Blanche Long
{{Short description|First Lady of Louisiana from 1939 to 1940, 1948 to 1952, and 1956 to 1960}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Blanche Long
| image =
| office1 = Member of the Louisiana Tax Commission
| governor1 = John McKeithen
Edwin Edwards
| term_start1 = May 20, 1964
| term_end1 = December 24, 1976
| predecessor1 = Charles Porpora
| successor1 = Jamar Adcock
| office2 = First Lady of Louisiana
| term_label2 = In role
| term_start2 = May 8, 1956
| term_end2 = May 10, 1960
| governor2 = Earl Long
| predecessor2 = Eugenia Kennon
| successor2 = Alvern Davis
| term_label3 = In role
| term_start3 = May 11, 1948
| term_end3 = May 13, 1952
| governor3 = Earl Long
| predecessor3 = Alvern Davis
| successor3 = Eugenia Kennon
| term_label4 = In role
| term_start4 = June 26, 1939
| term_end4 = May 14, 1940
| governor4 = Earl Long
| predecessor4 = Elton Leche
| successor4 = Louise Jones
| birth_name = Blanche Beulah Revere
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1902|12|17}}
| birth_place = Covington, Louisiana, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1998|05|11|1902|12|17}}
| death_place = Covington, Louisiana, U.S.
| party = Democratic
| spouse = {{marriage|Earl Long|1932|5 September 1960|reason=died}}
| children =
| parents = {{plainlist|
- Robert H. Revere
- Beulah Talley
}}
| relatives =
| education =
| occupation =
}}
Blanche Beulah Revere Long ({{nee}} Revere; December 17, 1902 – May 11, 1998) was the first lady of the state of Louisiana, serving three nonconsecutive terms.
Raised in New Orleans, she married Earl Long in 1932 and was active in his successful bids for lieutenant governor and governor of Louisiana. She was the first lady of Louisiana from 1939 to 1940, 1948–1952, and 1956–1960. In 1959, after Earl's increasingly erratic behavior including a highly publicized affair with stripper Blaze Starr, Blanche attempted to have him involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital, but failed when he used the governor's authority to dismiss the hospital's administrator.
After Earl's death in 1960, Blanche Long remained active in Louisiana politics. She was the campaign manager for John McKeithen's successful 1964 gubernatorial campaign, and served on the Louisiana Tax Commission from 1964 to 1976.
Early life and education
Blanche Beulah Revere was born on December 17, 1902, in Covington, Louisiana.{{cite web |title=Blanche Long |url=http://ladigitalmedia.org/video_v2/asset-detail/OH-0033 |website=Louisiana Digital Media Archive |publisher=Louisiana State Archives |access-date=January 15, 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Thomas |first1=Robert McG. Jr. |title=Blanche Revere Long, 93, Louisiana Legend |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/18/us/blanche-revere-long-93-louisiana-legend.html |access-date=January 15, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=May 18, 1998}} She was the second daughter of Robert H. Revere and Beulah Revere ({{nee}} Talley).{{cite news |title=Earl K. Long's widow dead at 96 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/218484713/ |access-date=January 15, 2021 |work=The Town Talk |agency=Associated Press |page=30 |date=May 15, 1998}} When Revere was two years old, her family moved to New Orleans, where she spent most of her early life.{{cite journal |last1=Peoples |first1=Morgan D |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4231630 |title=Earl Kemp Long: The Man from Pea Patch Farm |journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=365–392 |year=1976|jstor=4231630 }}
Revere attended Tulane University for three years, studying psychology and commercial law, before switching to secretarial school at Soule Business College. Upon graduation, she worked as a secretary to the president of an electric company.{{cite news |last1=Owens |first1=Jack |title=Gov. Long Files a Separation Suit Against Wife of 27 Years |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/213019098/ |access-date=January 15, 2021 |work=Alexandria Daily Town Talk |agency=Associated Press |page=5 |date=June 26, 1959}}
Revere met attorney Earl Kemp Long, brother of then-governor of Louisiana Huey Long, in 1928.{{sfn|Vetter|1995|p=26}} They were married in Estes Park, Colorado on August 17, 1932, at the home of Long's sister, Callie.
First Lady of Louisiana
=Involvement in Earl Long's campaigns=
Long had little interest in politics before meeting her future husband but eventually came to enjoy it, according to John Hunt, a nephew of Earl. She managed his state headquarters and campaigned at his side during his successful run for lieutenant governor of Louisiana in 1936.{{sfn|Vetter|1995|p=26}} Long assumed the role of First Lady of Louisiana when Governor Richard W. Leche resigned.
=Hospitalization of Earl Long=
Earl Long became increasingly erratic during his last term as governor (1956–1960), including compulsive betting on horse races and beginning a highly publicized affair with Blaze Starr, a 26-year-old stripper. In May 1959, Blanche Long, with the help of Earl's nephew, U.S. Senator Russell B. Long, had Earl flown to Galveston, Texas to be committed to a psychiatric hospital. In a compromise, Earl agreed to seek treatment at a psychiatric hospital in New Orleans, but voluntarily left one day after he checked in. Blanche then arranged to have Earl involuntarily committed to Southeast Louisiana Hospital, but Earl fired the hospital's administrator and replaced him with a new one who released him.{{cite magazine |title=Louisiana: The Governor Goes Home |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,864649,00.html |access-date=January 16, 2021 |magazine=Time |date=June 29, 1959}}
Earl filed a separation suit against Blanche in June 1959; he died the following year shortly after his election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Later life
=1964 Louisiana gubernatorial election=
She was the campaign manager for John McKeithen's successful 1964 bid for governor of Louisiana. McKeithen had been the state house floor manager for Earl Long from 1948 to 1952.{{sfn|Hansen|Hirano|Snyder Jr|2017|p=181}} After he became governor, McKeithen named Long as chairwoman of the Louisiana Tax Commission. In the Democratic primary, he defeated Gillis Long, who was distantly related to Earl Long and was backed by U.S. Senator Russell Long, Earl's nephew. During the campaign, Blanche predicted that McKeithen would "make an Earl Long-type Governor because he believes in the same philosophy."{{cite news |title=McKeithen Wins Louisiana Runoff |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/109039365/ |access-date=January 15, 2021 |work=The Courier-Journal |agency=Associated Press |page=29 |date=January 12, 1964}}
=Louisiana tax commissioner=
After winning the gubernatorial election, McKeithen appointed Long to the three-member Louisiana Tax Commission to fill the remainder of Charles Porpora's term after Porpora's resignation. She was confirmed by the Louisiana State Senate on May 20, 1964.{{cite news |title=Blanche Long On Tax Commission |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/470089004/ |access-date=January 16, 2021 |work=Crowley Post-Signal |agency=United Press International |page=1 |date=May 21, 1964}} In January 1965, Long was appointed to a full six-year term on the commission.{{cite news |title=Blanche Long Appointed to Tax Commission |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/227883475/ |access-date=January 16, 2021 |work=Daily World |agency=United Press International |page=7 |date=January 6, 1965}} She was reappointed by McKeithen to another term in 1971.{{cite news |title=Second Tax Term For Blanche Long |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/470708256/ |access-date=January 16, 2021 |work=The Crowley Post-Signal |agency=United Press International |page=2 |date=January 12, 1971}} She served until 1976; governor Edwin Edwards appointed Jamar Adcock to succeed her.{{cite news |title=Adcock Back |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/476141633/ |access-date=January 16, 2021 |work=Ville Platte Gazette |date=December 30, 1976}}
=Death=
Long died on May 11, 1998, at a nursing home in Covington, Louisiana.
References
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4xpUUrRYeG4C |last=Vetter |first=Cyril E |title=Fonville Winans' Louisiana: Politics, People, and Places |publisher=LSU Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-8071-1990-7}}
- {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xbYtDQAAQBAJ |last1=Hansen |first1=John Mark |last2=Hirano |first2=Shigeo |last3=Snyder Jr |first3=James M |editor1-last=Gerber |editor1-first=Alan S |editor2-last=Schickler |editor2-first=Eric |title=Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-1070-9509-0 |chapter=Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900–1980}}
{{refend}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Blanche}}
Category:20th-century American women politicians
Category:American campaign managers
Category:First ladies and gentlemen of Louisiana
Category:People from Covington, Louisiana