In the crowded gymnasium of Louisiana State University in booming Baton Rouge, Louisiana's State Democratic Convention, its first in twelve years, came awkwardly to order. The night was hot; beads of sweat stood out on Senator Allen ("Little Bull") Ellender's flushed and angry features.
It had been a bad week for the Senator. A longtime Huey Long ally, a Th'rd-Termer, a filibusterer, an energetic retimes embarrassing Administration supporter ("I want to help Mr. Roosevelt do the same things for the nation that Huey did for Louisiana"), Senator Ellender kept right on doing business at the old stand. He fought Sam...