The Complicated Facts Behind the Killing of Progressive Huey Long

Louisiana senator and aspiring presidential candidate Huey Long.

Louisiana Senator Huey Long intended to run for president in 1936, and he stood a chance to unseat FDR. His “Share Our Wealth Program” was such a radical redistribution of wealth it made the New Deal appear conservative in comparison.

Tensions ran high in Louisiana in 1935. Like FDR, Long was labeled a Communist and dictator by the far-right for “forcing” his social agenda on Americans against their will, which many believed violated the Constitution and was a disregard for self-determination.

On September 8, 1935, Huey Long was in the State Capitol in Baton Rouge, surrounded by bodyguards, when he was approached by Dr. Carl Weiss, a young physician with a wife and small child at home.

The official story was that Weiss pulled out a handgun and shot Long, who died two days later.

Bodyguards shot and killed Weiss instantly, but questions remained, for there was an allegation that Weiss did not actually shoot Long.

And the mild-mannered Weiss? He had his own story to tell.

A Legacy of Political Feuds and Racist Allegations

Weiss was the son-in-law of Benjamin Pavy, a one-time district judge who served St. Landry Parish for 25 years. Years before, Pavy had threatened to arrest Long’s poll workers so that Pavy’s brother would win the district’s seat in the Louisiana house.

In retaliation, Long resurrected a 1910 allegation that Pavy’s father-in-law had fathered numerous children with a black mistress. It was a charge that could destroy a man’s career in the racist South of the 1930s.

By 1935, Pavy’s daughter, Dr. Weiss’ wife, had given birth to a son who, potentially, had black blood running through his veins.

Some believed this was sufficient motive for Weiss to kill Long.

The Square Deal Association Steps In?

Weiss was also rumored to be part of the Square Deal Association, a paramilitary group formed in 1935 to stop Long’s radical left-wing policies.

Its members included a former Louisiana governor, and the mayor of New Orleans. They were also affiliated with white supremacist groups and likened their movement to the 1874 uprising that pitted racist hate groups against Louisiana’s Reconstruction government.

That January, the Square Deal militia forcibly took over the courthouse in Baton Rouge until the National Guard defused the tense situation. If this reminds readers of the January 6th attempt to take over the U.S. capitol, it should. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

After the courthouse occupation, there were death threats against Long, and a drive-by shooting attempt.

Was Dr. Weiss part of the Square Deal Association?

This is unknown.

However, his funeral was attended by many Square Deal members, making it the largest service ever held for an accused political assassin in the history of the United States.

~

The decades leading up to the assassination of John F. Kennedy were rife with political and extra-legal machinations like the assassination of Huey Long. To read more, check out my book It Did Not Start With JFK.