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The “Cajun King” was known for providing a constant supply of memorable liners as well as for his skillful political instincts. Sadly, the longtime Democrat once said the only way to lose to a particularly lackluster Republican was if he was “caught in bed with a dead girl or a boy alive.”
Originally from the Acadiana area of Louisiana who was sworn in in 1972 in French and English, Edwards saw a resurgence in popularity after being released from prison in 2011 at the age of 83, with his flamboyant character intact.
The federal case that led to his conviction in May 2000 resulted in him taking profits from interest seeking river casino licenses during his last tenure in the 1990s. Edwards maintained the case was based on secretly recorded and misinterpreted conversations and lies about his former buddies, who made deals to avoid jail.
But the conviction and the many investigations and allegations have been an inevitable stain on his legacy.
“He had eloquence, creativity, a sharp mind, executive skills that many lacked, and leadership skills that many envied. He could understand crowds better than almost any politician I’ve ever known, ”Louisiana State University journalism professor Robert Mann said in an email Monday. “He had it all, and yet he wasted it spending a lot of his time enriching his friends. Rarely have I seen a wider gulf between the promise of greatness and reality.
Silver-haired and endowed with easy charm, Edwards dominated Louisiana politics in the late 20th century just as Huey P. Long had dominated his early years. They shared a populist appeal to the oppressed and political fortunes of the state that stemmed in part from petroleum taxes. But the Edwards case had a cooler demeanor.
Edwards was born on August 7, 1927 to a tenant farmer and midwife in the parish of Avoyelles, in the area colonized by 18th century French exiles from Nova Scotia, known as the Cadiens. According to his authorized biography, his father’s ancestors were Welsh; his mother’s continental French; but Edwards always considered himself a Cajun.
Raised in the Roman Catholic Church, Edwards preached in the Church of the Nazarene as a teenager and neither drank nor smoked. Despite his unwavering penchant for high-stakes gambling, dirty jokes, and his reputation as a womanizer, he has gained followers among Catholics and fundamentalists.
He had four children in a 40-year marriage to his high school friend, former Elaine Schwartzenburg, before divorcing in 1989. Five years later, at 66, he married 29-year-old Candy Picou, during a ceremony at the governor’s mansion. . They divorced after he went to jail, but he found a third wife in 32-year-old Trina Grimes, a correspondent who visited him behind bars.
“I would have entered prison as a happy man if I had known how this was going to end,” he said at his lavish 90th birthday party in 2017.
They had a son, Eli, in 2013 – Edwards’ fifth child – and starred in a short-lived reality TV show, “The Governor’s Wife”.
“He was so optimistic all the time. Nothing bothered him except bothering others, ”said Trina Edwards.
According to the statement, she said her last words were addressed to her 7-year-old son: “Eli would say to him every night: ‘I love you’. And he said to Eli, ‘I love you too.’ These were his last words.
A lawyer, Edwards began his political career on Crowley Town Council in 1954 before moving to the State Legislature and then Congress. He won the governorship in 1972 with the help of unions and black voters, realizing their strength during the civil rights era.
He appointed more African Americans to policy-making positions than any previous governor and led the passage of a new constitution.
“My father never saw the color and never turned his back on anyone in need,” said his son Stephen Edwards, who worked alongside his father at the Edwards law firm, according to the statement. of the family.
Edwards took advantage of an oil boom in 1974 to defeat energy interests and fill Louisiana’s coffers, tying oil taxes to price rather than volume. The change in the severance pay tax from 25 cents per barrel to 12.5% of value made Louisiana the nation’s most cash-rich state at the time as New York City went bankrupt, said Honeycutt, his official biographer.
Constitutionally barred from a third consecutive term, he left office in 1980 only to return four years later, having easily defeated incumbent President David C. Treen, the state’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction and a frequent target. Edwards beards. “It takes him an hour and a half to watch ’60 Minutes’” was typical.
The campaign was briefly put on hold by tragedy: Edwards’ younger brother, lawyer Nolan Edwards, was murdered by a disgruntled client.
A grieving Edwards resumed the race and claimed victory, then paid off his $ 14 million campaign debts by chartering a $ 10,000 trip to France for his friends and supporters.
“I wanted all my life to be a king, and now I can be,” he joked during their stopover in Versailles.
But other problems loomed.
Oil prices have fallen. Edwards passed $ 700 million in highly unpopular taxes, and his reputation for impropriety caught up with him.
Edwards had seemed unresponsive to previous scandals, even when he admitted that he and his wife Elaine had received $ 20,000 from South Korean government agent Tongsun Park.
But in 1985 he was indicted on federal racketeering charges involving the regulation of hospitals and nursing homes. His fortunes had collapsed by the time he was acquitted the following year: losing after a runoff in 1987 as he faced certain defeat to Democratic Representative Buddy Roemer, Edwards seemed politically over.
But Roemer suffered political setbacks – voters rejected his tax revision plan and disliked his move to the Republican Party. Edwards entered the race and won the second round in a landslide against former Klansman David Duke by stoking fears that an ex-Nazi in the governor’s mansion would bring economic ruin.
“Vote for the crook. It’s important, ”said a popular bumper sticker.
Edwards retired in 1996 before finding himself under federal indictment. After jail, he attempted another political comeback, losing a second round to a Republican in a congressional race in southern Louisiana in 2014.
Praise poured in as news of his death spread.
Current Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, no parent, said: “Edwin was a larger than life figure known for his wit and charm, but he will also be remembered for being a compassionate leader who cared about the fate of all Louisianans. Our state has lost a giant and he will be sorely missed. “
The funeral is pending, according to the family, but there will be a public screening in Memorial Hall at the Louisiana State Capitol, not far from where Huey Long is buried.
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