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7.34 Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin and Challenges to the New Deal
Two great demagogues United States Senator Huey P. Long from Louisiana and Charles E. Coughlin, a Catholic priest from an industrial suburb near Detroit parallel rise together in the early years of the Great Depression to become the two most successful leaders of national political dissidence of their era.
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Demagogue a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument.
TOO CONSERVATIVE:Many people insisted that Roosevelt had not gone far enough to reform the capitalist system.
Both the Communist party and the Socialist party wanted the government to take control of all major industries in the U.S. Huey Long, a Senator from Louisiana, proposed the “Share Our Wealth Plan” which promised every family an income of at least $5,000. According to his plan, this would be achieved by increasing taxes on the rich.
Dr. Francis Townsend organized over 5 million supporters for his Old Age Revolving Pension Plan, giving each senior citizen $200 per month (about 2X the average worker’s salary) provided that the money be spent within a month. The scheme would be funded by a national gross sales tax.
Father Coughlin, a Catholic Priest with a national radio show that reached over 40 million listeners, campaigned for the nationalization of banks and utility companies and blamed big business owners, especially Jewish ones, for the continued economic problems of the U.S. Coughlin eventually lost much of his support because his views were perceived as anti-semitic.
TOO LIBERAL: Big business owners felt Roosevelt’s programs, especially the NIRA, gave him virtual dictatorial powers. They attacked the use of deficit spending and feared the U.S. was becoming too socialistic. Groups such as the American Liberty League felt that programs like Social Security and the Tennessee Valley Authority dangerously undermined the free enterprise system and encouraged people to use the government as a provider.
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