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u.s. news Diamars 13 Juli 2021

Ex-Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards dies; Biden to talk crime with city,

knew power and prison police leaders nationwide

always considered himself a
Cajun.

Raised a Roman Catho-
lic, Edwards preached in
the Church of the Naza-
rene as a teen and didn’t
drink or smoke. Despite
his unabashed fondness for
high-stakes gambling, dirty
jokes and his reputation as
a womanizer, he earned a
following among Catholics
and fundamentalists.

He had four children dur-
(AP) — Edwin Washing- during his final term in the ing a 40-year marriage to
ton Edwards, the high- 1990s. Edwards maintained his high school sweet-
living, quick-witted the case was built on secret- heart, the former Elaine
four-term governor who ly taped and misinterpreted Schwartzenburg, before
reshaped Louisiana’s conversations and the lies they divorced in 1989. Five
oil revenues and domi- of his former cronies, who years later, at 66, he mar-
nated the state’s poli- made deals to avoid jail. ried 29-year-old Candy (AP) — President Joe Biden will host New York City’s
tics for decades, a run Picou in a ceremony at the Democratic mayoral candidate and other city and law
all but overshadowed by But the conviction and governor’s mansion. They enforcement leaders from around the country to talk
scandal and eight years the numerous investiga- divorced after he went to about reducing crime.
in federal prison, died tions and allegations were prison, but he found a third
Monday. He was 93. an unavoidable stain on his wife in Trina Grimes, then Eric Adams, Brooklyn borough president and the likely next
legacy. 32, a pen-pal who visited mayor of New York, plus Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel
Edwards died of respira- him behind bars. Bowser and San Jose, California, Mayor Sam Liccardo are
tory problems with family “He had eloquence, creativ- among those expected to attend the meeting Monday, accord-
and friends by his bedside, ity, a razor-sharp mind, ex- “I would have walked into ing to the White House. Biden will also host Memphis Police
family spokesman Leo ecutive abilities that many prison a happy man had I Chief C.J. Davis, Chief David Brown of Chicago, Lt. Antho-
Honeycutt said, days after lacked, and leadership skills known how it was going to ny Lima of the Newark, New Jersey, police, and Chief Robert
entering hospice care at his that many envied. He could end,” he said at his lavish Tracy of the Wilmington, Delaware, Police Department.
home in Gonzales, near the relate to crowds better than 90th birthday bash in 2017.
Louisiana capital. almost any politician I ever Shootings and killings are up around the nation, with local
knew,” Louisiana State They had a son, Eli, in 2013 politicians and police struggling to manage the violence that
“I’ve made no bones that I University journalism pro- — Edwards’ fifth child has ballooned since the coronavirus pandemic. But there is a
have considered myself on fessor Robert Mann said in — and starred in a short- continued push for police reform, revived nationwide after
borrowed time for 20 years an email Monday. “He had lived reality TV show, “The the death of George Floyd, and Biden is trying to work on
and we each know that all everything, and yet squan- Governor’s Wife.” both simultaneously.
this fun has to end at some dered it by devoting much
point,” Edwards said days of his time to enriching his “He was so optimistic all The president recently announced new efforts to stem the
before he died, according friends. I’ve rarely seen a the time. Nothing both- tide of violence, but the federal government is limited in what
to his family’s statement. wider chasm between the ered him except bothering it can do to help localities reduce the spike. His plan focuses
promise for greatness and other people,” Trina Ed- on providing funding to cities that need more police, offering
The “Cajun King” was reality.” wards said. community support and cracking down on gun violence and
known for delivering a supplying illegal firearms.
steady supply of memora- Silver-haired and gifted According to the statement,
ble one-liners as well as for with an easy charm, Ed- she said his dying words But much of Biden’s effort is voluntary — centered on en-
his deft political instincts. wards dominated Louisiana were to his 7-year-old son: couraging cities to invest some of their COVID-19 relief
Infamously, the lifelong politics in the late 20th cen- “Eli told him every night, funds into policing and pushing alternative crime reduction
Democrat said once said tury much as Huey P. Long ‘I love you.’ And he told steps such as increased community support and summer jobs
that the only way he could had dominated its earlier Eli, ‘I love you, too.’ Those for teenagers — often both targets and perpetrators of vio-
lose to a particularly lack- years. They shared a pop- were his last words.” lence.
luster Republican was if he ulist appeal to the state’s
were “caught in bed with a downtrodden, and political A lawyer, Edwards began Biden will be joined Monday by Attorney General Merrick
dead girl or a live boy.” fortunes that flowed in part his political career on the Garland and other anti-violence experts. The president is ex-
from taxes on oil. But the City Council in the town pected to talk through the work federal law enforcement is
A native of Louisiana’s dealmaking Edwards had a of Crowley in 1954 before doing to stop the flow of illegal guns, including new strike
Acadiana region who swore cooler demeanor. moving on to the state Leg- forces in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and
his 1972 oath of office in islature, then Congress. He Washington to help take down illegal gun traffickers and a
French and English, Ed- Edwards was born on Aug. won the governor’s office new “zero tolerance” policy for dealers who sell guns illegally.
wards enjoyed renewed 7, 1927, to a sharecropper in 1972 with help from
popularity after emerging and a midwife in Avoyelles organized labor and Black A federal effort is underway to expand and enhance commu-
from prison in 2011 at age Parish, in the region settled voters realizing their civil nity violence interruption programs in 15 cities.
83, with his flamboyant by 18th century French rights-era strength.
character intact. exiles from Nova Scotia Adams, a former New York Police Department captain, is the
who came to be known He appointed more African prohibitive favorite in the general election against Curtis Sli-
The federal case that led to as Cajuns. According to Americans to policy-mak- wa, the Republican founder of the Guardian Angels. Demo-
his May 2000 conviction his authorized biography, ing positions than any pre- crats outnumber Republicans 7-to-1 in New York City.
involved him taking pay- his father’s ancestors were vious governor and spear-
offs from interests seeking Welsh; his mother’s conti- headed the adoption of a Adams won a crowded primary after appealing to the politi-
riverboat casino licenses nental French; but Edwards new constitution. cal center and promising to strike the right balance between
fighting crime and ending racial injustice in policing.