The Kingfish and the Constitution - (Contributions in Political Science) by Richard Cortner (Hardcover)

About the Book

The Kingfish and the Constitution is an in-depth analysis of the poisonous relationship that evolved between Huey Kingfish Long, legendary governor of Louisiana, and the state's daily newspapers. Long's political battle over the newspaper tax in the Louisiana legislature in 1934 and the subsequent battle over the constitutionality of his attempt at censorship by taxation culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Grosjean v. American Press Co. in 1936, a landmark decision that laid the basis for the protection of modern freedom of the press in America. This fascinating study will be of interest to scholars and students of political science, constitutional law, and American history.

Book Synopsis

The Kingfish and the Constitution is an in-depth analysis of the poisonous relationship that evolved between Huey Kingfish Long, legendary governor of Louisiana, and the state's daily newspapers. Long's political battle over the newspaper tax in the Louisiana legislature in 1934 and the subsequent battle over the constitutionality of his attempt at censorship by taxation culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Grosjean v. American Press Co. in 1936, a landmark decision that laid the basis for the protection of modern freedom of the press in America. This fascinating study will be of interest to scholars and students of political science, constitutional law, and American history.

Review Quotes

?Franklin Roosevelt considered Huey Long one of the two most dangerous men in the US (Douglas MacArthur was the other). In this volume, Cortner (political science, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson) concentrates on Long's assault on freedom of the press between 1928--when he successfully ran for governor of Louisiana--until his death in 1935. ...this well-written and interesting book about an important First Amendment battle merits collection by academic and public libraries.?-Choice

"Franklin Roosevelt considered Huey Long one of the two most dangerous men in the US (Douglas MacArthur was the other). In this volume, Cortner (political science, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson) concentrates on Long's assault on freedom of the press between 1928--when he successfully ran for governor of Louisiana--until his death in 1935. ...this well-written and interesting book about an important First Amendment battle merits collection by academic and public libraries."-Choice

About the Author

RICHARD C. CORTNER is Professor of Political Science at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He is the author of eleven books, including most recently, The Iron Horse and the Constitution: The Railroads and the Transformation of the Fourteenth Amendment (Greenwood, 1993).