Edwin Isn’t the Only Colorful One in Edwards Family

BATON ROUGE, La. —  If Gov. Edwin W. Edwards has an off week--and, since the indictment, locals say he hasn’t been nearly as amusing as usual--Louisianans can usually count on at least a couple of family members to stand in.

He has four grown children, but it is daughter Vicki, 33, who is a chip off the old block, as deliberately flamboyant as her father. A vivacious, dark-haired beauty, owner of an advertising agency (which ran Edwards’ last campaign), she recently caused a public gasp by comparing her father to Jesus Christ.

“Its true! They’re doing to Edwin Edwards exactly what the Pharisees did to Jesus,” she later elaborated, sitting in her office, feet on the desk. “Jesus was not guilty, but they had to have a reason to crucify him . . . because he was far too popular. Edwin has always been popular and he has a great deal of power, so the Republicans consistently try to bring him down.”

But she’s confident they won’t succeed.

Faith in Supreme Court

“All they can hope for is a jury of 12 people who are half retarded and half village idiots.” And should such a jury be found, she concluded, the Supreme Court will eventually overturn the conviction anyway.

“A Supreme Court judge will understand that the money he made in the (hospital) deal ($2 million) is not a lot of money,” she reasoned. “I mean, a million dollars might seem like a lot of money to somebody who lives on the bayous and eats alligators. But if the case goes to the Supreme Court, it’s not going to be a big deal, because those people have dealt in a realm that’s so much higher !”

Moving on, she described the single greatest burden of being the governor’s daughter: People are constantly asking her to use her influence to help them in one way or another. For such fools her contempt is unlimited.

“They want to pay me? That’s fine with me! I’m not the governor, and I can’t get anything done, but somebody wants to give me $50,000 to ask a question? You’re goddamned right, I’ll definitely take it!”

Chief Fund-Raiser

Then there’s Edwards’ brother Marion, also under indictment. A crusty, colorful, Bible-quoting Nazarene preacher (ordained in the Louisiana backwoods at 16, same as Edwin Edwards), the older Edwards has traditionally been his brother’s chief fund-raiser. Now he is a lobbyist for an oil-sulfur conglomerate that does business with the state. His posh office is just across from the state Capitol, within easy range of his brother’s office.

And, Marion Edwards boasted, he is doing a terrific job for his firm. “You just ask the (head) of this company, of all the lobbyists they’ve ever had who has accomplished more in the short time I’ve worked for them,” he challenged. The syntax was a little garbled, but you get the gist.

Earlier, Gov. Edwards had denied that his brother was a lobbyist at all. “He’s a public relations man for them in dealing with other companies, he’s not a lobbyist in the sense of trying to get legislation passed.”

‘Is Favoritism Wrong?’

Brother Marion, slower on the uptake, finally realized that favoritism was being suggested. First he denied it. “I go to them (legislators) as if I’m no relation to Edwin Edwards,” he said. Then, driving to the heart of his real feelings, “Anyway, is favoritism wrong?” In patient, teaching tones, he offered a memorable analogy.

“Take pencils. The state’s gotta buy ‘em. Now, the legal way of doing it is to give it to a person with the low bid. But every time you need a pencil, you can’t advertise 30 days and wait 10 and then have a bill put in.

“So, what they do is--let’s say one of your good friends and supporters is a pencil supplier, and one person that doesn’t like you is a pencil supplier, and they both have the same price. They choose a friend, and then the outside world wants to call that corruption! So it is favoritism! Is favoritism wrong?”

Cites Evangelist

He finished by comparing Edwards to evangelist Jimmy Swaggert. Marion Edwards doesn’t see why his brother is criticized for accepting gifts and money when Swaggert isn’t.

“Look at the thousands of dollars in stocks and properties that have been given to Swaggert! And why ?” he demanded, thumping the desk, then triumphantly answering himself.

“Because he performs a service to humanity , that’s why! Well, it’s the same thing with Edwin . . . he administers to people’s needs as a lawyer . . . so maybe they give him a thousand shares of stock. What’s wrong with that?”

His voice rising to a preacher’s thunder, he rose from his chair, eyes flaming. “What is Americanism all about? Two words! And you ought to know ‘em, or I’m gonna spank you!” Blessedly, he answered himself again. “Free enterprise!”

Lunch Date With Official

Before the interview ended, he absently interrupted himself to make a quick call confirming his lunch date with Edwards’ commissioner of administration, Louisiana’s chief budget official.

About the only member of Edwards’ immediate family who is not entertaining is his wife, Elaine, 57.

“One of the worst things about being First Lady is that you don’t have anybody’s shoulder to cry on. It’s such a lonely life and nobody knows it. People should treat us more like friends,” she said almost immediately, as she settled into a chair, twisting her hands in her lap.

A small, pretty woman, painfully honest, she was crippled by a bone disease in childhood, outgrew it, married Edwards right out of high school and always wished that she had gone to college. For most of her adult life, she said softly, she has felt “so terribly shy and insecure, like everyone else was smarter . . . like everyone was always looking at me, you know?”

‘Got Up the Nerve’

It wasn’t until she moved from the governor’s mansion in 1980, she said, that she finally “got up the nerve to try to do something on my own.”

Having sewed her own clothes for years, she began designing for others; now she does a small, unheralded business out of a garage on the family farm outside Baton Rouge.

And, lately, she adds, flushing slightly, new identities seem to be constantly unfolding before her eyes.

“I’d like to teach sewing . . . or become a professional hostess . . . plan parties professionally, or start a maid service. I’ve reached a stage in life where I think I’d just like to try everything!”

In contrast, Elaine Edwards shows little emotion when she discusses her husband’s upcoming trial. But she is completely convinced of his innocence.

‘He’s Just Too Sharp’

“Edwin is a very shrewd, capable and intelligent attorney,” she said, shaking her head, seemingly still puzzled to find him in this fix. “He has a way with words like nobody else, he’s read the Bible and the dictionary. He can twist things any way he wants to, he can make it all come out sounding just right. What I mean is, he’s just too sharp to do something . . . to go to jail.”

At the same time, she seems prepared for a conviction. “I’d have to manage the properties, collect the rents,” she mused idly, taking oral inventory. “And we’re fixed well enough that I’d never have worry. But now,” she added, “I could take care of myself if I had to.”