Editing John Edwards (section)

==Political career==

===Policy positions===
{{update|date=April 2023}}
{{main|Political positions of John Edwards}}
Edwards promotes programs to eliminate poverty in the United States, including arguing in favor of creating one million housing vouchers over five years in order to place poor people in middle-class neighborhoods. Edwards has stated, "If we truly believe that we are all equal, then we should live together too."<ref>{{cite news |last=MacGillis |first=Alec |publication-date=May 7, 2007 |date=May 7, 2007 |title=On Poverty, Edwards Faces Old Hurdles |location=Washington, D.C. |newspaper=The Washington Post |pages=A01 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/06/AR2007050601322_pf.html |access-date=January 26, 2008 }}</ref> He also supports "College for Everyone" initiatives.
Although Edwards initially supported the Iraq War, he later changed his position and in November 2005 wrote an [[op-ed]] in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in which he said he expressed regret for voting for the [[Iraq War Resolution]] and discussed three solutions for success in the conflict.<ref name="WashpoOpEd">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/11/AR2005111101623.html |title=The Right Way in Iraq |author=John Edwards |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=B07 |date=November 13, 2005 |access-date=December 18, 2007}}</ref> He denounced the "[[Iraq War troop surge of 2007|troop surge]]" in Iraq, was a proponent for withdrawal, and urged Congress to withhold funding for the war without a withdrawal timetable.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/23/democrats.dilemma/index.html |title=Dems in tough spot with war funding bill |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=May 24, 2007 |access-date=May 24, 2007}}</ref>

On social policy, Edwards supports abortion rights and has a [[universal healthcare]] plan that requires all Americans to purchase healthcare insurance,<ref name="Healthcare_required">{{cite web |url=http://www.johnedwards.com/issues/health-care/health-care-fact-sheet/ |title=Universal Health Care Through Shared Responsibility |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127145817/http://johnedwards.com/issues/health-care/health-care-fact-sheet/ |archive-date=January 27, 2010}}</ref> "requires that everybody get preventive care", and requires employers to provide health care insurance or be taxed to fund public health care.<ref name="Healthcare_preventive">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/06/us/politics/06edwards.html |title=Edwards Details His Health Care Proposal |work=The New York Times |date=6 February 2007 |first1=John M. |last1=Broder |access-date=11 April 2015}}</ref><ref name="Q&A">{{cite news |url=http://www.coxwashington.com/news/content/reporters/stories/2007/02/07/BC_EDWARDS_QANDA06.html |title=Q&A With John Edwards On Health Care |author=Scott Shepard |publisher=Cox News Service |date=February 7, 2007 |access-date=December 18, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080110165652/http://www.coxwashington.com/news/content/reporters/stories/2007/02/07/BC_EDWARDS_QANDA06.html |archive-date=January 10, 2008}}</ref>  He supports a pathway to citizenship for [[illegal immigrant]]s,<ref name="Q&A" /> is opposed to a [[Federal Marriage Amendment|constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage]];<ref name="Edwards on the issues">{{cite news |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/2004/John_Edwards_Civil_Rights.htm |title=John Edwards on Civil Rights (2004) |publisher=On The Issues |year=2004 |access-date=3 January 2007}}</ref> and supports the repeal of the [[Defense of Marriage Act]] (DOMA).<ref>{{cite web |title=John Edwards on Civil Rights (2008) |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/John_Edwards_Civil_Rights.htm |publisher=On The Issues |year=2008 |access-date=8 April 2008}}</ref>

Edwards endorsed efforts to slow down global warming<ref>{{cite web |work=Friends of the Earth Action |date=16 September 2007 |access-date=1 May 2008 |url=http://action.foe.org/content.jsp?content_KEY=3354&t=FoE_Action_PAC.dwt |title=John Edwards' Record on the Environment |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081106175848/http://action.foe.org/content.jsp?content_KEY=3354&t=FoE_Action_PAC.dwt |archive-date=November 6, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref> and was the first presidential candidate to describe his campaign as [[carbon-neutral]].<ref>{{cite web |work=Grist |date=1 August 2007 |access-date= 1 May 2008 |url=http://www.grist.org/feature/2007/07/edwards_factsheet/ |title=A look at John Edwards' environmental platform and record}}</ref>

===Senate tenure===
{{stack|
[[File:Health care 63998u (cropped).jpg|thumb|Edwards, [[Barbara Mikulski]], and [[Tom Daschle]] at a rally urging the passing of the Democrats' health care package, the Patients' Bill of Rights (1999).]]
[[Image:John Edwards on Meet The Press.jpg|thumb|upright|Senator Edwards on ''[[Meet the Press]]'']]
}}
Edwards won election to the U.S. Senate in [[1998 United States Senate election in North Carolina|1998]] as a Democrat running against incumbent Republican Senator [[Lauch Faircloth]]. Despite originally being the underdog, Edwards beat Faircloth by 51.2% to 47.0% — a margin of some 83,000 votes. He served alongside fellow Republican Senator [[Jesse Helms]] until Helms left office in 2003, having chosen to not seek reelection in 2002.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sen. John Edwards|url=https://www.wired.com/2001/08/jesse-helms-wont-seek-sixth-term/|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|date=August 23, 2001|access-date=September 11, 2023}}</ref>

During [[President of the United States|President]] [[Bill Clinton]]'s [[Impeachment of Bill Clinton|1999 impeachment trial in the Senate]], Edwards was responsible for the [[deposition (law)|deposition]] of witnesses [[Monica Lewinsky]] and fellow Democrat [[Vernon Jordan, Jr.]] During the 2000 presidential campaign, Edwards was on Democratic nominee [[Al Gore]]'s vice presidential nominee short list (along with [[John Kerry]] and [[Joe Lieberman]], Gore's eventual pick).<ref>{{cite news|last=Rudin|first=Ken|title=Sen. John Edwards|url=https://www.npr.org/programs/specials/democrats2004/edwards.html|publisher=[[National Public Radio]]|date=January 30, 2003|access-date=April 8, 2008}}</ref>

In his time in the Senate, Edwards co-sponsored 203 bills.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/?Db=d107&querybd=@FIELD(FLD004+@4((@1(Sen+Edwards++John))+01573)): | archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20080918121035/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/?&Db=d107&querybd=@FIELD(FLD004+@4((@1(Sen+Edwards++John))+01573)): | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 18, 2008 | title=Search Results | publisher=The Library of Congress | access-date=March 25, 2007 }}</ref> Among them was Lieberman's 2002 [[Iraq War]] Resolution (S.J.Res.46), which he co-sponsored along with 15 other senators, but which did not go to a vote.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:SJ00046:@@@P: | title=S.J.RES.46 | publisher=The Library of Congress | access-date=March 25, 2007 | archive-date=September 18, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918120940/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:SJ00046:@@@P: | url-status=dead }}</ref> He voted for replacement resolution (H.J Res. 114) in the full Senate to authorize the use of military force against Iraq, which passed by a vote of 77 to 23,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00237 | title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes: H.J Res. 114 | publisher=United States Senate | access-date=December 18, 2007}}</ref> On October 10, 2002, he stated that:

{{blockquote|"Almost no one disagrees with these basic facts: that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a menace; that he has weapons of mass destruction and that he is doing everything in his power to get nuclear weapons; that he has supported terrorists; that he is a grave threat to the region, to vital allies like [[Israel]], and to the United States; and that he is thwarting the will of the international community and undermining the United Nations' credibility."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=apXyrHjc4RSs&refer=us | title=Edwards Says He Still Would Have Voted to Authorize War in Iraq | author=Jay Newton-Small and Laurence Arnold | publisher=Bloomberg News | date=October 11, 2004 | access-date=August 17, 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930064943/http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=apXyrHjc4RSs&refer=us | archive-date=September 30, 2007 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>}}

On October 10, 2004, Edwards further defended his vote during an appearance on ''[[Meet the Press]]'': {{blockquote|"I would have voted for the resolution knowing what I know today, because it was the right thing to do to give the president the authority to confront [[Saddam Hussein]] ... I think Saddam Hussein was a very serious threat. I stand by that, and that's why [John Kerry and I] stand behind our vote on the resolution."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6200928 | title=Meet the Press transcript for October 10, 2004}}</ref>}}

Edwards subsequently changed his mind about the war and apologized for that military authorization vote.{{when|date=March 2024}} Edwards also voted in favor of the [[Patriot Act]].{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Among other positions, Edwards was generally [[pro-choice]] and supported [[affirmative action]] and the [[Capital punishment in the United States|death penalty]]. One of his first sponsored bills was the ''Fragile X Research Breakthrough Act of 1999''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c106:S.1131.IS: | title=Fragile X Research Breakthrough Act of 1999 | publisher=Library of Congress | date=May 26, 1999 | access-date=March 25, 2007 | archive-date=September 18, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918121107/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c106:S.1131.IS: | url-status=dead }}</ref> He was also the first person to introduce comprehensive anti-spyware legislation with the ''Spyware Control and Privacy Protection Act''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:SN03180:@@@L&summ2=m& | title=S.3180 | publisher=The Library of Congress | access-date=March 25, 2007 | archive-date=September 18, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918120902/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:SN03180:@@@L&summ2=m& | url-status=dead }}</ref> He advocated rolling back the [[George W. Bush|Bush administration]]'s tax cuts and ending [[mandatory sentencing|mandatory minimum sentencing]] for non-violent offenders.<ref name=ontheissues>{{cite web | url=http://ontheissues.org/John_Edwards.htm | title=John Edwards on the Issues | publisher=OnTheIssues | access-date=March 25, 2007}}</ref> Edwards generally supported expanding legal immigration to the United States while working with [[Mexico]] to provide better border security and stop illegal trafficking.<ref name=ontheissues/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://grades.betterimmigration.com/testgrades.php3?District=NC&VIPID=483&retired=1 |title=Immigration Voting Report Card for Sen. John Edwards |publisher=Grades.betterimmigration.com |access-date=May 24, 2010 |archive-date=January 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107041405/http://grades.betterimmigration.com/testgrades.php3?District=NC&VIPID=483&retired=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Edwards served on the [[U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]], the [[U.S. Senate Committee on Judiciary]], and was a member of the [[New Democrat Coalition]].{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Before the [[United States Senate election in North Carolina, 2004|2004 Senate election]], Edwards announced his retirement from the Senate and supported [[Erskine Bowles]], former [[White House Chief of Staff]], as the successor to his seat; Bowles was defeated by Republican [[Richard Burr]] in the election.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

===Post-Senate activities===
[[File:Edwards Sarandon Robbins.jpg|thumb|[[Susan Sarandon]] and [[Tim Robbins]] appear alongside Edwards at a presidential campaign rally in 2008]]

The day after his concession speech, he announced his wife Elizabeth had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Edwards told interviewer [[Larry King]] that he doubted he would return to practice as a trial lawyer and showed no interest in succeeding [[Terry McAuliffe]] as the [[Democratic National Committee]] chairman.

In February 2005, Edwards headlined the "100 Club" Dinner, a major fundraiser for the [[New Hampshire]] Democratic Party. That same month, Edwards was appointed as director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]] for studying ways to move people out of poverty. That fall, Edwards toured ten major universities in order to promote "Opportunity Rocks!", a program aimed at getting youth involved to fight poverty.

On March 21, 2005, Edwards recorded his first [[podcast]]<ref name=Podcast>{{cite web |title=Sen. John Edward's Podcast |url=http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Politics/U.S.-Government/Sen-John-Edwards-Podcast/6875 |website=Learn Out Loud |access-date=11 April 2015 |date=2008}}</ref> with [[Elizabeth Anania Edwards|his wife]]. Several months later, in August, Edwards delivered an address to a potential key supporter in the Iowa caucus, the [[AFL–CIO]] in [[Waterloo, Iowa]].

In the following month, Edwards sent an email to his supporters and announced that he opposed the nomination of Judge [[John G. Roberts]] to become [[Chief Justice of the United States]]. He was also opposed to the nomination of Justice [[Samuel Alito]] as an Associate Justice and Judge Charles Pickering's appointment to the Federal bench.

During the summer and fall of 2005, he visited [[homeless shelter]]s and job training centers and spoke at events organized by [[Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now|ACORN]], the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People|NAACP]] and the [[Service Employees International Union|SEIU]]. He spoke in favor of an expansion of the [[earned income tax credit]]; in favor of a crackdown on [[predatory lending]]; an increase in the [[capital gains tax]] rate; [[Section 8 (housing)|housing vouchers]] for [[minority group|racial minorities]] (to integrate upper-income neighborhoods); and a program modeled on the [[Works Progress Administration]] to rehabilitate the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]] following [[Hurricane Katrina]]. In [[Greene County, North Carolina]], he unveiled the pilot program for College for Everyone, an educational measure he promised during his presidential campaign, in which prospective college students would receive a scholarship for their first year in exchange for ten hours of work a week. The College for Everyone program was canceled in July 2008.<ref>{{cite news |first=Rob |last=Christenson |title=Edwards ending college program |url=http://www.newsobserver.com/news/higher_education/story/1160097.html |work=[[The News & Observer]] |date=July 31, 2008 |access-date=August 4, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906135759/http://www.newsobserver.com/news/higher_education/story/1160097.html |archive-date=September 6, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Edwards was co-chair of a [[Council on Foreign Relations]] task force on [[Russia-United States relations|United States-Russia relations]] alongside Republican [[Jack Kemp]], a former congressman, Cabinet official and vice presidential nominee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cfr.org/publication.html?id=8142 |title=John Edwards and Jack Kemp Co-Chair Council Task Force on Russian-American Relations – Council on Foreign Relations |publisher=Cfr.org |date=May 31, 2005 |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref> The task force issued its report in March 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/9997/ |title=Russia's Wrong Direction |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |access-date=May 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524214330/http://www.cfr.org/publication/9997/ |archive-date=May 24, 2010 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> On July 12, the ''International Herald Tribune'' published a related [[op-ed]] by Edwards and Kemp.<ref>Edwards, John. (December 31, 1969) [http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/12/opinion/edkemp.php We need to be tough with Russia –] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905210248/http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/12/opinion/edkemp.php |date=September 5, 2008}}. International Herald Tribune. Retrieved on June 3, 2011.</ref>

In October 2005, Edwards joined the [[Wall Street]] investment firm [[Fortress Investment Group]] as a senior adviser and consultant, a position for which a close aide reported he received an annual salary of $500,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/oct2005/nf20051013_3314_db016.htm |title=John Edwards Hits the Street |work=Bloomberg BusinessWeek |date=October 13, 2005 |access-date=May 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822222121/http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/oct2005/nf20051013_3314_db016.htm |archive-date=August 22, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Andrew |title=The politician: an insider's account of John Edwards's pursuit of the presidency and the scandal that brought him down |date=2010 |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin |location=New York |isbn=978-0312640651 |edition=1st |url=https://archive.org/details/politicianinside00youn}}</ref> Fortress owned a major stake in Green Tree Servicing LLC, which rose to prominence in the 1990s selling subprime loans to mobile-home owners and now services subprime loans originated by others, but in an interview Edwards said he was unaware of this.<ref name="Fortress">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002277.html |title=Edwards Says He Didn't Know About Subprime Push |author=Alec MacGillis and John Solomon |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 11, 2007 |access-date=May 13, 2007}}</ref> Subprime loans allow buyers with poor credit histories to be funded, but they charge higher rates because of the risk, and sometimes carry hidden fees and increased charges over time.<ref name="Fortress" /> In August 2007, ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' reported that a portion of the Edwards family's assets were invested in Fortress Investment Group, which had, in turn, invested a portion of its assets in subprime mortgage lenders, some of which had foreclosed on the homes of Hurricane Katrina victims.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cooper |first=Christopher |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118728685546999884 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401162611/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118728685546999884 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 1, 2015 |title=Free Preview – WSJ.com |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=August 17, 2007 |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/17/america/NA-POL-White-House-Edwards-Foreclosure.php |title=John Edwards says he will divest funds linked to lenders foreclosing in New Orleans – |work=International Herald Tribune |date=March 29, 2009 |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref> Upon learning of Fortress's investments, Edwards divested funds and stated that he would try to help the affected families.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna20321742 |title=Edwards to end investments with lenders: Says he won't have his money involved with Katrina-related foreclosures |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=August 17, 2007 |access-date=August 17, 2007}}</ref> Edwards later helped set up an ACORN-administered "Louisiana Home Rescue Fund" seeded with $100,000, much of it from his pocket, to provide loans and grants to the families who were foreclosed on by Fortress-owned lenders.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/09/14/edwards_to_the_rescue_on_forec.html |title=Edwards to 'Rescue' On Foreclosures |newspaper=The Washington Post |author=Alec MacGillis |date=September 14, 2007 |access-date=September 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523102238/http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/09/14/edwards_to_the_rescue_on_forec.html |archive-date=May 23, 2011 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

As of 2014, Edwards was a personal injury lawyer in [[Pitt County, North Carolina]].<ref name=Pitt>{{cite news|last1=Zachary|first1=Kristin|title=Edwards trying case in Pitt County|url=http://www.reflector.com/news/edwards-trying-case-pitt-county-2452629|work=The Daily Reflector|date=15 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417212724/http://www.reflector.com/news/edwards-trying-case-pitt-county-2452629|archive-date=April 17, 2014|quote= ... one of three lawyers representing the parents of a 4-year-old Virginia boy who was 3 months old in 2009.}}</ref> He was invited to and attended the [[2024 Democratic National Convention]], which was the first DNC he attended since his Vice-Presidential nomination in Boston, twenty years earlier.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-08-22 |title=Convention Insider: The Unexpected Reappearance of John Edwards |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/22/us/elections/john-edwards-dnc.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240929230124/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/22/us/elections/john-edwards-dnc.html |archive-date=2024-09-29 |access-date=2024-12-12 |language=en |last1=McCreesh |first1=Shawn }}</ref>