He also overhauled state revenues, tying oil taxes to price, rather than volume, and filling Louisiana’s coffers during an oil boom.Ĭonstitutionally barred from a third consecutive term, he left office in 1980 only to return four years later, after easily defeating incumbent David C. He appointed more African Americans to policy-making positions than any previous governor and spearheaded the adoption of a new constitution. He won the governor’s office in 1972 with help from organized labor and Black voters realizing their civil rights-era strength. They divorced after he went to prison.Ī lawyer, Edwards began his political career on the City Council in the town of Crowley in 1954 before moving on to the state Legislature, then Congress. Five years later, at 66, he married 29-year-old Candy Picou in a ceremony at the governor’s mansion. He had four children during a 40-year marriage to his high school sweetheart, the former Elaine Schwartzenburg, before they divorced in 1989. Despite his unabashed fondness for high-stakes gambling, dirty jokes and his reputation as a womanizer, he earned a following among Catholics and fundamentalists. Raised a Roman Catholic, Edwards preached in the Church of the Nazarene as a teen and he never drank or smoked. According to his authorized biography, his father’s ancestors were Welsh his mother’s continental French but Edwards always considered himself a Cajun. 7, 1927, to a sharecropper and a midwife in Avoyelles Parish, part of the region settled by 18th century French exiles from Nova Scotia who came to be known as Cajuns. But Edwards, a consummate dealmaker, had a cooler demeanor.Įdwards was born Aug. ![]() They shared a populist appeal to the state’s downtrodden, and political fortunes that flowed in part from taxes on oil. Silver-haired, handsome and gifted with a dry sense of humor and easy charm, Edwards dominated Louisiana politics in the late 20th century much as Huey P. Edwards maintained the case was built on misinterpreted, secretly taped conversations and the lies of former cronies who made deals to avoid jail. 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.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |