Edward Francis Renwick (June 26, 1938 – March 6, 2020), was an American

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

who was Professor Emeritus of Political Science and the former Director of the Institute of Politics at

Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a private Jesuit university in New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. He received a bachelor's degree from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in Washington, D.C. and then took post-graduate studies at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. In 1967, he moved to

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

to complete research for his Ph.D. dissertation about

Earl Long Earl Kemp Long (August 26, 1895 – September 5, 1960) was an American politician and the 45th governor of Louisiana, serving three nonconsecutive terms. Long, known as "Uncle Earl", connected with voters through his folksy demeanor and c ...

. After completing his graduate studies, Renwich remained in New Orleans as a professor at Loyola University and its Institute of Politics. He also became a popular political analyst for

WWL-TV WWL-TV (channel 4) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Slidell-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WUPL (channel 54). Both stations share studios on Rampart S ...

, the CBS affiliate in New Orleans. A Democrat, Renwick said that he could not leave Louisiana because the state is "heaven for a political junkie". According to Renwick:

"We're so divided in Louisiana – by ethnicity, by race, by religion, by language, by geography. You have the French and the non-French, the Catholics and the Protestants, North and South, black and white, liberal and conservative. Having all these different forces makes the politics lively. It's never boring here... Because Louisiana is so divided, it's difficult to put together 51 percent of a legislative body, and if you're going to get anything accomplished, you have to do that.

In the

1992 U.S. presidential election The 1992 United States presidential election was the 52nd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1992. Democratic Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeated incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush, independen ...

, Renwick attributed the defeat of U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush to the Independent candidate, also from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, H. Ross Perot. Renwick said that the winning candidate

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...

ran little better among white voters than had the 1988 Democratic nominee,

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history a ...

. "Perot gutted the Republican vote," Renwick told the organization, the Council for a Better Louisiana. Renwick took the view that Bush would have been the alternate choice of the Independent dissenters that year and that the Perot candidacy enabled Clinton to win the election with 43 percent of the popular vote.

Honors

In 1999, Renwick was inducted into the

Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame The Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame is a museum and hall of fame located in Winnfield, Louisiana. Created by a 1987 act of the Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) ...

in Winnfield. The Renwick Lecture Series at Loyola University is named in his honor.

References

1938 births 2020 deaths Journalists from Louisiana American political scientists American television reporters and correspondents Loyola University New Orleans faculty Scientists from Chicago People from New Orleans Georgetown University alumni University of Arizona alumni Louisiana Democrats {{US-polisci-bio-stub