Edwards was the last in a long line of colorful populist Democrats who once dominated Louisiana politics. He served four terms as governor, and did federal prison time on a corruption conviction.

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A populist firebrand and four-term Louisiana Governor, Edwin Edwards died today at the age of 93. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports Edwards' political reign was legendary, as was his corruption and fall from power.

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE: Edwin Edwards was the last of the larger-than-life populists who once dominated Louisiana politics - the Huey Long mold. He built his career on political patronage, public works and sheer force of personality.

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EDWIN EDWARDS: I'm of the people. I'm common. I'm ordinary.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Laughter).

EDWARDS: I don't speak good English, cher.

ELLIOTT: Even at age 87, trying to stage a political comeback, the French Creole Edwards was still explaining his reputation for womanizing.

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EDWARDS: People talk about me. And out of that came things like silver zipper. And I like to say, well, maybe so, but now it's rusty zipper.

ELLIOTT: Edwin Washington Edwards, a child of the Depression, represented Cajun country in Congress starting in 1965 after a stint in the state Senate. He was elected governor of Louisiana in 1972, the first of an unprecedented four terms spanning three decades and marked by scandal.

STEPHANIE GRACE: He was a bad boy, and people loved him for it. He - you know, just the ultimate rogue of a politician.

ELLIOTT: New Orleans political columnist Stephanie Grace says Edwards was the end of a line of Southern New Deal Democrats.

GRACE: The people with the big personalities who appealed often to the less well-off voters; big government people; maybe had this philosophy that, you know, you took care of people, and you skimmed a little off for yourself, and that was OK.

ELLIOTT: Edwards funded hospitals, schools and was among the first elected officials in Louisiana to bring African Americans into the political fold. Quick-witted and a dapper dresser, Edwards was known for gambling trips to Vegas and hosting poker games in the governor's mansion. Despite repeated allegations of corruption that netted those around him, Edwards appeared, for a time, above the fray, able to navigate an ethical tightrope, even with the feds on his trail. Ever confident, he famously quipped the only way he'd get beat was if he was caught with a...

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EDWARDS: ...Dead woman or a live boy. But even with that, I don't know if I'd have lost had I been caught. However, there was no chance they could ever catch me in either situation.

ELLIOTT: He did lose in 1987 to a good government candidate, but was back four years later in a contest against former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke that garnered national attention. Bumper stickers proclaimed, vote for the crook. It's important. Voters obliged, and Edwards won a record fourth term in 1991.

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EDWARDS: Tonight, Louisiana became first - first to turn back the merchant of hate, the master of deceit.

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ELLIOTT: But federal prosecution loomed. Edwards was caught in an extortion scheme, soliciting bribes to steer riverboat casino licenses to the high bidders. A jury convicted him in 2000.

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EDWARDS: I regret that it has ended this way, but that is the system. I lived 72 years of my life within the system. I'll spend the rest of my life within the system.

ELLIOTT: He served eight years. When he got out, he married his third wife, a prison pen pal more than 50 years younger. Ever in the spotlight, the couple and their infant son starred in a short-lived and widely panned reality TV show called "The Governor's Wife." Edwin Edwards attempted political redemption in 2014 running for Congress.

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EDWARDS: It's in my blood. Old doctors don't want to quit. Old farmers don't want to quit. We feel fulfilled doing what we think we were call to do. And my calling has been public life.

ELLIOTT: But his populist formula felt like a relic in the modern political climate, and Edwards lost to a Republican candidate. As if trying to salvage his legacy, Edwards would wind down his stump speech that year, saying, I'd like your vote, but I'd rather have your respect.

Debbie Elliott, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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