About Oscar Kelly Allen
Oscar Kelly Allen, Sr. (August 8, 1882 – January 28, 1936), also known as O. K. Allen, was the 42nd Governor of Louisiana from 1932 to 1936. He was a key lieutenant in the political machine of Huey Pierce Long, Jr., that dominated the state during the first half of the 1930s. Allen succeeded Alvin Olin King, who served briefly in the state's highest office after Long left the governorship to take a seat in the United States Senate.
Allen took an early, active interest in politics and civic affairs. He was elected tax assessor in Winn Parish and served from 1916-1920. He was the clerk of the Winn Parish Police Jury (equivalent of county commission in other states) from 1924-1927. He was elected to the Louisiana state Senate in 1928 in the wake of Long's landslide victory in the gubernatorial election. He defeated the anti-Long incumbent, Henry E. Hardtner of La Salle Parish, who was also a former Republican. Allen was Long's floor leader in the Senate and was named by the governor as the chairman of the Louisiana Highway Commission from 1928 until 1930, when the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that holding both legislative and executive positions simultaneously was unconstitutional.
Allen was elected governor in the shadow of Huey Long, who had relocated to Washington, D.C., to assume his senatorial duties. Allen merely served as an instrument to carry through Long's wishes; there is one story, undoubtedly false but valuable for the perception of Allen that it demonstrates, that a leaf blew into Allen's office one day and that he signed it, thinking it was legislation from Long.
Elected with Allen was Huey Long's choice for lieutenant governor, John B. Fournet of Jefferson Davis Parish. Fournet actually defeated Long's younger brother, Earl Kemp Long, who had the support of most Long family members despite Huey's support for Fournet.