On September 8, 1935, Huey Long, a United States senator and former Louisiana governor, was fatally shot in a back corridor of the Louisiana state capitol. Although the most widely accepted theory holds that Dr. Carl Weiss, son-in-law of Long's political opponent Judge Benjamin Henry Pavy, was responsible, the assassination remains one of the most debated events in American political history. In Killing the Kingfish: The Huey Long Assassination, author Jack B. McGuire offers a comprehensive and revelatory examination of what really happened that night. Killing the Kingfish explores critical incidents leading up to the assassination, including Long's investigation of a murder plot in early 1935 and his battles with Judge Pavy. These events, often overlooked by other historians, are crucial to understanding the volatile climate that surrounded Long's leadership. The volume also presents previously undisclosed information, including secret state investigative files that have never been made public-until now. McGuire uncovers secret plots to assassinate Long, some involving local political figures and law enforcement officials. He details planned attempts on Long's life originating from influential factions in Louisiana. McGuire's findings suggest that, had Long not been killed when he was, an ambush would likely have occurred within weeks. McGuire's scholarship not only corrects the historical record but also offers essential insights into the dangerous political landscape of 1930s Louisiana. Incorporating rare investigative materials, Killing the Kingfish will be an invaluable resource for scholars and readers interested in the true story behind Huey Long's tragic end.
Jack B. McGuire served as special assistant to the mayor of New Orleans, press secretary to the mayor, and director of public relations from 1964 to 1970 as well as a councilman-at-large for the city of Mandeville from 1984 to 2000. For over forty years he was an officer of Union Savings and Loan Association in New Orleans. He is author of Win the Race or Die Trying: Uncle Earl's Last Hurrah and coauthor (with Walter Greaves Cowan) of Louisiana Governors, both published by University Press of Mississippi.
Contents Acknowledgments 1. The Kingfish 2. Hatred of Huey and His Regime 3. The Bodyguards 4. Confrontations and Altercations 5. The Square Deal Revolt 6. Dictator Laws 7. The Desoto Hotel Conference 8. The Pavy-Long Battle in St. Landry Parish 9. The Gerrymander 10. Carl's Hatred of Huey 11. The Racial Slur 12. The Shooting 13. The Inquest 14. The Bodyguards Defend Themselves 15. Justice Fournet's Stories About the Shooting 16. The Death of the Kingfish, by Richard Briley (1960) 251 17. The Huey Long Murder Case, by Herman Deutsch (1963) 18. The Day Huey Long Was Shot, by David Zinman (1963) 19. Dr. T. Harry Williams Reviews Deutsch and Zinman (1963) 20. Requiem for a Kingfish: The Strange and Unexplained Death of Huey Long, by Ed Reed (1986) 21. The Mortician's Tale 22. Ed Reed's Conclusions 23. The FBI and the Shooting 24. Russell Long Meets with the Doctors Weiss 25. The Exhumation, Gun, and Guerre Papers 26. The Louisiana State Police Final Investigative Report (1992) 27. The Huey P. Long Assassination Collection at the State Archives 28. The Guerre Papers and Murder Plots 29. Guerre's Investigative Files from the McGuire Collection 30. Huey At 100: Centennial Essays on Huey Long (1993) 31. The Grevemberg Affidavit (1993) 32. Accident and Deception: The Huey Long Shooting, by Dr. Donald A. Pavy (1999) 33. A Voice for the Dead, by Dr. James Starrs (2005) 34. The Huey Long Symposium (2010) 35. The Debate Over What Happened Has Continued 36. The Author's Conclusions The Guerre Papers and the Gun The Grevemberg Affidavit Huey's Cut Lip One Shot Huey Could Not Have Been Shot by a Bodyguard Weiss's Gun Was Not "Planted" at the Scene The Inquest Weiss's Normal Day Sunday The Racial Slur Weiss Distressed by Long Dictatorship Weiss's Motives Final Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index
"Killing the Kingfish is the definitive, most authoritative account of Huey Long's assassination and its aftermath. No historian has approached this topic with greater care, knowledge of Louisiana political history, and a better, more dispassionate command of the facts than Jack McGuire." - Robert Mann, author of Kingfish U: Huey Long and LSU
