![]() ![]() ![]() The federal case that led to his May 2000 conviction involved state riverboat casino licenses awarded during and after his fourth and final term in the 1990s. They had a son, Eli, in 2013 - Edwards' fifth child - and starred in a short-lived reality TV show, “The Governor’s Wife.” He also attempted one more political comeback, losing a runoff to a Republican in a south Louisiana congressional race in 2014. “I would have walked into prison a happy man had I known how it was going to end,” he said at his lavish 90th birthday bash in August 2017. They met when she began visiting him in prison after they struck up a pen-pal relationship. His flamboyant character intact, he found a third wife in Trina Grimes, then 32. Infamously, the lifelong Democrat said once said that the only way he could lose a race against a particularly lackluster Republican was if he were “caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy.”Ī native of Louisiana’s Acadiana region who swore his 1972 oath of office in French and English, Edwards enjoyed renewed popularity after emerging from prison in 2011 at age 83. John Duricka / AP fileĮdwards, the "Cajun King,” was known for delivering a steady supply of memorable one-liners as well as for his deft political instincts. Edwin Edwards, second from right, applauds during a promenade through the ballroom at a New Orleans hotel, where Carter spoke, on Oct. ![]() An umbrella-carrying member of a Dixieland jazz band tips his hat to President Jimmy Carter as former Louisiana Gov. I love Louisiana and I always will,” Edwards said in some of his last words, according to Honeycutt's statement.Įarlier in the week, the former governor also said, “I’ve made no bones that I have considered myself on borrowed time for 20 years and we each know that all this fun has to end at some point.” For him, that time was shortly after daybreak this morning, the statement said. I tried to help as many people as I could and I hope I did that, and I hope, if I did, that they will help others, too. Edwards had four grown children from his first marriage.“I have lived a good life, had better breaks than most, had some bad breaks, too, but that’s all part of it. He served eight years in prison, emerging in 2011 at age 83 to marry for the third time. He insisted he did nothing wrong, blaming the conviction on perjured testimony. He was tried and convicted in 2000 for rigging the riverboat casino licensing process. After being all but written off as politically finished following a failed re-election bid in 1987, he was re-elected in 1991 after securing a runoff spot against a former Ku Klux Klan leader. He was tried and acquitted on corruption charges during his third term. He was in power during the completion of the Louisiana Superdome and was instrumental in efforts that kept the NFL’s Saints in New Orleans, saved the financially troubled 1984 World’s Fair, brought a casino to New Orleans and, eventually an NBA team.īut he also was frequently touched by accusations of wrongdoing. He drew praise for leading a push for a new state constitution, bringing Black people into state government and ushering in state prosperity with an overhaul of oil taxes in the 1970s. He became famous for sharp wit, deadpan one-liners and political skills that propelled him to two terms as governor in the 1970s, one in the ‘80s and another in the early ’90s. “As he once said, he was both a realist and a dreamer who often dreamed of a better world - and worked to make it so,” the current governor said of Edwards in prepared remarks released publicly Sunday afternoon.Įdwin Edwards was a dominant figure in Louisiana politics for much of the late 20th century, having served in the state Senate and in Congress before winning the governorship. John Bel Edwards - no relation to the former governor - who praised Edwards as a consensus builder and deal maker who modernized state government and worked hard to fund education and the state’s charity hospital system. The Southern University marching band was part of a procession that carried the body from the 34-story Capitol built in the 1930s, on a nearly mile-long route to the Old State Capitol, a 19th Century structure, where a private funeral ceremony for Edwards was held.Īmong the speakers was current Gov. His body lay in honor Saturday at the Capitol, where members of the public were allowed to file by. The four-term former governor, died at his home in Gonzales last Monday at age 93 after placing himself in hospice care following bouts with respiratory illness. Edwin Edwards down the steps of Louisiana’s towering state Capitol Sunday and loaded it onto a horse-drawn carriage for transport to his funeral site. Bagpipes played as an honor guard carried the flag-draped casket bearing the body of former Louisiana Gov. ![]()
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