Reply #7: He did amazing things for the poor and working poor in Louisiana.

[ipaint]

Puts our current batch of crony capitalists to shame.


Huey Long transformed the economic reality in Louisiana from a system stacked against its rural poor citizens to a system that offered opportunity and tools for advancement. By 1936, Long’s programs and progressive policies saved the average Louisiana family more than $425 a year in daily living expenses (equivalent to $5,100 today). Coupled with free education and easier mobility, people on every step of the economic ladder received a chance to get ahead, especially the poor.

http://www.hueylong.com/programs/economic-reform.php




Long initiated the expansion of the state’s two Charity Hospitals to create a network of public hospitals accessible to the poor. Capacity at New Orleans’ Charity Hospital was more than doubled, reducing the death rate by 30 percent. He also founded the LSU Medical School, a modern training institution adjacent to New Orleans’ Charity Hospital.


Huey Long modernized Louisiana's hospitals, with new treatment rooms and sterilizing equipment.
from Every Man a King by Huey Long; reproduced by permission.
Long modernized and expanded the state’s institutions for its neglected disabled and mentally ill patients, abolishing the practice of chaining patients to their chairs in plow stocks and providing modern therapy and dental care. His administration also built institutions for mentally disabled children and epileptics. He reformed the prison system by providing inmates dental and medical care.

Through the Board of Health, Long tripled funding for public healthcare. The state’s free health clinics grew from 10 in 1926 to 31 in 1933, providing free immunizations to 67 percent of the rural population.

By expanding the state’s network of roads and bridges, Long made it possible for citizens – especially the rural poor – to seek professional healthcare and hospitalization.

http://www.hueylong.com/programs/healthcare.php



His list of accomplishments on behalf of the poor is unmatched. If all you know about Long is that he was crooked, you don't know anything.