John Edwards

John Edwards
Name	John Edwards
Caption	Official portrait, 2005
Office	United States Senator from North Carolina
Term start	January 3, 1999
Term end	January 3, 2005
Predecessor	Lauch Faircloth
Successor	Richard Burr
Office1	Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Term start1	January 3, 2001
Term end1	January 3, 2003
Predecessor1	Christopher Bond
Successor1	Olympia Snowe
Office2	Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee
Term start2	2005
Term end2	2006
Predecessor2	Position established
Successor2	Mike Honda
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Elizabeth Edwards (m. 1977; died 2010), Rielle Hunter (m. 2011)
Children	5, including Cate Edwards
Alma mater	North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina School of Law
Profession	Lawyer

John Edwards was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States senator from North Carolina from 1999 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2004 alongside presidential nominee John Kerry. Edwards gained national prominence as a plaintiffs' attorney in high-profile product liability and medical malpractice cases before his election to the Senate. His political career was later overshadowed by a major personal scandal.

Early life and education

He was born in Seneca, South Carolina, and raised in the textile mill community of Robbins, North Carolina. His father, Wade Edwards, worked as a textile mill floor supervisor, while his mother, Bobbie Edwards, ran a shop and later worked for the United States Postal Service. Edwards attended North Carolina State University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in textile technology. He then earned his Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill, graduating first in his class.

Legal career

After law school, he clerked for federal district judge Franklin Dupree in Raleigh, North Carolina. He then joined the Nashville law firm of Dearborn & Ewing before returning to North Carolina to practice with the firm of Tharrington Smith. He later founded his own firm in Raleigh, specializing in personal injury and product liability litigation. He achieved significant verdicts and settlements in cases against major corporations like Sta-Rite Industries and Aetna, earning a national reputation and considerable wealth.

Political career

In 1998, he successfully challenged incumbent Republican senator Lauch Faircloth, focusing on themes of "the people versus the powerful." In the Senate, he served on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (which he chaired), and the Select Committee on Intelligence. He was a prominent advocate for the Patients' Bill of Rights and campaign finance reform. In 2004, he was selected as the vice-presidential running mate for John Kerry on the Democratic ticket, which lost the general election to incumbent George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

2008 presidential campaign

He launched his campaign for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination in December 2006 in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. His platform centered on ambitious proposals to combat poverty, provide universal health care, and address climate change. He placed second in the Iowa caucuses but performed poorly in subsequent primaries. He suspended his campaign in January 2008 after finishing third in the South Carolina primary, a state he had won in 2004. He later endorsed the eventual nominee, Barack Obama.

Post-political career and later life

After leaving politics, he returned to legal advocacy, founding the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His public life was irrevocably damaged by the revelation of an extramarital affair with campaign videographer Rielle Hunter, which produced a child, and the subsequent federal criminal trial in 2011 on charges of violating campaign finance laws to conceal the affair. He was acquitted on one count, and a mistrial was declared on the remaining charges, which the Department of Justice later dropped. He largely retreated from public view thereafter.

Personal life

He married fellow law student Elizabeth Edwards in 1977. They had four children: Wade (who died in a 1996 car accident), Cate, Emma Claire, and Jack. Elizabeth was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, which later metastasized; she died in 2010. His affair with Rielle Hunter during his wife's illness and his 2008 campaign became a major public scandal. He married Hunter in 2011, and they have one daughter together. He has resided primarily in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Category:American lawyers Category:Democratic Party United States senators Category:People from North Carolina