (New York, 1969), p. 3 16. 90 New Orleans Item-Tribune, July 16, 1939. 91 Times-Picayune, September 7, 1975. 92 Morning Advocate, September 11, 1960; Shreveport Times, September 6, 1960. Also, see Williams, Huey Long, p. 385. 93 Times-Picayune, June 29, 1939. 94 Williams, Huey Long, p. 385. 95 Harnett Kane writing in New York Times Magazine, September 27, 1959, p. 32.

This content downloaded from 138.47.53.7 on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:38:45 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 386 LOUISIANA HISTORY horn all right, but when you get to the house, you may expect a very light potlicker dinner, about as thin as canal water. He just don't want to turn loose and suck the hind teat, that's what's hurting. . . .96 The two rambunctious politicos were reunited late in 1933 at the old Heidelberg Hotel in Baton Rouge. Robert S. Maestri report- edly served as peacemaker.97 The late Reverend Gerald L. K. Smith, a close friend of Huey's who was present at the reconcilia- tion, attributed the following conciliatory words to Huey: "Blood is thicker than water. Forget it and we will carry on."98 Later, Earl shouldered the entire blame for the estrangement.99 Earl Long's colorful language served him well in his struggles with political opponents. No Louisiana stumper, past or present, even approaching Ole Earl in name-calling, has appeared on the state political scene. Three favorite targets were Sam Jones, deLes- seps S. Morrison, and Jimmie Davis. In a speech in Winnsboro during the 1940 gubernatorial campaign, Earl labeled Jones as "the biggest smart-aleck the world has ever seen." The Winn Parish native claimed that Sam was so much out of touch with the common people that "he sprinkles himself with perfume every morning to keep from smelling like you and me."'00 He also accused his opponent of being backed by corporate interests and challenged the New Orleans Times-Picayune to publish a picture of Sam's mansion in Lake Charles, "built with corporation money," alongside of a picture of Long's own Pea Patch Farm. 101 Jones, though no match for Long with the quip, once managed to land a solid punch of his own to Ole Earl's chin when he said, "When we bury Earl Long we're going to bury him face down, so that the more he tries to grab, the closer he'll get to home." 102

96 Earl Long Campaign of 1932 (Earl R. Hester, xeroxed Papers, Prescott Memorial Li- brary, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana). 97 State-Times, January 10, 1940; Louisiana Conservation Review, (summer, 1939), p. 5; Gerald L. K. Smith, Huey P. Long: Summary of Greatness, Political Genius of American Martyr (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, 1975), pp. 55-56. 98 Ibid.; personal interview, Rev. Gerald L. K. Smith, Eureka Springs, Arkansas, August 27, 1975. 99 Times-Picayune, November 1, 1939. 100 Times-Picayune, November 17, 1939. 101 State-Times, November 14, 1939; Times-Picayune, November 15, 1939. 102 State-Times, January 8, 1940.

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In the rematch between Jones and Long in 1948, Jones called his opponent a "blowed-up peckerwood." 103 He billed himself as the "Liberator of Louisiana." 104 "Do you want to rear your children in a state dominated by Maestri, the Old Regulars, or New York underworld figures like Costello?", he asked the people of Louisi- ana.105 His Winnfield based opponent charged that Jones had come a long way from a period of "Do-Nothingism" to promises of "Do-Everythingism." 106 Long and Jimmie H. Davis were formidable foes in more than one heated Democratic primary in Louisiana. Earl charged that during Davis' first administration, (1944-1948), "he stayed in bed about two-thirds of the time . . . Every time there was a strike, when they was having that trouble in Shreveport . . . when they poured out strawberries, and spilt milk, you couldn't find Davis to save your life. The Bible says there's not a man in the world as blind as the man that don't want to see. "107 When Long was en- couraged to debate Davis the master of extemporaneous speaking exploded, "How you gonna debate a clown like that? All he gives them is music." 108 Earl said at another time, "Davis loves money like a hog loves slop." 109 Later, when Davis made an agreement with the Old Regulars in New Orleans, Long downgraded the deal, bellowing in his hoarse, gravelly voice, "The Bible says that before the end of time, all the pussy cats, the poodle dogs, the house cats, and lions and tigers are going to lie down and sleep together. Have you seen that bunch hanging around Davis? It looks like the end of time is here al- ready." 110 Earl Long and deLesseps S. Morrison also engaged in bitter invective struggles. For twenty years, the two fought each other

103 Morning Advocate, January 10, 1948. In a speech in Holly Ridge, Louisiana, Sam called Earl "Kangaroo Earl, crooked Earl" and other names. Shreveport Times, December 4, 1947. 104 Edwin Adams Davis, Louisiana, A Narrative History (Baton Rouge, 1971), p. 344. 105 Part of a political advertisement supporting Sam Jones, appearing in the Winn Parisb Enterprise, February 5, 1948. 106 Davis, Narrative History of Louisiana, p. 344. 107 "Last of the Red Hot Papas." 108 George M. Leppert, "Long Live the Kingfishes!" The American Mercury, LXXXIII (Oc- tober, 1956), 98. 109 May, "Rhetorical Study of Earl K. Long," p. 84. 110 Morning Advocate, November 30, 1959.

This content downloaded from 138.47.53.7 on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:38:45 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 388 LOUISIANA HISTORY with the tenacity of gladiators. The rhetoric always began early, even before the tickets were formally structured."'1 Earl sized up Morrison in this manner during the state elections in 1959:

I hate to say this-I hate to boost old Dellasoups-but he'll be second again. I'd rather beat Morrison than eat any blackberry or huckleberry pie my mama ever made. Oh, how I'm praying for that stumpwormer to get in there. I want him to roll up them cuffs, and get out that old tuppy [toupee] and pull down them shades, and make himself up. He's the easiest man to make a nut out of I've ever seen in my life.112

Morrison, on the other hand, accused Earl of being a sick man. According to Morrison, Louisiana could not afford a governor "who wasn't even housebroke.""113 In the 1956 campaign, when Earl made his first and only television appearance, the dapper New Orleans politician claimed that the only way Earl could speak his lines correctly was to "put him in a corset, powder his face, and take the film in short takes." 114 In 1959, it was apparent to all that Ole Earl was not his usual self. One doctor reported that the governor's personality "had got com- pletely exaggerated and out of line." He seemed to have his political and personal lives all mixed up."15 Public reaction to the escapades of the governor in Louisiana and out west varied. One disgruntled Louisiana citizen termed lhis behavior "disgraceful," offering to give the state back to the French."16 On the other hand, thousands of Long's beloved "plain people" defended their ailing chief executive. Murphy Martin, a sun-tanned Kaiser Aluminum worker from Gramercy, called the whole situation a "frame-up." He nodded toward the four-lane highway running from Baton Rouge to New Orleans and continued, "The Longs built it. They help the poor folks. I'd vote for Earl again if he runs." 117 "He became sick

Kurtz, "Earl Long's Political Relations with New Orleans," 253-254. 112 Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, p. 26. 113 Ibid., p. 57. 14 Morning Advocate, January 6, 1956. 115 The American Weekly, September 20, 1959; Martha L. Horton, "Master of Pea Patch Farm," (unpublished paper, Ruston, Louisiana, 1964), pp. 52-53. 116 State-Times, May 27, 1939. 117 Wall StreetJournal, June 26, 1959.

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fighting for the common man," stated Earl's nephew and protege, Senator Russell B. Long. 118 The governor lost a great deal of weight during this illness. To put weight back upon his emaciated frame he began a diet of salted watermelon, buttermilk, and Vienna sausage cut up in chicken broth. He nevertheless continued his accelerated pace: going to horse races, nightclubs, and engaging in politicking as usual. He made trip after trip to Pea Patch during the months when he was ill. Never was he too preoccupied with his condition to overlook such things as shooing the chickens out of the vegetable garden or plant- ing a nearby field. 119 During his last campaign against incumbent Harold McSween for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Earl got very little sleep, getting to bed at 2:00 a.m. and rising at 5:00 a.m. He must have known that another vigorous race could be fatal, but he never hesitated.120 One anti-Longite opined he was "likely to die before the primaries, sure to get licked if he survived, certain to be thrown out by the State Supreme Court if nominated, and bound to be in jail before he could be inaugurated." 121 Earl's rhetoric, on the other hand, was in fine condition. He called McSween "catfish mouth" 122 and exclaimed that a good beating would be of great value to McSween. "It would help his wife, father, and every- body." 123 The incumbent congressman from Alexandria replied that Earl was more qualified for his seat "if the knowledge of whiskey-drinking, chasing women, and the bug house are qualifica- tions. . . "p 124 Both candidates hit hard in the runoff battle that followed. "We'll snow that yellow-bellied sapsucker under," Earl predicted. 125 Dur- ing the intensive campaign that followed, McSween caricatured his opponent as appearing at a Baltimore race track "all dressed up in a silk suit, a flowered silk shirt, and a silk tie with a diamond stickpin

118 U.S. News and World Report, 46, June 15, 1959, 23. 119 Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, p. 92; personal interview, Buddy Monk; personal interview, Mrs. Lucille Long Hunt; Morning Advocate, June 30, 1959. 120 Personal interview, Mrs. Lucille Long Hunt. 121 Liebling, Earl of Louisiana, p. 22. 122 Alexandria Daily Town Talk, July 2, 1960. 123 "Last of the Red Hot Papas." 124 State-Times, July 18, 1960; also, L.S.U. Daily Reveille, July 12, 1960. 125 Newsweek, LVI (August 8, 1960), 28.

This content downloaded from 138.47.53.7 on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:38:45 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 390 LOUISIANA HISTORY in it, but he didn't have any socks on. . .." 126 The name-calling duel was a draw, but McSween lost his bid for reelection. On election day Earl K. Long was stricken with a severe heart attack in an Alexandria hotel. He told reporters he was sick from eating "overripe pork," refusing to go to a hospital until the polls closed and his unofficial lead assured him of victory. At the insis- tence of his sister, Mrs. Lucille Long Hunt, and State Senator Ralph King of Winnsboro, he finally left the hotel, weak but satisfied. 127 He told newsmen as he was wheeled away that after he had a checkup he would start making telephone calls to pick up some money. "I've got an overdraft now," he admitted. 128 His last interview with reporters was held on September 3, 1960. He spoke of looking forward to going to Washington as congressman for the Eighth Congressional District. "I don't intend to keep my mouth shut," he asserted playfully. Soon afterward, however, Earl seemed to sense that the end was near and uttered his last public words. "I think I'm a kind of statesman-like politician. A politician is misunderstood. He is a man capable of doing something for the people. That is what I tried to be." 129 Death took Congressman-elect Earl K. Long on September 5, 1960. According to his nephew and attending physician, Dr. Robert U. Parrot, Earl awoke, drank a cup of coffee, coughed once or twice, turned over and died.130 In death as in life, Earl Kemp Long was idolized by the common people. The funeral cortege followed a route from Alexandria to Baton Rouge. "En route," observed a Shreveport newsman, "hundreds stood bare-headed in the hot sun. Negro field hands put down their hoes. A man climbed on a tractor to watch the proces- sion go by." Some highway department workers halted their grass cutting and doffed their hats. 131

126Alexandria Daily Town Talk, August 22, 1960. 127 Personal interview, Mrs. Lucille Long Hunt; New York Times, August 28, 1960. Clem C. Huffman, Pea Patch manager and a devoted friend of the Congressman-elect said that Earl "just finally ran out of juice. He had been deeply involved in politics since he was a boy." Personal interview, C. C. Huffman. 128 New York Times, August 28, 1960. 129 Shreveport Times, September 4, 1960. 130 Times-Picayune, September 6, 1960. 131 Shreveport Times, September 7, 1960, and September 9, 1960.

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Tributes honoring the "Miracle Man of Louisiana Politics" came from many quarters. Over 22,000 people filed by his bier at the Capitol, where he lay in state.132 The first mourner in the line was Lula Stull, a 65-year-old black practical nurse. "He sent me to that trade school when he was first governor and there's where I got my biggest learning," she said with misty eyes.133 An unidentified white-haired woman cried, thinking that it was the end of her pension. J. A. Tisdale, an impoverished old-age pensioner from Walker, Louisiana, gave ten dollars to newsmen to buy a wreath for the governor. 134 The common people who gathered to mourn him felt the loss of an "old buddy." "He was the best poor man's friend we had," many agreed. 135 Blaze Starr passed by the bier with tears in her eyes. "He passed on a winner," she said quietly, "and that's what counts, I guess, if you've got to go." 136 It was an old friend of Earl's, Ernest Clements, who coined the most appropriate tribute, tabbing the Pea Patch politico: "The Matchless Champion of the Masses." 137 Funeral services were conducted at the First Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, September 7, 1960, by the Reverend J. Norris Palmer. A crowd of about 3,000 gathered. The master of Pea Patch Farm was laid to rest on September 8, 1960, on the old Long place in Winnfield. (Mrs. Earl K. Long deeded the land to the state in honor of his parents and as a resting place for the Louisiana public official.)138 On the same day twenty-five years earlier Huey P. Long had been shot by an assassin in the capitol while directing a special session of the Louisiana legislature. Louisiana and other Southern newspapers, some of them sheath- ing their swords temporarily, contributed epitaphs in memory of Earl Kemp Long. "With all his faults, we love him still," proclaimed the West Monroe Citizen. The Colfax Chronicle said, "First, last and always, he was a politician who never forgot a friend nor

132 New York Times, September 8, 1960. 133 Lake Cbarks American Press, September 6, 1960. 134 Times-Picayune, September 7, 1960. 135 Winn Parisb Enterprise-News-American, September 8, 1960. 136 Lake Charles American Press, September 6, 1960; also, see Sbreveport Times, September 7, 1960. 137 State-Times, September 5, 1961. 138 Shreveport Times, September 7, 8, 9, 1960; Morning Advocate, September 7, 8, 9, 1960; personal interview, Mrs. Earl K. Long.

This content downloaded from 138.47.53.7 on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:38:45 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 392 LOUISIANA HISTORY left a favor unpaid." 139 The Baltimore Evening Sun stressed Long's "rich rascally charm, which, for his purposes served as well as statesmanship." However, the Birmingham News hoped that he was right "when he called himself 'the last of the red hot pappas.' 7 140 The Pea Patch Farm, once jumping with activity, now stood still and quiet. Two rockers sat on the front porch, gathering dust. The front gate was nailed shut. A corner of the tin roof flapped in the breeze.141 The deserted farm exemplified the feeling of abandon- ment sensed by Louisiana's little people. A few weeks after Earl's death, this sentiment was expressed in a poem written by Miss Gaines Glass of Baton Rouge and published in the Winn Parish Enterprise-News-American entitled "The Master is Away":

The sound and fury-they both are gone; Worn rocking chairs, empty and light, Complain in the shadows of loneliness. The Master is not at home tonight.

Spurs, saddles and chaps hang against the wall. The tractor waits, frosted with fright; No harvest to come for no rows were turned. The Master is not home tonight.

Tomorrow has not come to Pea Patch Farm. Each hour is arched out; The sound and the fury-they both are gone. The Master is not home tonight.'42

139 Winn Parish Enterprise-News-American, September 15, 1960. 140Sbreveport Times, September 11, 1960. 141 State-Times, March 26, 1961. 142 Harley Bozeman, "Winn Parish As I Knew It," Winn Parisb Enterprise-News-American, November 21, 1963. Pea Patch Farm survived Ole Earl for just over two years. On November 20, 1962 at 2 a.m. a fire started on the screen-in-back porch. Firemen fought the blaze for four hours to no avail. See the Sbreveport Times, November 21, 1962 or the Times- Picayune, November 21, 1962.

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