Huey P. Long rose to prominence during the Great Depression, when more than two million Americans were homeless and more than a quarter of the nation’s workers were unemployed. Revolution was not on the immediate horizon, but many at the time recognized capitalism as the source of their ruin and searched for alternatives.

Long embodied one alternative for hundreds of thousands of Louisiana voters, declaring every man a king and promising a government that would break up large bank accounts and provide a base level income to every citizen. For Louisiana’s poor — small farmers and itinerant laborers alike — it was an inspiring promise.

But Long was no socialist. He was an agrarian populist who sought to strengthen American capitalism by mitigating its inequalities, not by subverting it. In fact, when he was accused of Communist sympathies for his redistributive program — cleverly called the “Share Our Wealth” plan — he replied, “Communism? Hell no! This plan is the only defense this country’s got against Communism.”