by Jack Martin
Earl Long (1895-1960) - Earl Long probably suffered from bipolar disorder, a disease largely untreatable during his lifetime. He would often suffer periods of bizarre, almost manic behavior. Despite this, and because of his relationship to the martyred Huey Long, he was quite a successful politician in Louisiana. He served as Lieutenant Governor from 1936 to 1939, then as Governor from 1939 to 1940, 1948 to 1952 and 1956 to 1960. Late in life, he entered into a relationship with an “exotic dancer” named Blaze Starr, outraging and amusing the people of Louisiana in equal amounts. His angry and embarrassed wife had him committed to the state insane asylum. While there, he did some research and confirmed that under state law the fact that he was committed did not remove his powers as Governor. He promptly fired the head of the asylum and appointed a crony as the new head, who immediately signed an order for Long’s release. Perhaps Earl was not as insane as people thought.
Huey Long (1893-1935) - Despite his continual claims in speeches to be of humble origins, Huey Long was in fact the son of a wealthy landowner in northern Louisiana; this claim so humiliated his father that in later life they were completely estranged. A brilliant speaker and a tireless campaigner, Long was Governor before his 35th birthday. As Governor, he built up an efficient, ruthless political machine that stopped at nothing; even kidnapping was used to remove an opponent for a while, if it was deemed necessary. He promised the people of Louisiana many things, and delivered many of them: free textbooks for poor children, roads and bridges to end the isolation of the rural poor, new schools and hospitals, even for the then-disenfranchised blacks. Elected to the United States Senate, it became very obvious that Long was intending to challenge Franklin Roosevelt for the Presidential nomination in 1936, running on his “Share the Wealth” program. Although Long was wildly popular with the poor of Louisiana, and increasingly those of other states, those ‘better-off’ acquired a growing hatred for the man. Some of the opposition was generated by Long’s increasingly dictatorial methods; some by selfish opposition to spending much money on the needs of the poor. At the height of his popularity, Long was apparently shot by Dr. Weiss. To this day, there is some doubt that Weiss fired the bullet that killed Long.
Frank Nitti (1886-1943) - Starting out as a bodyguard to Al Capone, Frank Nitti impressed his boss with his intelligence and business acumen, rare qualities in the criminal underworld of Prohibition Chicago. Nitti was rapidly promoted through Capone’s organization until he was the number two man. When Capone went to prison for tax evasion in 1931, he designated Nitti as his successor. In 1943, Nitti was charged with several serious crimes related to his attempts to have his mob infiltrate the film industry. Already suffering from cancer, fear of a long prison sentence caused him to shoot himself.
Franz von Papen (1879-1969) - Von Papen was a Prussian nobleman who served on the German General Staff during World War I. Entering the confused politics of the Weimar Republic, he was Chancellor of Germany for a few months in 1932, but lacked enough support in the parliament to continue in the position. With no one party able to command a majority in parliament, a coalition government was established in January 1933, making Hitler the Chancellor. But with only two other Nazis in the Cabinet, it was arranged for von Papen to be Vice-Chancellor (the non-Nazi members of the government assumed he would act as a check upon Hitler). After the fire in the Reichstag, a panicked legislature voted Hitler wide emergency powers, which were added to upon the subsequent death of the senile President von Hindenburg. As the Nazis established sole control of the government and began to implement increasingly brutal and anti-Semitic legislation, von Papen decided he needed to speak out. At the University of Marburg, he delivered a speech denouncing the excesses of the Nazis. Propaganda Minister Goebbels guaranteed that the speech received no coverage, Himmler had the friend who had helped von Papen draft the speech brutally murdered, and Hitler accepted von Papen’s “resignation” as Vice Chancellor. His life was spared—foolishly or bravely—when von Papen refused to join the Nazi Party, despite several “requests” to do so. He lived quietly throughout the war, his political activity being limited to serving as Ambassador to Turkey. After the war, he was tried at Nuremburg as a war criminal, but was acquitted largely on the evidence of the Marburg Speech and his refusal to join the Nazi Party. His attempts to re-enter politics after the war were unsuccessful.
Dr. Carl Weiss (1906-1935) - Dr. Weiss was a rising young physician, married to the daughter of a fierce critic of Huey Long. Perhaps because of that, or because he had done post-doctoral research in Vienna and had witnessed the rising tide of fascism first hand, or for both reasons, he shared his father-in-law’s hatred of Long. There is no doubt at all that Weiss fired two shots at Long on that fateful day in 1935, but there is a small but persistent doubt shared by some researchers that either of those shots was the one that killed Long. In any event, Long’s bodyguards pumped no less than sixty-two slugs into the young doctor’s body.
Guiseppi Zangara (1900-1933) - A five foot tall veteran of the World War I Italian army (which trained him to be a sniper), Zangara immigrated to America, failing to find success due to increasing health problems. On 15 February 1933, during a speech FDR was giving from the back of an open car, Zangara fired five .32 caliber shots; four people were wounded, and Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was killed. Conspiracy theorists have argued that Cermak, who had sworn to clean up organized crime in Chicago, was the real target. Nevertheless, Cermak was standing next to the President-elect of the United States, and it seems unlikely that the cautious Frank Nitti would have ordered a hit when the bullet might have struck Franklin Roosevelt. There are some strange facts surrounding the case. For instance, the shooting took place on 15 February, while Zangara was tried, convicted, and executed by 20 March. Even in those days, that was an astonishingly fast process. It might almost seem that someone was anxious to see Zangara under the ground before he could do much talking.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My deepest thanks to my agent Jeanie Loiacono whose faith in my writing launched my career, and to Kristina Blank Makansi who made my draft actually readable.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After receiving his Juris Doctorate from UCLA, Jack Martin worked for The Department of Defense and the aerospace industry, specializing in contracts and regulatory issues. While tracing his Californian ancestry back to the 1830s, Martin developed a passion for American history and the mystery genre. With encouragement and support from his beloved wife Sonia, he began writing. Sonia passed away on Christmas Eve 2009, following a brave battle against ovarian cancer. He promised her he would finish the books and become a published author. He is dedicated his first novel to Sonia, the love of his life.
Martin has five books published by Fireship Press: Alphonso Clay Mysteries of the Civil War: John Brown’s Body, Battle Cry of Freedom, Marching Through Georgia, The Battle Hymn of the Republic and Hail Columbia. Learn more about them at www.fireshippress.com.
www.jacksmartin.com
www.blankslatepress.com/jackmartin
