The Assasination of Huey Long

Huey Long, nicknamed the “Kingfish”, was a politician from Louisiana who had an interesting and tumultuous political career that culminated in his assassination attempt on September 8, 1935 and subsequent death two days later on September 10th. The book The Huey Long Murder Case by Hermann Deutsch provides a good description of the events surrounding his assassination before, during, and after. Deutsch explains Long's political career, his views, and his popularity with the people of Louisiana and the media. He also examines the assassination, the subsequent surgery, the aftermath, and the motive of the killer. His analysis makes this assassination and the events surrounding it very clear.
Huey Long's political career was something of great interest to many people in the United States. He began his political career as a member of the railroad commission and was eventually elected as governor of Louisiana in 1928. As governor he attacked the Standard Oil Company and was a huge proponent of taxation for big business. He proposed free books for all school children in both public schools and even catholic parochial schools. His wealth sharing mentality however was not always viewed very favorably by other politicians. The House of Representatives attempted to impeach Long on nine counts but the charges were dropped after the Senate did not receive the two-thirds majority that it needed to remove Long from office. His work as a “man of the people” garnered a lot of popular support for him and his philosophies that would benefit his career in the future.
In 1932 Huey Long ran for a Senate seat in Louisiana. Once elected to the Senate he developed a plan for the economic status of the country after the Great Depression which was called “Share Our Wealth”. The “Share Our Wealth” plan calls for a redistribution of the wealth in the country evenly to everyone and calls for taxation of big business. This plan strictly opposed Franklin Delano Roosevelt's “New Deal” and