Edwin Edwards
This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. (April 2024) |
Edwin Edwards | |
---|---|
Louisiana Senate from the 35th district | |
In office May 12, 1964 – October 2, 1965 | |
Preceded by | Bill Cleveland |
Succeeded by | Howard A. Duncan |
Personal details | |
Born | Edwin Washington Edwards August 7, 1927 Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, U.S. |
Died | July 12, 2021 Gonzales, Louisiana, U.S. | (aged 93)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouses | Candace Picou
(m. 1994; div. 2004)Trina Grimes Scott (m. 2011) |
Children | 5 |
Education | Louisiana State University (BA, JD) |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Navy |
Years of service | 1945–1946 |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Edwin Washington Edwards (August 7, 1927 – July 12, 2021)
An influential figure in Louisiana politics, Edwards, who was dubbed the "very last of the line of
In
Early life and career
Edwin Washington Edwards was born in rural
The young Edwards had planned on a career as a preacher. As a young man, he did some preaching for the Marksville
Edwards entered politics through election to the Crowley City Council in 1954.
1971–1972 campaign for governor
In the
Both Edwards and Johnston ran on reform-oriented platforms during the primary, but Edwards was more adept at making political deals and building alliances for the runoff round of voting. Edwards said that the major philosophical difference that he held with Johnston was in regard to their "awareness of problems of the poor".
Bill Dodd, who was defeated for state superintendent of education in the same election cycle that Edwards was winning the governorship in for the first time, attributed the Edwards victory in part to political kingmaker Louis J. Roussel Jr., of New Orleans. According to Dodd, Roussel "can do more than any other individual in Louisiana to elect any candidate he supports for any office in this state. ... He is such a good administrator and motivator that he can put together an organization that will win in business and in politics."[17]
First two terms as governor, 1972–1980
Both in his political rhetoric and in his public persona, Edwards cast himself as a Louisiana
During his first two terms in office, Edwards developed a reputation for being one of the most colorful and flamboyant politicians in the history of a state known for its unorthodox political figures. Charismatic, well dressed, and quick with clever one-liners and retorts, Edwards maintained wide popularity.[citation needed]
On taking office, Edwards hired J. Kelly Nix as his executive assistant and in 1974 elevated him to first executive assistant. In the second term, however, Nix left the administration to take office as the Louisiana state school superintendent.[18] Dale Thorn, who had been Edwards' press secretary while he was in Congress, continued in that position for the first and most of the second Edwards terms. He was later associate commissioner of higher education for the Louisiana Board of Regents, and an LSU journalism professor.[19]
Under Edwards, Michael H. O'Keefe of New Orleans in 1976 was named president of the state Senate, an office that was held by the lieutenant governor prior to the implementation of the state Constitution of 1974. In 1983, as Edwards prepared to return to office, O'Keefe was engulfed in scandal and forced to leave the Senate. He was as replaced by Edwards loyalist Samuel B. Nunez Jr., of Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish. In 2013, O'Keefe was still serving time in prison for a 1999 conviction.[20]
Policies and achievements
After enduring three grueling rounds of voting in the 1971–1972 campaign, Edwards pushed a bill through the legislature that limited state elections to two rounds by having Democratic, Republican, and independent candidates run together on the same ballot in a
William Denis Brown, III, a lawyer and a state senator from Monroe, was Edwards's floor leader in the upper legislative chamber in the first term as governor. A native of Vicksburg, Mississippi reared on a plantation north of Lake Providence in East Carroll Parish, Brown was instrumental in drafting the Louisiana Mineral Code. Thereafter from 1980 to 1988, Brown was the chairman of the Louisiana Board of Ethics.[21]
Early in the first gubernatorial term, Edwards initiated the creation of the first new Louisiana state constitution in more than a half century. He intended to replace the Constitution of 1921, an unwieldy and outmoded document burdened with hundreds of amendments. A constitutional convention was held in 1973; the resulting document was put into effect in 1975. As of 2021[update], the 1973 Constitution remains in effect.[22] Edwards also undertook a major reorganization of the state government, abolishing over 80 state agencies and modeling the remaining structure after that of the federal government.[citation needed]
Edwards named State Representative J. Burton Angelle of Breaux Bridge as his director of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, a key appointment which Angelle filled for Edwards' first three terms of office.[23]
Edwards' tenure in the 1970s coincided with a huge boom in the state's oil and gas industry after the gas pricing crisis of 1973. Edwards was able to greatly expand the state's oil revenues by basing severance taxes on a percentage of the price of each barrel rather than the former flat rate. This oil money fueled a massive increase in state spending (a 163% increase between 1972 and 1980), and Edwards was able to consistently balance the state budget due to the boom in oil revenue. Much of this increased spending went toward health and human services programs and increased funding for vocational-technical schools and higher education.[citation needed]
Edwards easily won reelection in 1975, with 750,107 votes (62.3 percent). In second place was Democratic state senator Robert G. "Bob" Jones of Lake Charles, son of former governor Sam Houston Jones, with 292,220 (24.3 percent). Secretary of State Wade O. Martin Jr., ran third with 146,363 (12.2 percent). Thereafter, Jones and Martin became Republicans. Addison Roswell Thompson, the perennial segregationist candidate from New Orleans, made his last race for governor in the 1975 primary.[24]
Early scandals
Though arguably minor compared to the Edwards scandals of the 1980s and 1990s, the governor was embroiled in several ethics controversies during his first two terms in office. At the time, Edwards was remarkably candid about his questionable practices. When questioned about receiving illegal campaign contributions, he replied that "It was illegal for them to give, but not for me to receive."
During the governor's first term, a disaffected former Edwards bodyguard named Clyde Vidrine made several high-profile accusations of corruption, including the sale of state agency posts. The accusations were investigated by a grand jury, but the Edwards administration attacked Vidrine's credibility and the investigation stalled. Later, Vidrine published a tell-all book called Just Takin' Orders,[25] which included salacious details of Edwards' frequent gambling trips and extramarital escapades. Vidrine was murdered in December 1986 by the husband of a woman he was guarding, who believed Vidrine was having an affair with his wife.[26][27]
In a 1976 scandal known as Koreagate, it came to light that Edwards and his wife Elaine had received questionable gifts in 1971, while Edwards was a U.S. representative. South Korean rice broker Tongsun Park was under investigation for trying to bribe American legislators on behalf of the South Korean government, and for making millions of dollars in commissions on American purchases of South Korean rice. Edwards admitted that Park gave Elaine an envelope containing $10,000 in cash, but insisted that the gift was given out of friendship and that there was nothing improper about it. In the course of the controversy, Edwards stated that he thought it was "super moralistic" for the U.S. government to prohibit American businessmen to accept gifts from foreign officials in the course of their business dealings. The scandal also engulfed Edwards's former congressional colleague Otto Passman of Monroe, who was later acquitted of all charges in the case, but nonetheless was defeated in his 1976 re-election bid by Jerry Huckaby of Ringgold.
First political comeback: Edwards vs. Treen, 1983
Barred by the state constitution from seeking a third term immediately after his second, Edwards temporarily left politics in 1980 but made it clear he would run again for governor in 1983. He began raising money and touring the state long before the 1983 election, maintaining what supporters called "the government in waiting". Early in 1982, Edwards said that he was so committed to running again for governor that "only death alone can separate me from this. ... We are being led by a governor whose only answer to unemployment is to buy a $350,000 jet."[28]
In 1979, Republican
Before election day, Edwards joked with reporters: "The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy."[13][30] Edwards zinged Treen many times, once describing Treen as "so slow it takes him an hour and a half to watch 60 Minutes." During a gubernatorial debate in 1983, Treen asked Edwards, "How come you talk out of both sides of your mouth?" Edwards instantly responded, "So people like you with only half a brain can understand me."
Edwards' brother, Marion David Edwards (1928–2013),[31] was part of the 1983 campaign and of the entourage that headed to France and Belgium early in 1984 to raise money to repay a lingering $4.2 million campaign debt.[32] Six hundred supporters joined the Edwardses on an eight-day tour that included dinner at Versailles and gambling in Monte Carlo. Each paid $10,000. Edwards expected a 70 percent profit on the contributors' tickets to retire the debt. Bumper stickers were printed in blue and gold campaign colors and distributed to those who contributed to the retirement of this debt. For years afterwards, motorists saw stickers on vehicles bearing the slogan, "I did Paris with the Gov."[29]
Third term as governor, 1984–1988
State finances nosedived during the third Edwards administration. Money from petroleum
Much of Edwards' support in the 1970s had been fueled by high levels of social spending during times of economic prosperity; with economic conditions worsening, his popularity waned. To obtain passage of the higher taxes, Edwards first submitted Treen's 1984–1985 proposed budget as a warning to lawmakers. The Treen budget, he claimed, would cut state spending too drastically and cause roads to fall apart, bridges to collapse, and insurance premiums to skyrocket. Edwards predicted that if lawmakers passed Treen's budget instead of the higher taxes the voters would rebel and blame the legislature itself for the results.[34] In the end, Edwards got most of what he wanted and was able to use the excuse of teacher pay increases to put pressure on lawmakers.[35]
John Volz indictment and trials
In February 1985, soon after his third term began, Edwards was forced to stand trial on charges of
Russell B. Long had correctly predicted in March 1985 that Edwards would indeed be acquitted by a Louisiana jury and that the ensuing trial would not disrupt state government.[38] When Long announced his retirement from the U.S. Senate seat that he had held since 1948, he indicated his preference for Edwards as his senatorial successor but added, correctly, that he did not think Edwards would enter the 1986 Senate election.[39]
Prosecutors referred to Marion Edwards, also indicted in the alleged health care scheme, as a "bag man" for his brother. Marion ridiculed this characterization at a French Quarter bar in New Orleans, when media representatives were present. He placed a shopping bag on his head to resemble a crown and tossed about phony $100 bills.[32]
Edwards later recited during a toast at a French Quarter bar, though his beverage was non-alcoholic as he was a
Even after beating the Volz indictment, Edwin Edwards' popularity was in decline. Despite his acquittal, the trial brought many sordid details of Edwards's conduct under public scrutiny. It was revealed that during frequent gambling trips to Las Vegas, Edwards lost hundreds of thousands of dollars under aliases such as T. Wong, E. Lee, B. True and Ed Neff, later paying these gambling debts using suitcases stuffed with cash of unknown origin.[5]
After the trial, Edwards' support for the legalization of gambling as a solution to the state's severe revenue shortages contributed to a further decline in his popularity. He had made unpopular budget cuts to education and other social programs earlier in his term. Beginning in January 1986, he argued that legalizing casino gambling in up to fifteen locations and creating a
At first Edwards had predicted that a casino and a state lottery would net the state $600 million; then he lowered the expectations to $150 million.[40] Both gambling measures would eventually be implemented, but not during Edwards' third term.
Defeat: Edwards vs. Roemer, 1987
Several notable candidates lined up to face Edwards in the 1987 gubernatorial election. Perhaps his strongest early challenger was Republican Congressman Bob Livingston. Also in the race were Billy Tauzin, a then-Democratic Cajun congressman from Thibodaux who was a strong Edwards supporter while serving in the state legislature from 1972 to 1980; Democratic secretary of state Jim Brown of Ferriday, and a Democratic congressman from Bossier City, Buddy Roemer, the son of former Commissioner of Administration Charles Roemer, who climbed up from a series of low poll rankings early in the campaign.[citation needed]
"Anyone But Edwards"
Edwards was the issue of the campaign. Because of his name recognition, his resilient supporters, and unmatched political skill, even a weakened Edwards could safely assume he would win a place in Louisiana's unique primary election system runoff. The question was whether his opponent in the runoff would be someone who could beat him.[citation needed]
There was a prevailing sense in the race that Edwards needed Livingston in the runoff. Livingston was a Republican in a state that had at that point elected only one Republican governor since
In what seemed to be the end of Edwards' political career, the governor withdrew from the contest in his concession speech, automatically electing Buddy Roemer governor. In fact, he was cleverly setting a trap for Roemer. By withdrawing, Edwards denied Roemer the opportunity to build a governing coalition in the general election race, and denied him the decisive majority victory that he surely would have attained. In one stroke, Edwards made Buddy Roemer a minority governor. Also, Edwards virtually ceded control of the state to Roemer even before his inauguration. By doing so, he passed on the burden of the state's problems to the new governor, who was essentially under the gun even before assuming office. For four years, Roemer struggled to be a reform governor of Louisiana as so many had before him. And although virtually no one realized it at the time, Edwin Edwards quietly waited in the wings for a return to power.
Second comeback: Edwards vs. Duke, 1991
As the 1991 governor's race drew near, many of Edwards' friends encouraged him to abandon his planned comeback, believing he had no chance of winning. After Edwards' loss in 1987, journalist Lanny Keller wrote that the only way Edwin Edwards could ever be elected again was to run against Adolf Hitler.[41] Edwards's runoff opponent would be former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke.
The runoff between an avowed
Edwards found himself receiving endorsements from notable Republican politicians including Treen, Roemer, and even president George H. W. Bush. A popular bumper sticker urging support for Edwards read "Vote For the Crook. It's Important."[43][44] Another read "Vote for the Lizard, not the Wizard."[45][failed verification] Edwards said of Duke that "the only thing we have in common is that we both have been wizards beneath the sheets"[46] and feigned concern for Duke's health due to smoke inhalation "because he's around so many burning crosses".[5] When a reporter asked Edwards what he needed to do to triumph over Duke, Edwards replied "stay alive".[citation needed] On election day, Edwards defeated Duke in a landslide, 61 to 39 percent, a margin of nearly 400,000 votes.[citation needed]
Fourth term as governor, 1992–1996
In his last term, Edwards asked his boyhood friend, Raymond Laborde, to leave the state House after twenty years to serve as commissioner of administration. Laborde, who had once defeated Edwards for class president at Marksville High School and had earlier been his legislative floor leader, agreed to join the administration.[47] He invited former state Representative Kevin P. Reilly Sr., of Baton Rouge, former CEO of Lamar Advertising Company to serve as secretary of economic development. Reilly had been removed in 1986 as chairman of the Louisiana House Appropriations Committee after having criticized Edwards.[48]
In 1992, Edwards appointed the professional penologist, Richard Stalder, as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections, a position that used to be given to political supporters.[49] Stalder remained secretary until 2008, serving during three subsequent gubernatorial terms in the position.
During his previous term as governor, Edwards promoted casino gambling in Louisiana, which had been a major part of his platform in the 1991 campaign. In June 1992, his heavy lobbying led the state legislature to pass a bill calling for a single large land-based casino in New Orleans. He also appointed a board that, at his private direction, awarded 15 floating riverboat casinos that had been authorized by the Legislature and the Roemer administration. He appointed a political ally, Paul Fontenot, to head the State Police; he would oversee the licensing and investigation of casino operators. On another front he again demonstrated his broad commitment to civil rights by becoming the first Southern governor to issue an executive order protecting lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons from discrimination in state governmental services, employment, and contracts.[50]
Despite the discovery that some licensees had links to organized crime or other unsavory ties, Edwards blocked the revocation of their licenses. But a political backlash against gambling-related corruption began. Though he had originally planned to run for re-election in 1995, he announced in June 1994, shortly after marrying his second wife Candy Picou, that he would be retiring from politics at the end of his term.
Indictment and conviction
Former Congressman
After being fingered by Texas for-profit prison entrepreneur Patrick Graham, who allegedly gave him $845,000 in conjunction with a scheme to locate a private juvenile prison in
Edwards was found guilty on seventeen of twenty-six counts, including
Edwards' sometime co-conspirator, Cecil Brown, a Eunice cattleman, was convicted for his part in the payoffs in 2002.
In 2004, Edwards filed for divorce from his second wife Candy, saying that Mrs. Edwards had "suffered enough" during his incarceration. In June 2005, the former Mrs. Edwards was arrested for threatening a police officer at a traffic stop in Port Barre, screaming "don't you know who I am?"
In 2005, Edwards was moved to the
Two men whom Edwards defeated in Louisiana elections—David C. Treen and J. Bennett Johnston Jr.—and a third who was his protégé and successor in the Seventh District U.S. House seat, U.S. Senator John Breaux, confirmed in July 2007 that they intended to approach then U.S. President
Edwards supporters also lobbied U.S. President Barack Obama for a pardon for Edwards so he might run in the 2011 Louisiana gubernatorial election.[60] Obama did not reply to petitions by supporters of Edwards and lacking a pardon, Edwards remained ineligible to seek the governorship of Louisiana until the end of his life and would have only been eligible to run after fifteen years would have passed from the end of his sentence.[6]
In 2009, Edwards was listed as an "honorary pallbearer" at the funeral of perennial political candidate L. D. Knox of Winnsboro, who in the 1979 gubernatorial contest, when Edwards was not on the ballot, legally changed his name to "None of the Above" Knox to dramatize his support for the "None of the Above" option in elections.[61]
On January 13, 2011, Edwards was released from prison and served the remainder of his sentence at a halfway house.[62][63] His sentence ended on July 6, 2011[64] and he began three years of probation. He entered into home confinement at his daughter's Denham Springs, Louisiana home through the supervision of a halfway house, on January 13, 2011. Following that, Edwards was placed on probation.[65][66] On February 7, 2013, Edwards was granted early release from probation due to good behavior.[67] His wife Trina made the announcement on her Facebook page.[68][69]
In a poll taken in October 2011, months after he had been released from prison, 30 percent of respondents named Edwards the state's best governor since 1980.[70]
2014 Congressional election
In February 2014, Edwards announced that he was contemplating running in the
After Edwards' announcement, Cassidy told KEEL radio news in Shreveport that he doubted that Edwards "has a chance. It's a conservative district, and he's obviously not a conservative. But it kind of shows, I think, to a certain extent that the Democratic bench is weak."[74] Louisiana political writer John Maginnis said that Edwards was "likely to make the runoff" because of his name recognition, but "I don't see how he could win in a strong GOP-performance district like the 6th. But it should be entertaining." State pollster Elliott Stonecipher said that "the most basic math of the Edwards race yields an 'it is not impossible' answer" and former governor Buddy Roemer said that while it is unlikely, "yes, [Edwards] can win".[5]
An April 2014 article in
A September 2014 survey of statewide Louisiana voters by Public Policy Polling found that 40% had a favourable opinion of Edwards, 44% did not and 17% were unsure. Asked whether they would rather have Edwards as governor than incumbent Republican governor Bobby Jindal, 47% said they would prefer Edwards, 43% preferred Jindal and 10% were not sure.[76]
Edwards finished first in
As expected, Edwards as the principal Democratic candidate led the 2014 primary field for Congress with 77,862 votes (30.1 percent), winning every parish in the district.
Edwards' record of longevity
Edwards has the seventh longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,784 days.[80] Few governors have served four four-year terms. Edwards followed George Wallace of Alabama, Jim Hunt of North Carolina, Bill Janklow of South Dakota, Terry Branstad of Iowa, Lewis Cass of Michigan, and Jim Rhodes of Ohio as 16-year governors. However, Branstad was elected to a fifth nonconsecutive term as governor of Iowa in 2010, placing him second to George Clinton of New York (21 years) as the longest-serving governor in U.S. history, and won a sixth term as governor in 2014.[81] In December 2015 Branstad surpassed New York's George Clinton as the longest-tenured governor in American history, with 8,169 days in office.[82]
Veteran journalist Iris Kelso once described Edwards as clearly "the most interesting" of the six governors that she had covered while working for three newspapers and WDSU, the NBC television affiliate in New Orleans. Kelso declared Edwards more colorful than Earl Long, whom she covered for less than a year in the office.[83]
Personal life
Marriages and family
In 1949, Edwards married Elaine Schwartzenburg, whom he had met at Marksville High School. The couple had four children. In 1972, Edwards appointed her as an interim U.S. senator to complete the unfinished term of Allen J. Ellender of Houma, who died while campaigning for his seventh term in office. On July 1, 1989, the couple divorced after forty years of marriage. They had begun living apart on March 15, 1989.[84]
In 1994, Edwards married Candy Picou (born 1964). In 1997, the couple entered the headlines when they attempted to have a child. Edwards had a vasectomy reversal, and the couple froze sperm to attempt to have a baby but were not successful.[13]
In July 2011, Edwards married Trina Grimes, his prison pen pal. They began corresponding while he was serving his sentence for corruption. At the time of the wedding, he was 83, and she was 32.
Extended family
One of Edwards's brothers, Nolan Edwards, a former assistant district attorney in Acadia Parish, was murdered in Crowley by an irate client in 1983, the same year that Edwards was engineering his comeback bid for a third term as governor. Nolan's killer, Rodney Wingate Jr., of Church Point, Louisiana, then killed himself. Wingate had been pardoned by Governor Edwards in 1980 for two drug convictions in the 1970s, a pardon procured through the intervention of Nolan Edwards.[89] Nolan's murder halted the 1983 politicking. Newspapers carried a photograph of brothers Edwin and Marion locked in an embrace on an airport tarmac.[32]
Marion Edwards, an insurance agent and political consultant, was a cancer survivor and counseled other patients for many years. Born on July 10, 1928, in Marksville, he died on January 12, 2013, at the age of eighty-four at his home in
Another brother, Allen Edwards, the longtime owner of a farm and heavy equipment company in Quitman in northern Arkansas, died in 2009, while Edwards was in prison. Edwards did not attend the funeral because of security difficulties.
Edwards was an uncle by marriage to former U.S. Representative Charles Boustany, a Republican from Lafayette, whose district includes much of the territory represented from 1965 to 1972 by then-U.S. Representative Edwin Edwards. Boustany's wife is the former Bridget Edwards, a daughter of Nolan Edwards.[90]
Third wife and reality television show
On July 29, 2011, Edwards married Trina Grimes Scott (born August 1978) from Baton Rouge, at the Monteleone Hotel in New Orleans. Edwards' one-time prison pen pal, she was fifty-one years his junior and was born midway in his second term as governor.[91] She is a Republican.[92]
Edwin and Trina Edwards were the subjects of the reality show The Governor's Wife, which premiered October 27, 2013, on the
Following Edwards’s death, Trina remarried in 2023 to Louisiana politician John Alario.
Health and death
In 2015, Edwards was hospitalized for pneumonia.[96] On December 13, 2016, Edwards was hospitalized under stable condition again for pneumonia in Baton Rouge.[97]
Edwards was rushed to the hospital again by ambulance in November 2020, with shortness of breath. Edwards returned to his home in Gonzales after spending two nights at Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center in Baton Rouge. It was reported that he had a common head cold and he reportedly tested negative for both COVID-19 and pneumonia, as well as the flu. His wife told the media that he was resting well and "giving orders" once he got home.
Edwards was sent to
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- ^ Jeff Adelson. The Times-Picayune. February 7, 2013.
- ^ "WBRZ News 2 Louisiana : Baton Rouge, LA | View Tags". Wbrz.com. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
- ^ Ed Anderson (October 14, 2011). "Bobby Jindal and Edwin Edwards have been the best Louisiana governors, poll respondents say". NOLA.com.
- ^ "Ex-Con Ex-Louisiana Gov. Edwards Eyes Political Comeback, February 20, 2014". ABC News. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
- WDSU-TV. March 17, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
- ^ "Path to victory for Republicans in the 6th Congressional District is coming in 2nd in the primary". Nola.com. October 21, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
- ^ "Cassidy: Edwards 'Doesn't Have A Chance' In 6th District". KEEL. March 19, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
- ^ "Former Gov. Edwards returns to politics in 6th District race". The Daily Reveille. April 30, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
- ^ "Cassidy has small edge over Landrieu head to head" (PDF). Public Policy Polling. September 30, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
- ^ "Does Edwin Edwards have a legitimate shot at being elected to Congress?". Nola.com. October 28, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
- ^ "Edwin Edwards takes most parishes, but Dems only got 35% of vote in 6th Congressional primary". Nola.com. November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
- ^ "Election results 11/4/2014". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
- ^ Ostermeier, Eric (April 10, 2013). "The Top 50 Longest-Serving Governors of All Time". Smart Politics. Archived from the original on November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Terry Branstad re-elected to historic sixth term". desmoinesregister.com. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
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- ^ Minden Press-Herald, July 12, 1989, p. 1
- ^ "Ex-La. Gov, 83, marries 32-year-old prison pen pal". July 29, 2011.
- ^ "08 | nola.com".
- ^ a b Kondolojy, Amanda (September 26, 2013). "A&E Network Premieres 'The Governor's Wife' on Sunday October 27 at 10PM". TV by the Numbers (Press release). Archived from the original on October 1, 2013.
- ^ a b Stanley, Alessandra (October 25, 2013). "Real Politician of Louisiana, at Home". The New York Times.
- Lakeland Ledger, August 19, 1983. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
- ^ "Boustany, Dugal to unite in holy matrimony, May 2011". Crowley Post Signal. Retrieved December 9, 2012. [permanent dead link]
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- ^ Kevin, Allman (March 17, 2014). "Former Gov. Edwin Edwards announces run for U.S. Congress". Gambit. New Orleans. Archived from the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
- ^ "Ex-Gov. Edwin Edwards and wife to star in reality TV show, January 4, 2013". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
- ^ "Former Gov. Edwin Edwards' wife, Trina, announces pregnancy". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ "34-year-old wife of Edwin Edwards, 85, gives birth to boy". CBS News. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
- ^ Dominic Messa (December 13, 2016). "Former Governor Edwin Edwards in Hospital With Pneumonia". WWLTV.com. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
- ^ JR Ball (December 13, 2016). "Former Gov. Edwin Edwards hospitalized, recovering from Covid". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
- ^ Schnell, Michael (July 6, 2021). "Edwin Edwards in hospice care at Louisiana home". The Hill. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
- ^ "Former La. Governor Edwin Edwards has died at 93". WAFB. July 12, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ^ Bridges, Tyler (July 12, 2021). "Edwin Edwards, Louisiana populist who served 4 terms as governor and 8 years in prison, dies at 93". The Advocate. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
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