Huey Long

Huey Pierce Long (August 30, 1893 – September 10, 1935), known as "The Kingfish," was an American politician of the Democratic Party; he was governor of Louisiana (1928–1932), Senator (1932–1935) and a presidential hopeful before his assassination. He was a populist whose controversial governing style brought allegations of dictatorial tendencies quite unprecedented in modern American politics.

Assassination and legacy

On September 8, 1935, Huey Long was apparently shot once by Carl Weiss in the Capitol building at Baton Rouge. Weiss was immediately shot dead by Long's bodyguards. The walls of the capitol hallway are still nicked from the bullets fired in the shootout. Weiss was the son-in-law of Judge Benjamin Pavy, a long-time political opponent of Long. Long died two days later from internal bleeding following an incompetent attempt to close the wounds by Dr. Arthur Vidrine. Some say that Huey should have recovered from the wounds, and that his doctors killed him. According to his sister, Lucille Long Hunt, his last words were: "Don't let me die, I have got so much to do."

Related Topics:
September 8 - 1935 - Carl Weiss - Baton Rouge - Bodyguard - Benjamin Pavy - Arthur Vidrine

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Persistent rumors allege that Weiss actually had no gun and only struck Long with his hand, and Long was accidentally shot by his own guards when they opened fire on Weiss http://home.flash.net/~manniac/hueylong.htm. These rumors are supported by several witnesses and the fact that Long had a bruised lip when he went in for surgery. Other theories hold that Long's assassination was arranged to prevent him from winning the presidency in 1936, either from within the Democratic Party or as a third party candidate backed by the Share Our Wealth organization. It was widely understood that Long's populist progressive policies had earned him many powerful enemies who would not have wanted him to become president http://www.lewrockwell.com/wall/wall19.html. Two months prior to his death, in July 1935, Long had claimed that he had uncovered a plot to assassinate him http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAlongH.htm.

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Huey's brother, Earl Long, was elected governor of Louisiana on three occasions. Huey Long's wife, Rose McConnell Long, was appointed to replace him in the Senate, and his son Russell B. Long was elected to the Senate in 1948, serving from 1949 until his retirement in 1987.

Related Topics:
Earl Long - Rose McConnell Long - Russell B. Long

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Long's first autobiography, Every Man a King was published in 1933. His second book, My First Days in the White House, was published posthumously. It emphatically layed out his presidential ambitions for the election of 1936 http://www.ssa.gov/history/hueywhouse.html.

Related Topics:
Every Man a King - 1933 - My First Days in the White House

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