In 1936 at the age of 14, he and his younger brother Anastasio attended Saint Leo College Prep near Tampa, before transferring to La Salle Military Academy on Long Island.

[2] Luis was then educated at Louisiana State University, where he was a member of Fi Sigma Alfa Hispanic fraternity.

Although Luis declined to run for reelection in 1963, he and Anastasio saw to it that the presidency was held from 1963 onward by politicians loyal to the Somozas.

As a result, Luis remained the de facto leader of Nicaragua until his death in 1967, when he suffered a massive heart attack in Managua at the age of 44.

During the Bay of Pigs Invasion, he allowed the CIA-trained Cuban rebels to embark from Puerto Cabezas, on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast.