![]() ![]() Louisiana’s current governor, John Bel Edwards, no relation, said: “Edwin was a larger than life figure known for his wit and charm, but he will be equally remembered for being a compassionate leader who cared for the plight of all Louisianans. This time, the charges stuck.Įulogies poured in as word of his death spread. Prosecutors said he took payoffs to influence the awarding of casino licenses. It’s important,” said a popular bumper sticker.Įdwards retired in 1996, but wound up, again, under federal indictment. Edwards and Duke earned spots in a runoff, which Edwards won in a landslide by stoking fears that an ex-Nazi in the governor’s mansion would bring economic ruin. His switch to the Republican Party didn’t help.Įdwards entered the 1991 race - which was open to members of all parties - as did former Klansman David Duke, also running as a Republican. ![]() Buddy Roemer, Edwards appeared politically finished.īut Roemer suffered political setbacks during his four years, including voter rejection of a tax overhaul package. His fortunes had faded by the time he was acquitted the next year: Bowing out of a 1987 runoff when he faced certain defeat against Democratic Rep. He had seemed impervious to earlier scandals, even when he acknowledged that he and his wife Elaine received $20,000 from South Korean government agent Tongsun Park.īut in 1985, he was indicted on federal racketeering charges involving hospital and nursing home regulations. Meanwhile, his reputation for impropriety caught up with him. Edwards pushed through $700 million in highly unpopular taxes. “I’ve wanted all my life to be a king, and now I can be,” he quipped during their stop in Versailles. The campaign was briefly suspended by tragedy: Edwards’ youngest brother, attorney Nolan Edwards, was murdered by a disgruntled client.Ī grieving Edwards resumed the race and went on to win, then paid off his debts from the $14 million campaign by chartering a $10,000-a-head trip to France for his friends and supporters. “It takes him an hour and a half to watch ’60 Minutes’” was typical. Treen, the state’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction and a frequent target of Edwards’ barbs. Changing the severance tax from 25 cents a barrel to 12.5% of value made Louisiana the most cash-rich state in the nation at the time while New York City was going bankrupt, said Honeycutt, his official biographer.Ĭonstitutionally barred from a third consecutive term, he left office in 1980 only to return four years later, after easily defeating incumbent David C. “My dad never saw color and never turned his back on anyone in need,” said his son Stephen Edwards, who worked alongside his father in the Edwards Law Firm, according to the family statement.Įdwards seized on an oil boom in 1974 to defeat energy interests and fill Louisiana’s coffers, tying oil taxes to price, rather than volume. He appointed more African Americans to policy-making positions than any previous governor and spearheaded the adoption of a new constitution. He won the governor’s office in 1972 with help from organized labor and Black voters realizing their civil rights-era strength. Nothing bothered him except bothering other people,” Trina Edwards said.Īccording to the statement, she said his dying words were to his 7-year-old son: “Eli told him every night, ‘I love you.’ And he told Eli, ‘I love you, too.’ Those were his last words.”Ī lawyer, Edwards began his political career on the City Council in the town of Crowley in 1954 before moving on to the state Legislature, then Congress. Five years later, at 66, he married 29-year-old Candy Picou in a ceremony at the governor’s mansion. He had four children during a 40-year marriage to his high school sweetheart, the former Elaine Schwartzenburg, before they divorced in 1989. Despite his unabashed fondness for high-stakes gambling, dirty jokes and his reputation as a womanizer, he earned a following among Catholics and fundamentalists. Raised a Roman Catholic, Edwards preached in the Church of the Nazarene as a teen and he never drank or smoked. According to his authorized biography, his father’s ancestors were Welsh his mother’s continental French but Edwards always considered himself a Cajun. 7, 1927, to a sharecropper and a midwife in Avoyelles Parish, part of the region settled by 18th century French exiles from Nova Scotia who came to be known as Cajuns. But Edwards, a consummate dealmaker, had a cooler demeanor.Įdwards was born Aug. They shared a populist appeal to the state’s downtrodden, and political fortunes that flowed in part from taxes on oil. Silver-haired, handsome and gifted with a dry sense of humor and easy charm, Edwards dominated Louisiana politics in the late 20th century much as Huey P. ![]()
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