The grandson of the alleged assassin of Huey Long is a Dr in my hometown...

[Dennis Donovan]

I just watched Ken Burns' excellent documentary on the late Senator Huey Long (D-LA) and the name of his alleged assassin struck me as familiar, Dr Carl A Weiss:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Weiss


It then hit me like a ton of bricks - not only is his namesake grandson a Dr in my homeotwn, he's also a client of the company I work for! I won't post more info about Dr Weiss III, but I found this fascinating. I also thought, by posting this on DU, I might stir discussion on Huey Long and his legacies...

So DU, what is your opinion of Huey Long and/or his son Russell Long?

[The Magistrate]

1. Rather Fond Of The Kingfish, Sir....

"Don't write what you can phone; don't phone what you can say; don't say what you can nod; don't nod what you can smile; don't smile what you can wink."

[rampart]

2. the kingfish was to the populist left of fdr

and could very well have become president.

can you imagine what today's "conservatives" would say about a candidate who promised "a chicken in every pot?"

[The Magistrate]

3. Or Who Crusaded Against Big Business, Sir, And Got Huge Vote Totals For It...At The South....

[Mimosa]

4. Exactly right.

Interesting how leftwingers in this country die, isn't it?

[Dennis Donovan]

5. He's quite a paradoxical figure...

He felt a genuine need to help the poor but possessed a lust for absolute power.

[Demoiselle]

6. All I know is what I read (novels, history) and I kinda like the Kingfish.

A powerful Populist, and yeah, I suppose he had some naughties in his history...but show me a powerful politician who doesn't.
As long as power is gonna corrupt anyway, I like em when they're corrupted on our side. Maybe the bottom line for Huey was that he kept FDR pushed to the left.
I have a question too. When did "Populist" become a dirty word with the chattering classes"?

[OHdem10]

10. Leaders were frightened by the power Huey could acauire.

Populism has been discouraged since the days of Huey Long.

There was some dark populism--which continues and is practiced
by Republicans.

Funny, how the dark populism persists.

[gratuitous]

7. An interesting anecdote from his days as governor

Roads were just beginning to be paved in the 1920s for the growing use of the automobile by the citizenry. Louisianans, then as now taxophobic, would never go for an ambitious road program since dirt had served so well for many centuries.

Somehow, some money got appropriated to pave a certain amount of roadway, and many of Long's advisors said they should pave the road from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Other advisors, currying favor with Long, said the road from Baton Rouge to Huey's hometown (whose name escapes me, but think East Bumblefuck) should be the one paved. Long invited all the partisans to his office to thrash it out.

While the discussion was going on, and getting increasingly heated, Long grabbed a map of the state and started marking it up with a red pencil. Finally, he interrupted the proceedings and declared that his plan was laid out on the map. Long proposed paving roads between small towns, and little stretches here and there all over the state, some just a few hundred yards. His plan was pretty smart: Give everyone in the state a little taste of paved roads, and soon the populace would postively clamor to tax themselves to pave more.

[blm]

8. My friend (who was also my neighbor) wrote a book and a play about it....

>>>>
And so what are we left with?" said David Zinman, a reporter and author of the book, "The Day Huey Long Was Shot." "In essence, beyond the testimony at the inquest, which is clouded by the fact that it comes from men who are part and parcel of the Long political machine or by guards who vindicate themselves by naming Weiss, there still is only speculation."

Zinman, who spoke recently as a Baton Rouge symposium on the Long assassination, began his investigations of the Long shooting in 1960 and he still is unable to reach a conclusive verdict about what happened.

"And so the shooting -- cloaked in secrecy, never fully investigated, confused by conflicting details -- continues to spawn a host of intriguing puzzles," Zinman said. "With all the participants and eyewitnesses now in their graves, what really happened in that narrow back corridor of the state capitol will probably remain one of Louisiana's enduring mysteries."

[Dennis Donovan]

9. Long's autopsy showed bullet wounds of a caliber from a gun not possessed by Dr Weiss...

...but matched the caliber of weapons carried by his bodyguards. From what I understand, Dr Weiss had a gun with him, but likely didn't fire the fatal shot (or any shots, for that matter).

[blm]

12. David Zinman doesn't believe Weiss killed Long.

That's about all I can say...I did see his play shortly after he wrote it...and stayed for the question-answer period.

[TexasObserver]

15. Indeed. It was shots by his guards which almost certainly killed him.

We don't really know why or how that happened. We know what we were told, but as others have stated, it was not fully investigated, and those who probably killed him (although perhaps accidently) had reason to shade the truth.

[Rhiannon12866]

11. K&R. Interesting post...

However, I'm wondering how you'll manage to bring this up with the local doctor... ;)

[Dennis Donovan]

13. Kick for the morning crowd

[TexasObserver]

14. Huey Long was the real deal. Recommend T. Harry Williams' book.

The late, great professor, T. Harry Williams, wrote the definitive book on Huey Long - essential reading to understanding Huey Long.

Huey Long
by T. Harry Williams