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Outrageous demagogue. Charismatic visionary.

That’s how biographer Richard D. White Jr. describes infamous Louisiana legend Huey P. Long in his new book, Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long.

The book offers vivid descriptions of a Baton Rouge now found only in old photographs. White reveals the harsh truth of our fair city during Long’s reign. Imagine a hostile Baton Rouge—one that requires the governor to be escorted around town with a guard holding a sawed-off shotgun in a brown paper bag.

Even if you’ve seen Ken Burns’ documentary on LPB, Huey Long, read Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, or even seen the film adaptation in which Broderick Crawford plays Willie Stark (the character Warren modeled on Long), White’s book will bring fresh insight into Louisiana’s most famous political figure.

For example, Long published his own newspaper to further his policies and destroy his political opponents. He regularly erupted into fistfights with men who opposed him. He ensured the election of the first woman to a full term in the U.S. Senate. He wanted Louisiana to secede from the union, so President Franklin D. Roosevelt would cease to control the state. Long even proposed a tax on lying to try and discourage newspapers from criticizing him.

White came to Baton Rouge eight years ago to teach at LSU. 225 sat down with him to talk about Long, the book and Baton Rouge.

Describe your first significant interest in Huey P. Long.

In my high school and college history courses in the ’60s, I became fascinated with the Depression and the New Deal era, which naturally led me to the important men of the time such as FDR, William Jennings Bryan, Will Rogers and, of course, Huey Long.

What initially drew you to writing biography?

I have always been interested in important and fascinating people. I grew up in Williamsburg, Va., where my mother was a historian, and I inherited a natural curiosity about great leaders of history. I read almost every biography in my elementary school library. And living in Williamsburg spoiled me—I saw and met dozens of great people passing through the town, including Presidents Truman and Eisenhower, Marshall Tito, Bobby Kennedy, King Hussein and, on one special day, a young Queen Elizabeth riding down the street in a carriage.

What is the most valuable research you found for gaining better understanding of Long?

The collection of interview transcripts housed in LSU’s Hill Library. Many interviews were done by T. Harry Williams, but there are a dozen more that have been collected since his research. The most poignant research was, of course, the handful of interviews I conducted with people who were living during Huey’s time. The emotions are just as intense 70 years later.

Your introduction opens with a quote from Long. He says smarter people than he may exist, “but not in Louisiana.” In what way did he believe this to be true?

Without question, Huey believed he was the smartest, most of the people of Louisiana believed him, and, I must confess, I believe him. Huey was one of the quickest thinkers I have ever studied. He was born brilliant, but his days as a salesman fine-tuned his skills to a point where no one could match his biting wit and shrewdness. He also had a photographic memory, inherited from his mother and unbounded energy, which allowed him to outlast any adversary—even when he was rip-roaring drunk.

In the 1927 gubernatorial election, Long ignored rules against negative campaigning. Is he responsible for starting this campaign strategy that lives on today?

Huey did not invent negative campaigning, but he took it to a new—albeit lower—level. He was much more vicious, personal and witty than any of his predecessors, not only in Louisiana but across the country. I have found no one to compare him to. His knack for striking at the jugular of his opponents was uncanny, and the string of nicknames he called them are the most sadistic and trenchant in American political history. Damon Runyon could not have conjured up Huey-isms such as “Wet Jug,” “Barrel Head,” “Old Feather Duster,” “Chicken Jim,” “Bathtub Joe” and “Pot-Bellied Chicken Snake.” Earl Long observed Huey’s style and later tried to copy him, but Earl could not hold a candle to Huey.

Rose Long, who married Huey in 1913, occupies only a few pages, but does so with great significance for the story of her husband’s reign. How accessible is the life story of Rose?

I was very impressed with Rose Long. She was a devoted wife and caring mother who preferred to stay out of the limelight that her husband basked in. Huey’s son, Russell Long, inherited many of his mother’s fine qualities. Although I have mixed feelings about Huey, I have none about Russell, one of the finest senators this country has produced and a great public servant.

How much of your ultimate understanding of Long did you predict you would find supported in your research?

I was flabbergasted at Huey’s raw brilliance. The national press and other biographers like to portray him as a buffoon, and even Huey himself liked the clownish self-image, but such was far from the real Kingfish. He was the shrewdest, most power-hungry politician I have ever studied.