Key Terms You Must Know

📖 Key Terms You Must Know

Huey Long

Democratic senator from Louisiana, known as "The Kingfish." Proposed the "Share Our Wealth" scheme — cap personal fortunes at $5 million, guarantee every family a minimum income of $2,000 per year and a $5,000 home purchase grant. Had 7.5 million supporters by 1935. Assassinated in September 1935 before he could mount a presidential challenge. His death removed FDR's most dangerous political rival from the left.

Father Coughlin

Catholic priest from Michigan with a weekly radio audience of 30 million — the most listened-to radio broadcast in America. Initially supported FDR but turned against him in 1934, claiming the New Deal served bankers rather than workers. His views became increasingly anti-Semitic and extreme. His programme was cancelled in 1940 after he began supporting European fascism. Shows how radio could spread opposition at a mass scale.

American Liberty League (1934)

Organisation funded by wealthy businessmen and Republican politicians to oppose the New Deal. Argued that FDR was violating the Constitution by expanding federal power. Described itself as defending "liberty" and free enterprise. Critics said it was defending the interests of the rich against measures that helped the poor. Spent $1.2 million on anti-New Deal propaganda in 1936 — but FDR still won in a landslide.

Court packing plan (1937)

FDR's proposal to add one new Supreme Court justice for every existing justice over the age of 70, up to a maximum of six new appointments. His aim was to create a majority sympathetic to the New Deal. Congress rejected the plan — even Democrats opposed it, seeing it as a threat to the independence of the judiciary. The plan's failure damaged FDR's political authority, even though the Court became more favourable over time as older justices retired.

Dr Francis Townsend

Californian doctor who proposed the "Townsend Plan" — a $200 per month pension for every American over 60, funded by a national sales tax. The plan was economically unworkable (it would have cost a third of the entire US national income), but it had 5 million supporters and put pressure on FDR to introduce some form of pension. The Social Security Act (1935) was partly a response to this pressure, though its pensions were far more modest than Townsend proposed.

Share Our Wealth

Huey Long's radical wealth redistribution scheme, launched in 1934. No personal fortune above $5 million. Guaranteed annual income of $2,000 per family. Free education. Shorter working hours. Long argued that concentration of wealth in the hands of a few was the root cause of the Depression, and that redistributing it would create economic recovery. Mainstream economists disagreed with his analysis, but millions of poor Americans found it compelling.