Huey Long Captivated Audiences

Huey Long's Assassination and Political Alienation

Huey Long, the Louisiana Kingfish, ruthlessly eliminated political opposition and used patronage to solidify his political machine in Louisiana.

May 15, 2010 Michael Streich

Huey Long, the Louisiana Kingfish, ruthlessly eliminated political opposition and used patronage to solidify his political machine in Louisiana.

On September 8, 1935, a young man stepped from behind a column in the Baton Rouge capital building pointing a .38 caliber revolver at Louisiana Senator Huey Long. What happened next is a mystery. The assailant, Dr. Carl Weiss, was riddled with bullets from Long’s body guards. His body had been hit with 61 bullets. Long, who received one shot to his abdomen, died following a failed operation. Speculation still exists if Dr. Weiss actually discharged his gun, or if Long had been assassinated by a stay bullet that ricocheted off the marble columns. Long, the self-styled “Kingfish,” was dead and would pose no threat as a third party candidate against President Roosevelt in the election of 1936.

The Rise of Huey Long in Louisiana

Huey Long came from a poor family and grew up in a parish (or county) that had a reputation for challenging the status quo. By the time he became governor at age 34, he was, according to historical writer Jack Pearl, the “supreme dictator of Louisiana.” University of Texas historian Lewis L. Gould agrees, referring to Long as “virtual dictator.” Long’s political machine controlled the politics of the state through patronage and Long himself was ruthless in his actions toward enemies.

Carl Weiss, Long’s assassin, had good reason to hate the man. His father-in-law, a judge, had been ruined by Long, his reputation falsely impugned. Weiss’ wife had become depressed over the affair and their children were treated as outcasts. But given Huey Long’s reputation, Weiss was viewed sympathetically after his assassination of the demagogue. This was particularly true of the Louisiana wealthy class. As governor, Long “taxed the rich practically into extinction,” according to Pearl.

Huey Long, FDR, and the U.S. Senate

Senator Long was a firebrand on Capital Hill. Labor Secretary Frances Perkins recalls how Senator Long held up an appropriations bill to fund the newly created Social Security system with a 19-hour filibuster at the moment Congress was set to adjourn. His “Share the Wealth” redistribution proposal, though completely unworkable, was embraced by millions of poor and unemployed Americans, particularly at a time the New Deal seemed to be foundering.

Long cared nothing for Senate protocols. He took on Senate leaders, like Arkansas Senator Joseph Robinson, and helped elect Hattie Caraway to the U.S. Senate in 1932, directly challenging Robinson’s state political machine. This action demonstrated very clearly Long’s ability to defeat the political machines of Southern state politics as well as the leaders of those machines. FDR, always wary of Long, knew that he needed the support of those Southern political bosses to pass New Deal measures. Huey Long was a threat.

Long, who had cautiously supported FDR in 1932, had become an adversary by 1935. Long saw himself as a future president and curried the favor of those that had not benefited from the New Deal. Historian Albert Fried writes that Long became a “militant advocate” for “Labor, the unemployed, small farmers and businessmen, the poor…” Long proposed a redistribution of wealth This included the government confiscation of personal wealth over $2 million and the distribution of $5,000 payments to every family in America.

The Death of Huey Long

Ironically, Huey Long, according to Pearl, was obsessed “with the subject of assassination.” He was always surrounded by body guards, many of them common thugs. At the time Weiss confronted Long, one of those body guards actually used a machine gun.

Even if assassination had not ended the career of a corrupt and self-absorbed politician, the government might have. The same Treasury agent who had brought down Al Capone in 1931 was investigating the Long machine in Louisiana. Ultimately, numerous cronies would be brought to justice. It was the one reliable tool FDR’s justice department could level against the Kingfish. For Huey Long, it was only a matter of time.

References:

• Albert Fried, FDR And His Enemies (Palgrave for St. Martin’s Griffin, 1999)
• Lewis L. Gould, The Most Exclusive Club: A History of the Modern United States Senate (Basic Books, 2005)
• Robert Mann, Legacy of Power: Senator Russell Long of Louisiana (Paragon House, 1992) [Senator Russell Long was the son of Huey Long – see Chapter One]
• Jack Pearl, The Dangerous Assassins (Derby, CT: Monarch Books, Inc., 1964)
• Frances Perkins, The Roosevelt I Knew (NY: Viking Press, 1946)

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