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 and starred in a short-lived reality TV show, " The Governor's Wife." The lifelong Democrat also attempted a 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. 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.Įdwards, the "Cajun King,” was known for delivering a steady supply of memorable one-liners as well as for his deft political instincts. 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 have lived a good life, had better breaks than most, had some bad breaks, too, but that’s all part of it. He was 93.Įdwards died of respiratory problems with family and friends by his bedside, family spokesman Leo Honeycutt said, days after entering hospice care at his home in Gonzales, near the Louisiana capital. (AP) - 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.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |