Huey Long once described himself as sui generis. In the galaxy of American cities: New Orleans fits the same description. There is no other place like it — from the mania and madness of Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras, to the unbelievably hot, humid afternoons of late summer dozing on a bene in Jackson Square or watching the sails move in and out of the Lake Ponchartrain haze.

New Orleans is a city for the senses. The sight of a worn-out streetcar still clanking along under the oak trees of St. Charles Avenue. The smell of beer and whiskey and urine being washed down in the French Quarter by the 5 a.m. street cleaner. The moaning sound of a clarinet as it reaches out for “Just a Closer Walk With Thee.” And the taste of some of the best restaurant cooking in the country.

New Orleans also is a city par excellence of politics and politicians. Its political intrigues and range of personalities challenge the imagination. Louisiana has been described as the “westernmost of Arab States,” with New Orleans as its capitol. The zest and intensity with which the game of politics is played even overwhelms the natives from time to time.