Huey P. Long 's Speech

In Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”, King asserts that the war in Vietnam is a “symptom” (7) of a much larger disease that affects the “American spirit” (7). The disease King mentions is causing destruction where ever it is found, and in the case of the Vietnam war, it has led to their oppression and the death of people. In the section, Strange Liberators, King states, “They move sadly and apathetically as we heard them off the land of their fathers into concentration camps where minimal social needs are rarely met. They know they must move or be destroyed by our bombs” (8). King believed that the disease was leading the United States to take drastic actions against the Vietnamese people. The U.S.

President Roosevelt’s New Deal programs were both supported and opposed by the American people. Among the New Deal’s opposers was Huey Long, a U.S. senator from Louisiana. Long believed that Roosevelt’s programs did not help the majority of the population as much as they should have. In response, Long suggested a plan for the redistribution of wealth; he proposed a program which provided for a proper standard of living for all by dispersing the nation’s wealth throughout the country. This plan was known as the Share Our Wealth plan. To carry it out, Long formed an organization for the cause in 1934, and in 1935, he gave a speech to the members of the Share Our Wealth Society.

Huey P. Long was a governor of Louisiana, during his national radio address of 1934, he proposed his plan “Every Man a King,” and “Share our Wealth.” Long’s plan was designed to provide every american a decent standard of living by sharing the nation’s wealth. It limited the amount of money a person can have. In his speech, he addressed the wage gaps between people and the fact that some of these made so much money that they controlled our nation’s wealth. Therefore, Long believed that if Americans share their wealth, then American can have enough money for everyone to live in comfort, and this way poverty will be limited.

Racism has always been a major problem in America. However, it was known to be the most problematic in the late 1950s. On August 28 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his infamous speech “I Have a Dream” to America. His dream highlighted the injustices of segregation and discrimination of African Americans that took place in this nation every single day. Dr. King inspired thousands despite the color of their skin, to take a stance against racism, with his powerful way with words. In his speech MLK efficaciously uses, Ethos, Pathos, and Logos by using allusions, developing credibility, in his speech to persuade all Americans to be aware of the problems with racism.

Does everyone deserve civil rights? John F. Kennedy believed so during the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Right Movement began around 1950 and ended around 1970. A few of the major leaders were Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and John F. Kennedy. The purpose of the Civil Rights Movement was to end discrimination and prejudice among whites and blacks. Many African Americans did not have the same rights as Caucasians mainly due to their skin being a different color. A famous speech delivered by John F. Kennedy was “The Nation Faces a Moral Crisis Regarding Race” on June 11, 1963 at Washington D.C.. A major theme of John F. Kennedy's speech was racism. In “The Nation Faces a Moral Crisis in Regard to Race”, John F. Kennedy inspires his intended audience during the Civil Rights Movement by using the rhetorical devices of tone and repetition.

The speech I chose to analyze is Every Man a King by Huey P. Long. This speech was truly moving especially since the era was during the Great Depression. Wealth inequality was at an unsurpassed high in America, and the majority of the people were in the position of struggle and famine. Huey Long was a longtime advocate of redistributing wealth in his own state, he took this platform to a national scale to address his concern of building support for his movement. The society that he was making was the "Share the Wealth Society", a society in which the motto was "every man a king" and whose goal was the limit the wealth of the rich and share with the poor. He used sources such as the Bible, information about the past presidents and philosophers, as well as information of the amount of debt the U.S. has to support his claim. Huey P. Long used ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade his listeners of the broadcast to create a "Share the Wealth Society" in their communities.

In David Foster Wallace’s Commencement Speech, he opens with a short parable about how a fish greets two other fishes and ask them how’s the water today, this parable introduces us to his message which is changing that default setting which is hard-wired into our brains to have a life worth living. I agree with his statement because this is’nt just the first time this formula has been brought to our attention. Many success people have said this statement in some form or fashion, we can even look at David Sedaris’s commencement speech.

On June 26, 1963, the famous words “Ich bin ein Berliner” changed the world. These words, which in English mean “I am a Berliner,” were delivered by John F. Kennedy in West Berlin. His speech was viewed worldwide and brought national attention to the Berlin Crisis and the Cold War. Today, most people have heard about the speech, but may not know a whole lot about it. They may ask themselves the following questions:

In the nineteen twenties Louisiana was becoming one of the most powerful states in the United States. Huey P. Long was on the verge of making that statement come true. Long was one of the fiercest, smartest and most powerful Governor that Louisiana has ever had to this day.

Huey Pierce Long Junior, a well-known name in many Louisiana and even other south-eastern homes, was a man of power in the 1920's. Growing up in a rural and poor family of nine, him being the seventh, was not easy. But being the outspoken person he was from a young age, he stood out. Using that to his advantage, he managed to take an unofficial private bar exam without so much as a high school graduate diploma. Then at age 30, he was already running for Governor of Louisiana. Although his first campaign for Governor in 1924 was unsuccessful that did not deter him. He even went as far to say that had there not been rains before the polls he would have won, but the rains made his rural voters unable to vote because the unpaved roads were not drivable. This issue would later be something he worked strongly to fix. But Long ran for Governor of Louisiana again in 1928, during this campaign he promised good roads, good bridges, and even free healthcare. After his many speeches, promises, and campaigns he won the political position of Governor of Louisiana.

Louisiana was a state that recovered from the Great Depression and years after with the help of governor Huey P. Long and Edwin W. Edwards. They understood the people and the state’s needs. These governors made significant and memorable changes that would educate readers of their intentions. These changes were good for everyone no matter whether you were a republican, democratic, upper class, middle class or low class. The two governors shared many positive, creative and persuasive tactic skills to achieve their goals of building schools, highways and presenting new programs.

The author of this document, Huey Long, hoped to inform readers, mainly American voters, of the cause of the Great Depression and his solutions for fixing the economy, as well as the individual lives of Americans. This document comes from his book “Every Man A King” and it describes the need for his proposed “Share the Wealth” program in America. The quote that best explains Long’s intentions for joining the United States Senate and the writing of his book is this statement, “eventual day had arrived when accumulation at the top by the few had produced a stagnation by which the vast multitude of the people were impoverished at the bottom.” In this, he is referring to America’s mal-distribution of wealth during the 1920s by explaining the root of its problem. The reason for informing readers about these problems is so that solutions can begin to be put in place, starting with the persuasion of American voters to vote in Long’s favor. He writes that he hopes “I might do something to spread the wealth of the land among all of the people.”

Though well accomplished for the common good of Louisiana, Huey Long is known as the greatest and worst governor of Louisiana. After his death we still feel the effects of his leadership. There are still free books in schools, free healthcare still exists as well as some free education for qualifying individuals. On the other hand he has also paved the way for corruption in the Louisiana political arena such as people like Governor Edward Edwards who was also plagued with much

Long accomplishment in Louisiana was monumental (6). Jeasonne defends Long as imposing order upon chaos (6). One can clarify that Long also aids out Congress in their time of need. For example, in 1934, Longite spewing out of the Legislature at the rate of one bill every two minutes (6). By guiding Congress, Long later contributes to improvement for his citizens. For instance, Long builds paved roads, highways, bridges, give out free textbooks for elementary and secondary students to poor Louisianans, and natural gas (67). No doubt, Long is benefiting his people and came through with some of his promises. In fact, Long has other plans for

In his acceptance speech to the Democratic National Convention on June 27, 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt mentioned many challenges and concerns facing the United States during that time period. In his speech the President used short-hand phrases, brief references, and pejorative naming to make his larger, political and ideological points. FDR used terms like ‘economic royalists’, along with phrases like ‘new despotism wrapped in the robes of legal sanctions’, to identify the large corporations, investors and employers, who according to him are trying to influence policies and control the government for their own personal benefits. The President also uses phrases like ‘Necessitous men are not free men’, to reiterate his concerns and to point out how the working people of America are being deprived from their rights by these very same privileged employers. FDR compares 1936 to 1776, referring to the American Revolution and its significance in putting the power back in the hands of the average Americans, and how it is necessary to check the power of the corporations in order to protect the interests of the American people and restore the power back in the hands of the people.