The Louisiana Democrat’s desperation caught President Trump’s attention. Three days later, in a video conference call with governors, the president committed to sending ventilators to Louisiana, Edwards announced at a news briefing later that day. The governor publicly thanked Trump — but added that he still didn’t know exactly how many ventilators were coming.

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Then within hours, at his own news conference, Trump specified the state would be getting 150. That evening, Edwards released a statement with more thanks for the president, packaged with a prod: “While this does not meet our overall need, each ventilator we get in Louisiana helps.”

The tale of the 150 ventilators is a snapshot of how Edwards has deftly managed his relationship with Trump. He advocates methodically for his state, highlighting gaps in federal resources, but in a manner that Trump hasn’t interpreted as criticism of his leadership. On television, the U.S. Military Academy graduate and former captain in the 82nd Airborne lacks the witty charisma of New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo or California Gov. Gavin Newsom. At daily news briefings, he relishes weedy statistics and invites experts and even political rivals to share the spotlight.

Louisiana was an early coronavirus hotspot, amassing 20,014 cases and 806 deaths. But as the latest data suggests the curve of new infections is flattening, Edwards’s handling of Trump stands as one important piece of an overall crisis response that is drawing bipartisan praise in Louisiana.

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“I think Louisiana is darn lucky to have him right now where he is,” said John Alario Jr., a Republican who was state Senate president during Edwards’s first term. “He tells some things people really don’t want to hear, but I think he’s very transparent about what’s going on.”

Former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu, a Democrat, praised Edwards’s balance in showing graciousness to the president when appropriate.

“But at the same time, he’s also been very clear about what the holes are in the delivery from the federal government,” Landrieu said. “And so you see him trying to thread that needle in a constructive but resourceful way.”

Edwards, 53 — an antiabortion, pro-gun-rights, devout Catholic who also championed Medicaid expansion, equal pay for women and criminal justice reform — was elected in November to a second term, despite Trump holding three rallies to defeat him. In a state that Trump carried by about 20 points, Edwards had to convince tens of thousands of Trump voters to choose him over his Republican opponent.

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During the reelection campaign, Trump said, “A vote for John Bel Edwards is a vote for radical leftists, who despise your values.” Now, he compares Edwards favorably to some other Democratic governors. Washington’s Jay Inslee is “always complaining” and Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer “blame[s] the federal government,” Trump said on Sean Hannity’s show March 26. “In the case of Louisiana, where you have a very good governor, John Bel Edwards — but he’s a Democrat — and he’s very thankful for what we’re doing.”

In an interview with The Washington Post on Wednesday, Edwards said that he’s using the same approach he took in seeking help from President Barack Obama in 2016, when record flooding rendered 56 of 64 Louisiana parishes major disaster areas.

“I don’t care who the leader is, you need to have the best possible working relationship with them if you want your request to be considered in the most favorable light,” he said.

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Not that Edwards has scored a windfall of coronavirus resources from Trump — but he has ensured that Louisiana is a significant player in the fierce 50-state competition for equipment, hospital beds and staff. Louisiana eventually received another 200 ventilators from the national stockpile, for a total of 350. The state also secured 400 from other sources.

That’s still not everything the state needs, Edwards said. “But we’re not being ignored either. . . . I really do feel like we’re getting our fair share.”

Trump had called him earlier that day, he said: “He just asked me how things are going.”

Certain Democratic governors have criticized the federal response to the coronavirus threat as too slow and disorganized. Some Louisiana Democrats roll their eyes at Edwards’s solicitousness toward Trump — but they consider it essential for the good of the state.

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“He’s biting his tongue on a lot of things,” Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D) said. “Not because he’s weak. He’s biting his tongue because it’s life or death for his constituents, and I just applaud him for that.”

(Spokesmen for Trump and Vice President Pence did not respond to requests for comment.)

With the flattening curve of new infections, Louisiana hasn’t needed as many ventilators as forecast. Edwards recently cut his total orders to 1,000.

Edwards grew up in tiny Amite City north of New Orleans. His father was sheriff of Tangipahoa Parish, and his mother was a nurse at Charity Hospital. He married his high school sweetheart, Donna, who became a schoolteacher, and they have three children. After eight years in the Army, Edwards went to law school and was later elected to the state House of Representatives.

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Raised outside the state’s traditional urban power centers by a medical professional in a political family and trained in crisis management in the military, Edwards is the right leader for the moment, said James Carville, the Democratic operative and Louisiana native.

“His general demeanor, his background, his hometown — it’s just like if you said, ‘Hey, the state’s going to face this crisis, go in the lab and get me the perfect person,’ you might have come up with someone close to him,” Carville said.

Current and former members of Edwards’s administration say his dealings with Trump are a hallmark of the pragmatic, bipartisan approach he has embraced as one of the few Democratic governors in the South.

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He appointed one of the Republicans who ran against him for governor in 2015, Jay Dardenne, to be his commissioner of administration. His chief of staff, Mark Cooper, a nearly 30-year veteran in the field of disaster response, also is a Republican. He appointed a supporter of abortion rights, Rebekah Gee, as secretary of health during his first term, and she helped him get health care to nearly 500,000 residents through Medicaid expansion.

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“His approach is sorely needed throughout this nation, the ability to cross party lines and work well regardless of political divisions,” Gee said.

Edwards acted relatively quickly as the threat of the pandemic became clearer. During the two weeks after the state’s first reported infection March 9, cases in Louisiana spiked at a more rapid rate than anywhere in the world, according to a researcher at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Edwards issued a stay-at-home order March 23, behind only California, Illinois and New York, according to a state policy database created by researchers at Boston University. Orders in Washington and Oregon also took effect March 23.

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Still, Edwards and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell have faced criticism that they should have canceled Mardi Gras festivities, which epidemiologists suspect helped spur the deadly community spread. In an interview April 5 on “State of the Union,” Edwards said, “There was not a single suggestion by anyone — a doctor, a scientist, a political figure — that we needed to cancel Mardi Gras.”

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Edwards’s stay-at-home order was initially criticized by some as government overreach. After issuing the order, he held a conference call with pastors and religious leaders, and as he tried to explain his policy, he got choked up.

“We were talking about something that is important to me as a person of faith,” Edwards said in the Post interview. “I haven’t missed Mass in more than six years. . . . To have people of faith questioning my commitment to the First Amendment and to their ability to continue to worship wasn’t something that I found pleasant.”

For the time being, a priest who is a friend visits the governor’s mansion on Saturday evenings to celebrate Mass with the governor and his family, permitted because it’s a gathering of fewer than 10 people.

During the pandemic, Edwards has been working out of a conference room overlooking the emergency operations center in Baton Rouge — a space used in Louisiana’s tragically well-rehearsed responses to hurricane disasters. To practice social distancing, just about 10 members of his team also work there, instead of the normal 40 or so, and about 75 toil on the main floor of the ops center, rather than the capacity of up to 400, Cooper said. The rest check in via conference calls. In another gesture of bipartisan support, state Rep. Charles Henry (R) said he recently sent a load of meals from Louisiana’s prized Drago’s Seafood Restaurant to Edwards’s staff in the war room.

Edwards speaks almost daily with Pence and periodically with Trump. His relationship with the president has been complicated since Trump was elected.

As the president hurled partisan insults during Edwards’s reelection campaign, the governor never responded in kind. During his victory speech, Edwards said simply, “As for the president — God bless his heart.” The crowd erupted in laughs and cheers, while Edwards held his silence for 11 seconds, gazing at his audience with the same inscrutable poker face that he displayed when delivering the news that Louisiana hadn’t received ventilators from the federal government.

“As I told the people in Louisiana when the president came here three times to campaign against me last year,” Edwards said in the Post interview, “I said: ‘This is the political season. He’s going to come down, and he’s going to try to get you to vote for my opponent. But when the election’s over, I’m going to win, and it’s going to be time to govern.’