Edwin Washington Edwards was an American politician who served as the 50th governor of Louisiana for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a U.S. representative for Louisiana's 7th congressional district from 1965 to 1972. He served twice as many elected terms as any other Louisiana chief executive. He served a total of almost 16 years in gubernatorial office, which at 5,784 days is the sixth-longest such tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history.