The casino scandal exploded after Edwards retired following his fourth term. Once again under federal indictment, former associates accused him of demanding large payoffs for help with a casino license. Edwards was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The so-called Cajun King, Edwin Washington Edwards, recently died at age 93. In a colorful career, Edwards served four terms as governor of Louisiana and more than eight years in federal prison. A noted wisecracker, the lifelong Democrat once 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.” Admitting his reputation as a womanizer, he compared himself to his 1991 opponent David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan leader, stating, “We’re both wizards under the sheets.”
The native of Louisiana’s Acadiana region, Edwards had three wives and five children. He took his 1972 oath of office in French and English. He was convicted in 2000 after his fourth and final term as governor for taking payoffs from interests seeking riverboat casino licenses. Edwards claimed the case was built on secretly taped conversations that were misinterpreted, and that his former cronies lied and made deals to avoid going to prison.
The charming and brilliant Edwards didn’t smoke or drink but Catholics and fundamentalists followed him even though he was a high-stakes gambler, told dirty jokes and constantly flirted with women. He was beloved by Blacks and Cajuns. His son Stephen Edwards said, “My dad never saw color and never turned his back on anyone in need.”
In 1974, he changed the tax rate on oil and eliminated a regressive sales tax, making Louisiana the nation’s most cash-rich state, as New York City was going bankrupt. He left office in 1980 after two terms but returned in 1980 to win in a landslide. He paid off his campaign debt of $14 million by inviting friends and supporters on a trip to France at $10,000 per person.
However, oil prices plummeted during Edwards’ third term, and he pushed through $700 million in unpopular taxes. Scandals erupted over finances and favors. In 1985, he was indicted on federal racketeering charges involving investments in hospitals and nursing homes. A mistrial was declared, and an acquittal, but Edwards’ popularity sank. He ran for re-election in 1987 but withdrew when it appeared he’d lose in a runoff against then-Democratic state Rep. Buddy Roemer.
Edwards was declared finished, but Roemer backed a tax overhaul voters hated and David Duke’s power base was growing. Roemer switched parties, and Edwards and Duke each got a third of the vote. Then Edwards won the 1991 runoff in a landslide, helped by fears of an ex-Nazi in the governor’s mansion.
The casino scandal exploded after Edwards retired following his fourth term. Once again under federal indictment, former associates accused him of demanding large payoffs for help with a casino license. Edwards was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
He died of respiratory problems, surrounded by family and friends at his home in Gonzales. He said, “I have lived a good life, had better breaks than most, had some bad breaks, too, but that’s all part of it. 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. I love Louisiana and I always will.”
