Earl Kemp Long was born on August 26, 1896 in Winnfield, Louisiana, United States, the son of Huey Pierce Long and Caledonia Tison. He had a comfortable childhood in Winnfield, playing ball or combing the nearby woods for his father's livestock.
Long attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Later he graduated from Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans.
During his early years his only serious interest was in a sales career, which he successfully pursued from 1912 to 1927 in Louisiana and nearby states. At various times he sold patent medicines, hardware items, baking powder, and shoe polish. Salesmanship contributed to his political personality, for it enabled him to see firsthand the needs of the people and to establish contacts with local courthouse leaders. Long's older brother Huey was the central figure in his involvement in politics. The brothers were especially close, and Earl helped Huey win election to the Louisiana Public Service Commission (1918), to the office of govenor (1928), and to the U. S. Senate (1930) by raising funds, making speeches, and helping in other ways.
In 1928 Long became inheritance tax attorney for Orleans Parish, but he worked primarily with the legislature as his brother's lobbyist or negotiator, pushing administration proposals to ribbon the state with paved roads, to replace antiquated ferries with new bridges, and to distribute free textbooks to public and parochial school pupils. These measures benefited poor white farmers. For more than a quarter of a century, voters would be divided into pro-Long and anti-Long camps. In 1929, Earl helped to prevent the conviction of his brother during impeachment proceedings. But initial successes blunted Earl's judgment. In 1932 he lost the race for lieutenant governor because Huey refused to endorse him, fearful that Earl would be more interested in his own political future than in Huey's. The defeat embittered him.
During the next two years he fought the administration, going so far as to accuse his brother of accepting graft payments and of running one of the worst dictatorships in the world. In 1934 Huey's presidential ambitions surfaced, and the brothers patched up their differences. But the assassination of Huey in September 1935 did not thrust Earl to the forefront as his legitimate heir. Other lieutenants came to power, but after some controversy the organization endorsed Earl as its candidate for lieutenant governor. Easily elected in 1936, he began to prepare for the 1940 gubernatorial primary. He avoided factional conflict and used every opportunity to extend his own base of support. The political climate changed suddenly in June 1939, when Governor Richard W. Leche resigned amid allegations of graft and corruption, leaving the executive office to Long.
In the next eleven months Long attempted to mount a gubernatorial campaign while many former state officials were being indicted for stealing public funds. Although cleared of any personal wrongdoing, he lost the election to Sam Houston Jones, a Lake Charles attorney, by less than 10, 000 votes. Long had no intention of abandoning politics after his defeat. He had lost by a narrow margin, but the voters had returned a large delegation of Long supporters to the legislature. In 1944 he tried to win the post of lieutenant governor, but was unable to overcome the lingering resentment of the 1940 scandals. In a bitterly contested gubernatorial campaign in 1948, though, he defeated former Governor Jones overwhelmingly. In 1952 voters rejected his handpicked successor, Carlos Spaht, and elected Robert F. Kennon, an independent candidate.
In 1956 Long won an unprecedented third term as governor. But his administration had to concentrate on segregation problems rather than economic issues. Under the leadership of Judge Leander Perez and State Senator Willie Rainach, the segregationists demanded the removal of 150, 000 blacks from voter registration rolls and the prohibition of all interracial activity. Although a segregationist, Long ignored their appeals; neither he nor Huey ever found it necessary to appeal to negrophobia. As the influence of white supremacists spread, he fought them and their bills. He told one joint legislative session that if the provisions of one measure were applied honestly, "There ain't ten people looking at me who could qualify to vote. "
Ultimately the political tensions generated by the racial struggle broke Long's health, and his behavior became erratic and eccentric. He was in and out of three hospitals; he dated Bourbon Street strippers; he conducted a highly publicized tour of Texas. Meanwhile, he made an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor, and observers believed him politically dead. But in August 1960 he made a remarkable comeback by defeating Harold Barnett McSween, the incumbent, in the Eighth Congressional District primary election. A week later he died in Alexandria, Louisiana.
During his governorship, the state expanded highway construction, made medical services and facilities more accessible to the underprivileged, and greatly increased pensions to citizens over sixty years of age. In addition, Long made charity beds available to the poor in private hospitals, provided bonuses for veterans, and made salaries of black teachers equal to those of white teachers.
Long was a member of the Democratic Party. During his service as a governor, civil service proponents objected when he backed abolition of the program in the state because, he charged, his opponents dominated its administration. He headed off Dixiecrat attempts to deny President Harry Truman a place on the Democratic ballot and he attempted to punish the mayor, de Lesseps S. Morrison, for past attacks on the Long faction.
Quotations: "I've done more for the poor people of this state than any governor. The only governor who came close was my brother Huey, and he was just starting out. "
Quotes from others about the person
"You give Earl a few dollars and turn him loose on the road, and he will make more contacts and better contacts than any ten men with a barrel of money. "- Huey Long
Long married Blanche Revere on August 7, 1932.
