On this day in 1935, a Sunday, Sen. Huey Long was shot in the Louisiana state Capitol by the son-in-law of a political enemy. He died about 30 hours later at age 42. News of Long’s death made headlines around the world. Some 200,000 mourners flocked to Baton Rouge for the funeral.

Branded a demagogue by his critics, Long was a larger-than-life figure who boasted that he bought legislators “like sacks of potatoes, shuffled them like a deck of cards.” He dubbed himself “The Kingfish,” saying: “I’m a small fish here in Washington. But I’m the Kingfish to the folks down in Louisiana.”

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In 1930, the Democrat won a U.S. Senate seat, but he declined to serve until his handpicked successor also won the governor’s seat in 1932. In that presidential election year, Long backed Franklin D. Roosevelt for the White House, four years after being elected as Louisiana’s youngest governor at age 34. As governor, Long implemented his populist platform, even as his political enemies sought to impeach him. He abolished the state’s poll tax and gave away free textbooks to every student. His motto was “Every Man a King.”

Harboring his designs on the presidency, Long soon denounced FDR. In response, many of his former allies in the Louisiana Legislature turned against him. Seeking to retain power, Long engineered legislation that gave him control over the appointment of every public position in the state, including policemen and school teachers.

Long was shot a month after announcing he would run for president in 1936. He was at the Capitol building attempting to oust a longtime opponent Judge Benjamin Henry Pavy. “House Bill Number One,” a re-redistricting plan, became Long's top priority; if it passed, Judge Pavy would be removed from the bench.

At 9:20 p.m., moments after the House passed the bill, Pavy's son-in-law, Dr. Carl Weiss, a physician from Baton Rouge, approached him in the Capitol’s main hall and shot him in the abdomen from four feet away., Long’s bodyguards immediately gunned down Weiss. Long was rushed to a nearby hospital, where emergency surgery failed to stop his internal bleeding. His last words were, “God, don’t let me die. I have so much to do.”

Gerald L. K. Smith, co-founder of Share Our Wealth and subsequently of the America First Party, presided over the rites, Newsreel cameras clicked while airplanes circled overhead to record the service.

Long's autobiography, “Every Man a King,” had been published in 1933 and priced to be affordable by poor people. In his book, Long laid out his plan to redistribute the nation’s wealth. His second book, “My First Days in the White House,” was published posthumously. In it he describes his 1936 presidential ambitions.

Long's birthday, Aug. 30, remained a paid holiday in Louisiana from 1936 through 1971. Democratic Gov. Edwin Edwards ended this practice when he took office in 1972.

SOURCE: WWW.HUEYLONG.COM