Edwin Edwards

This article is about the politician Edwin Edwards; for the jazz musician of the same name, see Eddie Edwards (musician) .

Edwin Edwards

Edwin Washington Edwards (born August 7, 1927 in Marksville , Avoyelles Parish , Louisiana ) is a former American politician . He was three-time governor of the state of Louisiana between 1972 and 1996 . He also represented his state in the US House of Representatives in Washington between 1965 and 1972 . From 2001 to 2011, he served a sentence for various offenses in Oakdale Federal Prison .

Early Years and Rise in Louisiana

Edwin Edwards first attended local schools in his home country and then Louisiana State University . In the final phase of World War II , he interrupted his studies to serve in the Air Corps of the US Navy. After the war was over, he continued his law degree and was admitted to the Crowley Bar in 1949 . His knowledge of French was very helpful to him, as there were still many people in Louisiana at that time who preferred French to English.

Edwards became a member of the then all-ruling Democratic Party in Louisiana . Between 1954 and 1964 he was a member of Crowley City Council. In the 1950s he was also temporarily employed as a judge at the local court. In 1964 he was elected to the Louisiana Senate against Bill Cleveland , who had previously held that mandate for 20 years. In the Senate he supported Governor John McKeithen .

Edwards in the US House of Representatives

After the accidental death of Congressman Theo Ashton Thompson , an extraordinary election to replace this office was held in Louisiana, which Edwards won. After a few re-elections, he was able to exercise his mandate in Washington between October 2, 1965 and May 9, 1972. There he stood up as one of the few MPs from the southern states for the extension of the right to vote ( Voting Rights Act ).

Three terms as governor

1972 to 1980

In 1971 Edwards was elected as the new governor of his state. He first had to assert himself in the primaries against strong competition from his own party. In the actual election he won against the candidate of the Republican Party , David C. Treen . Edwards also owed his election victory to the votes of his state's Creole and African-American voters. He took up his new office on May 9, 1972 and, after being re-elected in 1975, was able to remain in office until March 10, 1980. Right at the beginning of his term of office, the state constitution that had been in force since 1921 was revised. The new constitution came into effect in 1975 and reformed the governance structures of Louisiana. Since then, more importance has been attached to the cabinet. Many previous boards and committees have become redundant or merged with others. Separately, the governor introduced a new pre-election principle in Louisiana. This became known as the "Jungle Primary System" and merged the separate internal area codes of the individual parties into a single general area code. The result is an electoral system like the modern French one (despite different names) with a general preliminary round, followed by a runoff between the two strongest candidates in the preliminary round. However, this system only applies to offices within the state; for national offices such as the US presidency, Louisiana votes in the same way as in other states. Originally, the governor wanted to consolidate his own position through the new electoral system. In practice, this was how the Republican Party in Louisiana began to rise.

After the death of US Senator Allen J. Ellender , Edwards named his wife Elaine S. Edwards as his successor until the congressional elections. Governor Edwards supported the civil rights movement and appointed numerous African-Americans and women to government offices. At the end of his second term in 1980, the governor could refer to a balanced budget. He had achieved this thanks to tax increases and with the help of good economic development. However, there were also some allegations of corruption and bribery against the governor and some of his officials. The governor managed to successfully pull himself out of the affair. Due to a constitutional clause, he was not allowed to run for a third consecutive term in 1980. In March 1980, he had to hand over his post to the Republican David Treen, who was the first Republican in this office in over 100 years.

1984 to 1988

After leaving office in 1980, Edwards initially retired from politics. But he made it clear that he wanted to run for governor again in the next elections. In the next election he managed to beat the incumbent Treen. His third term of office that followed was rather unhappy for Edwards. It began on May 10, 1984 and ended exactly four years later to the day. The falling oil price at that time also caused oil-based tax income to shrink. This put a strain on the state budget. Edwards responded with a general tax hike, which was very unpopular and made his approval rate sink deep into the basement. He was then charged by a federal attorney named John Voltz with fraud, obstruction of justice, and bribery in connection with contracting the state hospitals. Again the governor succeeded in getting an acquittal. But during the process it became clear that not everything had turned out right. It came to light that he had run up gambling debts in Las Vegas under false names , which he later paid off with money from unknown sources. His later attempt to legalize gambling and introduce a state lottery in Louisiana was rejected. After his popularity had reached a low point, Edwards declined to run again in 1988 and handed over his office to his successor Buddy Roemer . But behind the scenes he was already working on a return.

1992 to 1996

Although Edwards was actually considered to have no political chance after the events of his third term in office, he ran again in the primaries for the gubernatorial election in 1992. A mocker is said to have said that he only had a chance if he ran against Adolf Hitler . Indeed, a similar scenario developed. In the primaries, David Duke , the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan , emerged as his main opponent. Now Louisiana was faced with a choice between a Klansman and Edwards. As a result, even prominent Republicans, including President George Bush and former Governors Treen and Roemer, saw Edwards as the lesser evil and supported his election. Many citizens stuck the mocking election slogan Vote for the crook, it's important! (Choose the cheater, it's important!) On their cars. In this way, Edwards managed to return to governorship, which he assumed on March 12, 1992 and in which he remained until January 8, 1996. In his fourth and final term in office, he then pushed through the construction of a casino in New Orleans . He also personally licensed 15 casino operators on river boats. His old friend Paul Fontenot, who was also the chief of police in Louisiana, was appointed to oversee gambling and issue licenses.

Indictment and conviction

After the end of his last term, Edwin Edwards retired to his home in Baton Rouge . In the meantime, however, the federal authorities had continued to investigate him. In 1998, Federal Attorney Eddie Jordan brought 26 counts against Edwards. This has now been found guilty on 17 points. These included criminal business ( racketeering ), extortion, money laundering and fraud. His son Stephen Edwards was found guilty on 18 counts. Edwin Edwards, who pleaded innocent, was sentenced to 2011 imprisonment. Edwards was released on January 13, 2011.

Renewed candidacy for Congress in 2014

On March 17, 2014, Edwards announced during an appearance at the Baton Rouge press club that he would be running for a seat in the US House of Representatives in the sixth constituency of Louisiana. In September 2014, the Louisiana Democratic Party executive nominated him as his party's official candidate for the November elections.

Web links

• Edwin Edwards in the National Governors Association (English)
• Edwin Edwards in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• The Governors of Louisiana (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Salon News: End of the rogue ( Memento of the original from August 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English). 
2. ^ Former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards: Yesterday's man? At 87, maybe not yet ... In: The Independent , August 29, 2014.
3. ↑ Louisiana Democratic Party Endorses former Gov. Edwin Edwards in 6th District. ( Memento of the original from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: The Advocate, September 8, 2014.