Kingfish Ascendant Book One: The Rise of Huey Long

Weeks before his inauguration as President of The United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is assassinated by Giuseppe Zangara in Miami’s Bayfront Park during a political rally. Meanwhile, on a train bound for Washington D.C., Senator Huey Long of Louisiana learns of the shooting, and devises a plan to take Roosevelt’s place. Arriving in the nation’s capitol, political turmoil erupts when Long declares the election null and void with FDR’ death. Long claims that he is the true heir to Roosevelt, challenges the qualifications of Vice-President elect John Garner, and that his radical Share Our Wealth plan will lift the country out of the Great Depression. In the streets, thousands rally at the National Mall, and Long incites the crowds to back him. In New York and elsewhere, protests turn violent, and the army is called out with dozens killed. Can the nation survive the chaos, or will it turn to the fiery populist from Louisiana as a savior, and at what cost?
Historical background:
FDR escaped assassination in February of 1933 when Giuseppe Zangara shot and killed the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak. In an apparent mob hit, Zangara himself escaped shooting as Chicago gangsters missed him, wounding several in the crowd. At the same time, Huey Long began his term in the United States Senate, and pushed his radical agenda, which called for a cap on income and a guaranteed house for every American, among other ideas. Long’s political skill and populism stood in contrast to his near dictatorial record as governor of Louisiana. His popularity was such that Roosevelt saw him as a challenger to his re-election, a fact rendered moot by Long’s assassination in 1935.