Huey Long just one chapter of storied history of New Orleans' Roosevelt Hotel, which reopens Wednesday

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Huey Long just one chapter of storied history of New Orleans' Roosevelt Hotel, which reopens Wednesday
June 30, 2009
by Theodore P. Mahne
nola.com

Can a hotel and a finely mixed drink be the reason for one of Louisiana's biggest road projects of the 20th century?

Elected governor in 1928, Huey P. Long had several pet projects, and one was building Airline Highway from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Touted as a sign of a progressive and modern Louisiana, it also cut nearly 40 miles off the journey.

It also meant that the governor could speed his limo from the state Capitol to the Sazerac Bar of the Roosevelt Hotel in an hour flat.

And have a Ramos Gin Fizz waiting for him.

In its storied history, the Roosevelt Hotel -- which reopens today -- has played host to presidents, royalty, movie stars, musicians and athletes, but few have made an impact on the hotel as deep as the Kingfish.

From Long's first campaigns for the Governor's Mansion in the 1920s until his assassination a decade later, the Roosevelt was his preferred residence in New Orleans.

Side Bar

• Former employee recalls the glory days of the Roosevelt Hotel

Long biographer Richard D. White Jr. notes that Long's relationship with the hotel was shaped primarily through the governor's longtime and unlikely friendship with owner and manager Seymour Weiss.

Weiss began working at the hotel in the 1920s as the barbershop's manager, a position that put him in touch with the city's politicos, salesmen, investors and gamblers, White writes in "Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long." From there, Weiss rose to become assistant manager of the hotel, and later general manager. By 1931, he had assumed principal ownership of the hotel.

Weiss first encountered Long in 1927 during the governor's race and became one of his most trusted aides, overseeing both Long's private finances and campaign contributions -- most of which were kept in the safe at the Roosevelt, White writes.

Among the many legends and greatest mysteries revolving around Long is something called the deduct box. Every state employee who received a job from Long was expected to pay between 5 percent and 10 percent of his salary -- estimated at more than $1 million annually -- to Long's political machine, biographer White wrote. Those funds were kept in the locked deduct box.

Before Long last left his 12th-floor suite at the Roosevelt for the journey to Baton Rouge, where he would be assassinated in September 1935, Weiss purportedly asked him, "Huey, where's the deduct box?"

"I'll tell you later, Seymour, " Long is reported to have said.

The deduct box has never been found.

Weiss, who was not related to Dr. Carl Weiss, Long's assassin, was a pallbearer at Long's funeral. After the assassination, Seymour Weiss served 16 months in federal prison on tax evasion charges related to business dealings with Long. He was paroled in 1942 and was given a pardon by President Harry Truman in 1947. Weiss would go on to become one of the city's most influential businessmen. He sold the Roosevelt in 1965. When he died in 1969, he was reportedly worth more than $15 million.

Actor John "Spud" McConnell has repeatedly portrayed Long in a one-man show, "The Kingfish."

"We did a production of 'The Kingfish' at the Orpheum Theatre, " McConnell said, "and after the show one night, I decided to go across the street to the hotel still wearing the Long suit."

He turned quite a few heads and drew a few questions.

" 'Where's the deduct box?' they all asked, " he said, laughing. "I've banged around on a wall or two in there myself, listening for a hollow sound."

A replica of the deduct box, retelling the legend, will be on display in the hotel's lobby, said Mark Wilson, the hotel's marketing director.

When asked if any secret hiding places were discovered in the walls of the hotel during the renovation, Wilson just smiled.