He could relate to crowds better than almost any politician I ever knew,” Louisiana State University journalism professor Robert Mann said in an email Monday. “He had eloquence, creativity, a razor-sharp mind, executive abilities that many lacked, and leadership skills that many envied. Edwards maintained the case was built on secretly taped and misinterpreted conversations and the lies of his former cronies, who made deals to avoid jail.īut the conviction and the numerous investigations and allegations were an unavoidable stain on his legacy. Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana.The federal case that led to his May 2000 conviction involved him taking payoffs from interests seeking riverboat casino licenses during his final term in the 1990s. He is not related to the state's current governor, John Bel Edwards. “He cared about people who didn’t have a voice and he stood up to those who did." “He was this generation’s Huey Long,” Edwards' biographer Leo Honeycutt said. He finished first in the primary with 30% but lost the runoff in a landslide to Republican Congressman Garret Graves. Edwards eventually served more than eight years in federal prison from 2002-12 on 17 racketeering, extortion, money laundering, mail fraud and wire convictions related to issuing casino licenses in Louisiana.īut he never expressed contrition or admitted guilt, saying before he was taken to prison: “I will be a model prisoner, as I have been a model citizen.”Įdwards made one more political comeback attempt in 2014 when he ran for Congress. Dave Treen in 1983, Edwards said, “The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy.”Īnd before beating former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke in 1991, Edwards, who nurtured his reputation as a ladies’ man, said, “the only thing we have in common is that we both have been wizards beneath the sheets.”Įdwards beat two federal prosecutions in the 1980s, but couldn’t escape conviction in a third trial in the 1990s. "Nothing bothered him except bothering other people. It’s heartbreaking for me because I know he so wanted to make Eli’s 8th birthday party Aug. 1.” Popular, then polarizingĮdwards was wildly popular during his first two terms when an oil and gas boom funded his expansions of social programs in Louisiana and spearheaded the state’s new Louisiana Constitution, which was adopted in 1974 and remains in place today.īut he became a polarizing figure in the 1980s and 1990s when an oil bust during his third term shredded the state budget and required a large tax hike, and during his fourth term when corruption charges began to mount.Įdwards, who was known for his one-liners and quips, elevated his zingers in the 1980s. “He was so optimistic all the time," Trina Edwards said in a statement. The couple moved to Gonzales, where they have been raising their young son Eli, who is 7. “I've been around the world six times and in every state and there's not a better place in America and the world than Louisiana.”Īfter he was released from prison in 2012, Edwards married his third wife Trina, who was a half-century younger than him. “I’ve had a great life,” Edwards said in an interview with USA TODAY Network on his 90th birthday in 2017. He was the state’s last populist Democratic governor in the tradition of Huey Long and Earl Long, serving consecutive terms from 1972-80 and single terms from 1984-96.īefore that, he served as a state senator from Crowley and then represented Acadiana in Congress from 1965-72. Edwin Edwards, the charismatic Cajun rogue who served a record four terms in the Capitol as well as a stint in federal prison for corruption, died Monday morning.
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