Assassination of Huey Long

Background

At the time, Huey Long was listed as sitting senator / active candidate. The record is categorized as successful assassination with a high confidence level.

Event details

The reported method was shooting. Successful; Long was shot on September 8 and died on September 10, 1935.

Aftermath

Long was shot in the corridor of the Louisiana State Capitol on the evening of September 8 and died two days later on September 10, 1935, following emergency surgery. Carl Weiss was instantly shot dead by Long's bodyguards, who fired more than 60 bullets into him; whether Weiss intentionally shot Long or was merely striking him when the guards opened fire remains disputed by historians and forensic investigators. Because Weiss died at the scene, there was no trial, and the exact motive was never established—political and personal grievances against Long were widely theorized, including the claim that Long intended to destroy Weiss's father-in-law politically. Long's death removed one of the era's most formidable political figures from the stage just as he was positioning himself as a potential presidential challenger to Franklin Roosevelt. Louisiana politics remained turbulent in the years that followed, with Long's political organization continuing under his brother Earl.

Historical significance

Long's assassination removed from American politics one of the most volatile and consequential figures of the 20th century. His populist 'Share Our Wealth' movement had enrolled millions of followers, and historians have long debated whether he would have challenged Franklin Roosevelt for the 1936 Democratic nomination or launched a third-party bid. His death foreclosed what might have been the most dramatic confrontation in the history of American progressive politics. The killing also inspired Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel All the King's Men (1946), ensuring Long's legend endured in American literature. The unresolved question of whether Dr. Carl Weiss actually fired a shot—or merely struck Long before being killed by overzealous bodyguards—remains one of the great forensic mysteries of modern American political history.

Sources

• Assassination of Huey Long — Wikipedia contributors
• All the King's Men — Wikipedia contributors
• List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots — Wikipedia contributors