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The man who defined late-20th-century Louisiana politics, for better or worse, would have celebrated his 97th birthday last month. He was born in Avoyelles Parish on August 7, 1927. 

Edwin Washington Edwards’ gift for public speaking was evident early. He preached in the Church of the Nazarene as a teen but returned to his family’s Roman Catholic faith. 

Edwards didn’t smoke or drink; his vices famously were gambling and womanizing, along with loose political ethics. He rose from the Crowley City Council to the state Senate to Congress and the governor’s mansion in 17 years.

In his first race for governor in 1971, Edwards’ record of racial tolerance attracted Black voters recently enfranchised by the 1965 Voting Rights Act, while the French-speaking son of Acadiana also counted on Cajun voters. The state’s two most prominent minority groups formed a solid political base that supported an unprecedented four terms as governor. 

His first term was marked by structural reform, as he helped usher in the 1974 Constitution and reshaped how Louisiana collects oil revenue. He promised help “to the poor, the elderly, the unemployed, the thousands of Black Louisianans who have not yet enjoyed the full bounty of the American dream,” and appointed women and minorities to key state positions. 

The 1970s oil boom, along with changing the severance tax from 25 cents a barrel to 12.5 percent of value, filled state coffers and boosted Edwards’ popularity. Constitutionally barred from a third consecutive term, he left office in 1980 only to return four years later, easily defeating incumbent Dave Treen, the state’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction. 

But the oil boom went bust during the 1980s, and a third-term fiscal crisis coincided with federal indictments, though not convictions, for mail fraud, obstruction of justice and public bribery stemming from the sale of hospital certificates. Bowing out of the 1987 runoff when he faced likely defeat against then-Congressman Buddy Roemer, Edwards’ political career appeared to be over. 

Yet once again, Edwards returned four years later, outpacing the politically wounded Roemer—voters rejected his tax overhaul package and disliked his switch to the Republican Party—and toxic former Klansman David Duke to win his final term. 

“Vote for the crook. It’s important,” read the famous bumper sticker.

As it turned out, both Duke and Edwards were found to be crooks. While Duke served a year in prison in 2003 and 2004 for bilking his supporters, Edwards was convicted in 2000 on racketeering, extortion and fraud charges for selling casino licenses. 

Edwards was sentenced to 10 years and went to prison in 2002, gaining release in 2011. While serving his sentence, he divorced his second wife and started a relationship with Trina Grimes, who would become his third. 

After prison, he and Trina had a child and co-starred in a short-lived reality television show, “The Governor’s Wife.” He attempted one more political comeback in 2014, losing to Congressman Garret Graves by a 62-38 percent margin, only the second defeat of his long political career. 

Edwards died of respiratory failure in 2021 at his home in Gonzales. He was 93. 

Reactions to his death reflected his complicated legacy.

“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,” then-Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “Our state has lost a giant, and we will miss him dearly.”

LSU journalism professor Robert Mann, who worked for some of Louisiana’s most prominent recent Democrats, said Edwards “had eloquence, creativity, a razor-sharp mind, executive abilities that many lacked, and leadership skills that many envied…He had everything, and yet squandered it by devoting much of his time to enriching his friends. I’ve rarely seen a wider chasm between the promise for greatness and reality.”

Rodney Kennedy, writing this year for Baptist News Global, found parallels between Edwards and Donald Trump following the latter’s recent conviction. 

“For my money, Edwards was smarter, slicker, savvier and funnier than Trump, but Edwards and Louisiana taught Trump and MAGA how to dance with the devil,” Kennedy says.

Editor’s note: The information in this piece came from Baptist News Global, The Associated Press, The New York Times and the Secretary of State’s office. 

This piece first ran in the Aug. 8, 2024 edition of LaPolitics Weekly. Wish you could have read it then? Subscribe today!

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