Edwin Washington Edwards died today at age 93. The four-term Louisiana governor dominated state politics for decades, a run all but overshadowed by scandal and eight years in federal prison.
07/12/2021 06:12 PM EDTNEW ORLEANS — Edwin Washington Edwards, the high-living, quick-witted four-term governor who reshaped Louisiana’s oil revenues and dominated the state’s politics for decades, a run all but overshadowed by scandal and eight years in federal prison, died Monday. He was 93.
A 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, with his flamboyant character intact. Silver-haired and gifted with an easy charm, Edwards dominated Louisiana politics in the late 20th century much as Huey P. Long had dominated its earlier years. They shared a populist appeal to the state’s downtrodden, and political fortunes that flowed in part from taxes on oil. But the dealmaking Edwards had a cooler demeanor.
He had four children during a 40-year marriage to his high school sweetheart, the former Elaine Schwartzenburg, before they divorced in 1989. Five years later, at 66, he married 29-year-old Candy Picou in a ceremony at the governor’s mansion. They divorced after he went to prison, but he found a third wife in Trina Grimes, then 32, a pen-pal who visited him behind bars.
According 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.” Edwards seized on an oil boom in 1974 to defeat energy interests and fill Louisiana’s coffers, tying oil taxes to price, rather than volume. 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.
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Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards dies at 93Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, a Democrat who served four terms as governor and nearly 10 years in federal prison for extortion, conspiracy and racketeering, has died at age 93.
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Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards dies at 93Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, a Democrat who served four terms as governor and nearly 10 years in federal prison for extortion, conspiracy and racketeering, has died at age 93.
Leer más »