"Share Our Wealth" vs. "Every Man a King"

The title of Long's speech comes from a phrase that Long borrowed from William Jennings Bryan's "Against Imperialism" speech made on August 8, 1900. Bryan phrased it a little differently: in the last section of the speech, he drops this line on his audience: "…a republic in which every citizen is a sovereign, but in which no one cares to wear a crown" (source).

Bryan had been the last great populist in America, though he died in 1925 just as Long was really starting to get his political ducks in a row. Bryan had been many things in his career, but being a staunch defender of the common man was the one thing common to much of his political activity. Couple that with a fairly strong religious streak that won Bryan both many supporters and haters, and you can see how this sort of person would appeal to Long.

There's actually some disagreement over the title of Long's speech. Some people call it the "Share Our Wealth" speech; others insist that that was the title of a speech he gave a few months later and this was the "Every Man a King" speech. To cut through the confusion we've opted to call it the "Every Man a King" speech, both because of the prominence of that message and because, well, it's a cooler title anyway.