Edward Irving Edwards (December 1, 1863 – January 26, 1931) was an American
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Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Jersey City public schools and New York University. He later studied law in the office of his brother, William David Edwards, who was also a state senator.The Political Graveyard /ref> On November 14, 1888, he married Blanche Smith. They had two children, Edward Irving, Jr. and Elizabeth Jules. He engaged in banking and in the general contracting business. He later became president and chairman of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Jersey City.
Edwards entered politics and became part of the Hudson County Democratic Organization, being elected state senator in 1918. He became a friend and close political ally of Mayor Frank Hague, Frank "Boss" Hague, who ran the Democratic machine in Hudson County, and later the whole state of New Jersey. Hague supported Edwards's gubernatorial run in 1919.
At the end of his term, forbidden by the state constitution to run for a consecutive term, he ran for the United States Senate in 1922. Campaigning against the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) and with the support of the Hague Democratic Political Machine, Edwards defeated incumbent Republican
Joseph S. Frelinghuysen
Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen Sr. (March 12, 1869 – February 8, 1948) represented New Jersey as a Republican in the United States Senate from 1917 to 1923.
Early life and family
He was born in Raritan, New Jersey, on March 12, 1869, to Frede ...
by almost 90,000 votes and served from March 4, 1923, to March 3, 1929.
After six years in the Senate, Edwards ran for re-election against Republican Hamilton Kean in 1928. Kean came out against Prohibition also which hurt Edwards who used his "Applejack Campaign" so successfully in the past. Also, Edwards could not overcome the "Coolidge Prosperity" that was sweeping the country. He lost by over 230,000 votes, having 41.8% of the vote to Kean's 57.8%.
After returning to Jersey City in March 1929, his luck turned for the worse. His wife had died in 1928 and his relationship with Mayor Hague went downhill when Hague supported
A. Harry Moore
Arthur Harry Moore (July 3, 1877 – November 18, 1952) was an American Democratic politician and attorney who was the 39th governor of New Jersey, serving three nonconsecutive three-year terms between 1926 and 1941. As of , Moore remains t ...
instead of Edwards for governor. He went broke in the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and was implicated in an
electoral fraud
Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...
scandal.
Death
Edwards was diagnosed with skin cancer and shot himself in his apartment at 131 Kensington Avenue in
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Bayview – New York Bay Cemetery
Bayview Cemetery, previously called Greenville Cemetery, is located in Jersey City, New Jersey. It merged with New York Bay Cemetery and is now known as Bayview – New York Bay Cemetery.
History
The cemetery was built in 1848. It is located in ...
in the plot of his older brother, William David Edwards, who died in 1916.
List of people with reduplicated names
Reduplication is a process by which the root or stem of a word, or part of it, is repeated. Alternative terms include cloning, doubling, duplication, and repetition. Reduplication has a grammatical function in some languages, such as plurality ...