Editing John Edwards

{{short description|American politician (born 1953)}}
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{{about other people|the American attorney and politician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name        = John Edwards
|image       = John Edwards, official Senate photo portrait.jpg
|caption     = Official portrait, {{circa|1999–2003}}
|jr/sr       = United States Senator
|state       = [[North Carolina]]
|term_start  = January 3, 1999
|term_end    = January 3, 2005
|predecessor = [[Lauch Faircloth]]
|successor   = [[Richard Burr]]
|birth_name  = Johnny Reid Edwards
|birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1953|6|10}}
|birth_place = [[Seneca, South Carolina|Seneca]], [[South Carolina]], U.S.
|death_date  = 
|death_place = 
|party       = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|spouse      = {{marriage|[[Elizabeth Edwards|Elizabeth Anania]]|1977|2010|end={{abbr|died}}}}{{Efn|name = separation|Edwards and Anania separated in early 2010; she died before divorce proceedings could be filed.}}
|partner     = [[Rielle Hunter]] (2006–2015)
|children    = 5, including [[Cate Edwards|Cate]]
|education   = [[Clemson University]]<br />[[North Carolina State University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill]] ([[Juris Doctor|JD]])
|signature   = John Edwards Signature.svg
}}

'''Johnny Reid Edwards'''<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/07/us/2004-election-first-term-senator-s-swift-political-ascent-john-reid-edwards.html |title=The 2004 Election; A First-Term Senator's Swift Political Ascent – John Reid Edwards |last=Stolberg |first=Sheryl Gay |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 7, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815203230/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/07/us/2004-election-first-term-senator-s-swift-political-ascent-john-reid-edwards.html |archive-date=August 15, 2018}}</ref> (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented [[North Carolina]] in the [[United States Senate]] from 1999 to 2005. A member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], he was the [[2004 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection|vice presidential nominee]] under US Senator [[John Kerry]] in the [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 presidential election]]. He also was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2004|2004]] and [[2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2008]].

Edwards defeated the incumbent [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Lauch Faircloth]] in North Carolina's [[1998 United States Senate election in North Carolina|1998 Senate election]]. Toward the end of his six-year term, he declined to seek re-election, and instead sought the Democratic presidential nomination in the [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 presidential election]]. Edwards suspended his campaign shortly after Super Tuesday, and later accepted the [[2004 Democratic National Convention|Democratic vice presidential nomination]]. 

Following Kerry's loss to incumbent President [[George W. Bush]], Edwards began working full-time at the One America Committee, a [[political action committee]] he established in 2001, and was appointed director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]] [[University of North Carolina School of Law|School of Law]]. He was also a consultant for [[Fortress Investment Group]] LLC.

After [[John Edwards 2008 presidential campaign|his 2008 presidential campaign]], Edwards was [[Indictment|indicted]] by a federal [[grand jury]] on June 3, 2011, on six felony charges of violating multiple federal [[Campaign finance in the United States|campaign contribution laws]] to cover up [[John Edwards extramarital affair|an extramarital affair]] to which he eventually admitted. He was found not guilty on one count, and the judge declared a mistrial on the remaining five charges, as the jury was unable to come to an agreement.<ref name=Mistrial/> The Justice Department dropped the remaining charges and did not attempt to retry Edwards.<ref name="WashingtonPost061312">{{cite news |last=Roig-Franzia |first=Manuel |title=John Edwards will not be retried, Justice Department announces |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/john-edwards-will-not-be-retried-justice-department-announces/2012/06/13/gJQAfbeiaV_story.html |access-date=June 18, 2012 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 13, 2012}}</ref> Though he was not convicted of any crime, the revelation that he had engaged in an extramarital affair and fathered a child while his wife, [[Elizabeth Edwards]], was dying of cancer, severely damaged his public image and effectively ended his political career.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Luscombe |first=Belinda |date=2010-01-23 |title=Can John Edwards' Dreadful Image Be Rehabilitated? |url=https://time.com/archive/6937304/can-john-edwards-dreadful-image-be-rehabilitated/ |access-date=2024-08-31 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref>

Since the death of [[Kay Hagan]] on October 28, 2019, Edwards is the only living former Democratic senator from North Carolina.<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Senate: Living Former Senators (By State) |url=https://www.senate.gov/senators/Biographical/former_senators_state.htm |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=www.senate.gov}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
[[File:Edwards (2109671160).jpg|thumb|left|Edwards and his parents stand in front of his childhood home in 2007]]
Edwards was born on June 10, 1953, to Wallace Reid Edwards and Catharine Juanita "Bobbie" Edwards (née Wade) in [[Seneca, South Carolina]]. The family moved several times during Edwards's childhood, eventually settling in [[Robbins, North Carolina]], where his father worked as a [[textile mill]] floor worker and was eventually promoted to supervisor. His mother had a roadside antique-finishing business and then worked as a [[mail|letter carrier]] when his father left his job.<ref name="from_mill_town">{{cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/10/05/from_mill_town_to_the_national_stage_boston_globe/?page=full |title=From Mill Town to the National Stage |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |author=Patrick Healy |date=October 5, 2003 |access-date=March 27, 2007}}</ref>  The family attended a Baptist church.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/20478398/ns/politics-mens_vogue/t/does-edwards-have-what-it-takes/#.XIsOOS2ZPMI|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413234856/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/20478398/ns/politics-mens_vogue/t/does-edwards-have-what-it-takes#.XIsOOS2ZPMI|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 13, 2017|title=Does Edwards have what it takes?|website=[[NBC News]]|date=August 31, 2007 }}</ref>

A football star in high school,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5411915/site/newsweek/ |work=Newsweek |title=John Edwards: VP Hopeful, Boyish Wonder |date=July 19, 2004 |access-date=September 2, 2007 |author=Evan Thomas, Susannah Meadows and Arian Campo-Flores |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070906123637/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5411915/site/newsweek/ <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=September 6, 2007}}</ref> Edwards was the first person in his family to attend college. He attended [[Clemson University]] for one semester before transferring to [[North Carolina State University]]. He graduated from NCSU with high honors with a [[bachelor's degree]] in textile technology and a 3.8 [[Grading (education)#United States|GPA]] in 1974, and later earned his [[Juris Doctor]] from the [[University of North Carolina School of Law]] (UNC) with honors.

==Legal career==
{{update|section|date = June 2021}}
[[File:John Edwards 1996.jpg|thumb|right|Edwards in 1996]]
After law school, Edwards [[Law clerk|clerked]] for federal judge [[Franklin Dupree]] in North Carolina, and in 1978 became an associate at the [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]] law firm of Dearborn & Ewing, doing primarily trial work, defending a Nashville bank and other corporate clients.<ref name=PewResearch>{{cite web |title=Religion and Politics '08: John Edwards |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2008/11/04/religion-and-politics-08-john-edwards/ |website=Pew Research Center |access-date=11 April 2015 |format=Religion and Public Life |date=4 November 2008}}</ref><ref name="EdwardsTrialWork"/> [[Lamar Alexander]], a Republican and future governor of and U.S. Senator from Tennessee, was among Edwards's co-workers.<ref name="big little guys"/> The Edwards family returned to North Carolina in 1981, settling in the capital of [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]], where he joined the firm of Tharrington, Smith & Hargrove.<ref name="EdwardsTrialWork">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/31/politics/campaign/31EDWA.html |title=In Trial Work, Edwards Left a Trademark |work=The New York Times |author=Adam Liptak and Michael Moss |date=January 31, 2004 |access-date=May 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424115607/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/31/politics/campaign/31EDWA.html |archive-date=April 24, 2009}}</ref><ref name="big little guys">{{cite web |last=de la Cruz |first=Bonna |title=Edwards has represented big as well as little guys |url=http://www.thetennessean.com/government/archives/04/07/53958158.shtml?Element_ID=53958158 |work=The Tennessean |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040719210753/http://www.thetennessean.com/government/archives/04/07/53958158.shtml?Element_ID=53958158 |archive-date=July 19, 2004 |date=July 8, 2004}}</ref>

In 1984, Edwards was assigned to a [[medical malpractice]] lawsuit that had been perceived to be unwinnable; the firm had accepted it only as a favor to an attorney and state senator who did not want to keep it. Nevertheless, Edwards won a $3.7 million verdict on behalf of his client, who had suffered permanent brain and nerve damage after a doctor prescribed an overdose of the anti-alcoholism drug [[Antabuse]] during alcohol aversion therapy.<ref name="findlaw">{{cite web |url=http://news.findlaw.com/newsmakers/john.edwards.html |title=John Edwards |work=FindLaw |date=n.d. |access-date=March 25, 2007}}</ref> In other cases, Edwards sued the [[American Red Cross]] three times, alleging transmission of AIDS through tainted blood products, resulting in a confidential settlement each time, and defended a North Carolina newspaper against a libel charge.<ref name="EdwardsTrialWork"/>

In 1985, Edwards represented a five-year-old child born with cerebral palsy – a child whose mother's doctor did not choose to perform an immediate [[Caesarean section|Caesarean delivery]] when a fetal monitor showed she was in distress. Edwards won a $6.5 million verdict for his client, but five weeks later, the presiding judge sustained the verdict on liability but overturned the damage award on grounds that it was "excessive" and that it appeared "to have been given under the influence of passion and prejudice", adding that in his opinion "the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict."<ref name="EdwardsTrialWork"/> He offered the plaintiffs $3.25 million, half of the jury's award, but the child's family appealed the case and received $4.25 million in a settlement.<ref name="EdwardsTrialWork"/> Winning this case established the North Carolina precedent of physician and hospital liability for failing to determine whether the patient understood the risks of a particular procedure.<ref name="findlaw"/>

After this trial, Edwards gained national attention as a plaintiff's lawyer. He filed at least twenty similar lawsuits in the years following, and achieved verdicts and settlements of more than $60 million for his clients. Similar lawsuits followed across the country. When asked about an increase in Caesarean deliveries nationwide, perhaps to avoid similar medical malpractice lawsuits, Edwards said, "The question is, would you rather have cases where that happens instead of having cases where you don't intervene and a child either becomes disabled for life or dies in utero?"<ref name="EdwardsTrialWork"/>

In 1993, Edwards began his own firm in Raleigh (now named Kirby & Holt) with a friend, David Kirby. He became known as the top plaintiffs' attorney in North Carolina.<ref name="EdwardsTrialWork" /> The biggest case of his legal career was a 1996 product liability lawsuit against Sta-Rite, the manufacturer of a defective pool drain cover. The case involved Valerie Lakey, a girl who at five years old<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://abc11.com/archive/7465665/ |title=Pools scramble to meet new regulation &#124; ABC11 Raleigh-Durham &#124; abc11.com - ABC11 Raleigh-Durham |date=May 13, 2021 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513091631/https://abc11.com/archive/7465665/ |archive-date=13 May 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref> sustained [[pool suction-drain injury]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/160341/ |title=Defense Rests in Pool Drain Lawsuit |publisher=WRAL |date=December 17, 1996 |access-date=July 19, 2008}}</ref> She was disemboweled by the suction power of the pool drain pump when she sat on an open pool drain whose protective cover had been removed by other children at the pool, after the swim club had failed to install the cover properly. Despite 12 prior suits with similar claims, Sta-Rite continued to make and sell drain covers lacking warnings. Sta-Rite protested that an additional warning would have made no difference because the pool owners already knew the importance of keeping the cover secured.

In his closing arguments, Edwards spoke to the jury for an hour and a half and made reference to his son, Wade, who had been killed shortly before testimony began.{{clarify|date=February 2016}} Mark Dayton, editor of ''North Carolina Lawyers Weekly'', would later call it "the most impressive legal performance I have ever seen."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0110.green.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011007071335/http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0110.green.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 7, 2001 |title=John Edwards, Esq. |publisher=Washington Monthly |author=Joshua Green |date=January 10, 2001 |access-date=March 25, 2007 }}</ref> The jury awarded the family $25 million, the largest personal injury award in North Carolina history. The company settled for the $25 million while the jury was deliberating additional [[punitive damages]], rather than risk a further award. For their part in this case, Edwards and law partner David Kirby earned the [[Association of Trial Lawyers of America]]'s national award for public service.<ref name="findlaw" /> The family said that they hired Edwards over other attorneys because he alone had offered to accept a smaller percentage as his fee unless the award was unexpectedly high, while all of the other lawyers they spoke with said they required the full one-third fee. The size of the jury award was unprecedented, and Edwards did receive the standard one-third-plus-expenses fee typical of contingency cases. The family was so impressed with his intelligence and commitment<ref name="EdwardsTrialWork"/> that they volunteered for his Senate campaign the next year.

After Edwards won a large verdict against a trucking company whose worker had been involved in a fatal accident, the North Carolina legislature passed a law prohibiting such awards unless the company had specifically sanctioned the employee's actions.<ref name="EdwardsTrialWork"/>

In December 2003, during his first presidential campaign, Edwards (with [[John Auchard]]) published ''[[Four Trials]]'', an autobiographical book focusing on cases from his legal career. According to this book, the success of the Sta-Rite case and his son's death (Edwards had hoped his son would eventually join him in private law practice) prompted Edwards to leave the legal profession and seek public office.

Edwards, his daughter Cate, and David Kirby started a new law firm in 2013, named Edwards Kirby, with offices in Raleigh and in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wral.com/edwards-to-rejoin-former-law-partner/13117129/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233217/http://www.wral.com/edwards-to-rejoin-former-law-partner/13117129/ |url-status=dead |title=Edwards teaming up again with former law partner|date=November 18, 2013|archive-date=March 3, 2016|website=WRAL.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.edwardskirby.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004222154/http://edwardskirby.com/ |url-status=dead |title=Personal Injury Attorneys in Raleigh, NC|archive-date=October 4, 2016|website=Edwards Kirby, LLP}}</ref>

==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>

==Political campaigns==

===Electoral history===
'''North Carolina United States Senate election, 1998 (Democratic primary)'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=39748 |title=Our Campaigns – NC US Senate – D Primary Race – May 18, 1998 |publisher=Ourcampaigns.com |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref>
* '''John Edwards''' – '''277,468''' '''(51.39%)'''
* [[D.G. Martin]] – 149,049 (27.59%)
* Ella Butler Scarborough – 55,486 (10.28%)

'''[[1998 United States Senate election in North Carolina|North Carolina United States Senate election, 1998]]'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=146 |title=Our Campaigns – NC US Senate Race – Nov 03, 1998 |publisher=Ourcampaigns.com |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref>
* '''John Edwards''' '''(D)''' – '''1,029,237''' '''(51.15%)'''
* [[Lauch Faircloth]] (R) (inc.) – 945,943 (47.01%)
* [[Barbara Howe]] (Lib.) – 36,963 (1.84%)

'''[[2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2004 Democratic presidential primaries]]'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=1689 |title=Our Campaigns – US President – D Primaries Race – Jan 13, 2004 |publisher=Ourcampaigns.com |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref>
* '''[[John Kerry]]''' – '''9,930,497''' '''(60.98%)'''
* John Edwards – 3,162,337 (19.42%)
* [[Howard Dean]] – 903,460 (5.55%)
* [[Dennis Kucinich]] – 620,242 (3.81%)
* [[Wesley Clark]] – 547,369 (3.36%)
* [[Al Sharpton]] – 380,865 (2.34%)
* [[Joe Lieberman]] – 280,940 (1.73%)

'''[[2004 United States presidential election]]'''
* '''[[George W. Bush]]/[[Dick Cheney]]''' '''(R)''' '''(inc.)''' – 62,040,610 (50.7%) and 286 electoral votes (31 states carried)
* [[John Kerry]]/John Edwards (D) – 59,028,111 (48.3%) and 251 electoral votes (19 states and D.C. carried)
<!-- NOTE TO EDITORS: The following name SHOULD BE "John Ewards." The point is that the elector spelled his name wrong. -->
* John Ewards {{sic}} (D) – 1 electoral vote ([[faithless elector]])<ref name=Ewards>{{cite news |last1=Brodarick |first1=Taylor |title=It's Time To Abolish The Electoral College |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/taylorbrodarick/2012/11/04/its-time-to-abolish-the-electoral-college |access-date=29 June 2015 |work=[[Forbes]] |date=11 November 2012 |quote="No, you did not read a typo. Not only did a Minnesota elector vote for Democratic Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards for both President and Vice President, but he or she could not spell his ordinary last name correctly."}}</ref>

'''[[2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2008 Democratic presidential primaries]]'''
* '''[[Barack Obama]]''' – '''17,869,542''' '''(48.2%)'''
* [[Hillary Clinton]] – 17,717,698 (47.8%)
* John Edwards – 1,006,289 (2.65%)

===2004 presidential campaign===
{{main|2004 United States presidential election|John Edwards 2004 presidential campaign}}

In 2000, Edwards unofficially began his presidential campaign when he began to seek speaking engagements in [[Iowa]], the site of the nation's [[Iowa caucuses|first party caucuses]]. On January 2, 2003, Edwards began [[fundraising]] without officially campaigning by forming an exploratory committee. On September 15, 2003, Edwards fulfilled a promise he made a year earlier as a guest on ''[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]]'' to unofficially announce his intention to seek the [[Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2004|2004 Democratic presidential nomination]]. The next morning, Edwards made the announcement officially from his hometown. He declined to run for reelection to the Senate in order to focus on his presidential run. Edwards's campaign was chaired by North Carolina Democratic activist [[Ed Turlington]].

As Edwards had been building support essentially since his election to the Senate, he led the initial campaign fundraising, amassing over $7 million during the first quarter of 2003 – more than half of which came from individuals associated with the legal profession, particularly Edwards's fellow trial lawyers, their families, and employees.<ref>[http://www.hillnews.com/news/050703/edwards.aspx ''Hill News''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214164525/http://www.hillnews.com/news/050703/edwards.aspx |date=February 14, 2007}}, May 7, 2003</ref> Edwards's [[Stump speech (politics)|stump speech]] spoke of "[[Two Americas]]", with one composed of the wealthy and privileged, and the other of the hard-working common man, causing the media to often characterize Edwards as a [[populist]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30354-2004Jul6.html |title=Kerry picks Edwards as running mate: Mass. senator calls ex-rival a man of middle-class values |author=Jim VandeHei and Dan Balz |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 6, 2004 |access-date=April 1, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3872003.stm |title=Kerry and Edwards start campaign |publisher=BBC News |date=July 7, 2004 |access-date=April 1, 2008}}</ref>

Edwards struggled to gain substantial support, but his poll numbers began to rise steadily weeks before the Iowa caucuses. In these he had a surprising second-place finish with the support of 32% of delegates, behind only [[John Kerry]]'s 39% and ahead of former front-runner [[Howard Dean]] at 18%. One week later in the [[New Hampshire primary]], Edwards finished in fourth place behind Kerry, Dean and [[Wesley Clark]], with 12%. During the February 3 primaries, Edwards won the South Carolina primary,<ref>[http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P04/SC-D.phtml#0203 South Carolina Democratic Delegation 2004] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303205903/http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P04/SC-D.phtml#0203 |date=March 3, 2016}}. Thegreenpapers.com. Retrieved on June 3, 2011.</ref> lost to Clark in [[Oklahoma]], and lost to Kerry in the other states. Edwards garnered the second-largest number of second-place finishes, again falling behind Clark.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/dates/02/03/index.html |title=Primary results: February 3 |work=CNN|access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref>

[[Image:John-Edwards-Shakes-Hands.jpg|left|thumb|Edwards on the campaign trail in 2004]]
Dean withdrew from the contest, leaving Edwards the only major challenger to Kerry. In the [[Wisconsin]] primary on February 17, Edwards finished second to Kerry with 34% of the vote. He largely avoided attacking Kerry until a February 29, 2004, debate in New York, in which he characterized him as a "Washington insider" and mocked Kerry's plan to form a committee to examine [[trade agreement]]s.

In the [[Super Tuesday]] primaries on March 2, Kerry finished well ahead in nine of the ten states voting, and Edwards's campaign ended. In [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], Edwards finished only slightly behind Kerry but, failing to win a single state, chose to withdraw from the race. He announced his official withdrawal at a press conference in [[Raleigh, North Carolina]], on March 3. Edwards's withdrawal made major media outlets relatively early on the evening of Super Tuesday, at about 6:30&nbsp;pm CST, before polls had closed in California and before caucuses in [[Minnesota]] had even begun. It is thought that the withdrawal influenced many people in Minnesota to vote for other candidates, which may partially account for the strong Minnesota finish of [[Dennis Kucinich]].{{original research inline|date=September 2007}} Edwards did win the presidential [[straw poll]] conducted by the [[Independence Party of Minnesota]].

After withdrawing from the race, he went on to win the April 17 Democratic caucuses in his home state of<!--home state of North Carolina on April 17 is correct; birth state of South Carolina was on February 3 and is shown above. Please don't change this as it is correct--> North Carolina,<ref>[http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P04/NC-D.phtml North Carolina Democratic Delegation 2004] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200412/http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P04/NC-D.phtml |date=March 3, 2016}}. Thegreenpapers.com. Retrieved on June 3, 2011.</ref> making him the only Democratic candidate besides Kerry to win nominating contests in two states in 2004.

===2004 vice presidential nomination===
{{main|John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign}}
On July 6, 2004, Kerry announced that Edwards would be his running mate; the decision was widely hailed in public opinion polls and by Democratic leaders. Though many Democrats supported Edwards's nomination, others criticized the selection for Edwards's perceived lack of experience. In the vice presidential debate, [[Dick Cheney]] told Edwards they had never met because of Edwards's frequent absences from the Senate, but that was later proven to be incorrect. Videotape later surfaced of Cheney and Edwards shaking hands off-camera during a taping of ''[[Meet the Press]]'' on April 8, 2001.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/debates/articles/2004/10/07/photos_undermine_cheneys_assertion_he_never_met_edwards/ |title=Photos undermine Cheney's assertion he never met Edwards - The Boston Globe |website=archive.boston.com |access-date=2019-11-03}}</ref> On February 1, 2001, Cheney thanked Edwards by name and sat with him during a Senate prayer breakfast. George W. Bush's campaign spokesman [[Steve Schmidt]] described the event as an "inconsequential meeting".<ref>{{cite news |author=Peter Wallsten |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-oct-06-na-meet6-story.html |title=Cheney and Edwards Have Met Before |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=October 6, 2004 |access-date=November 2, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Dan Froomkin |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11612-2004Oct6.html |title=When Cheney Met Edwards |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 6, 2004 |access-date=November 2, 2012}}</ref> On January 8, 2003, they met when John Edwards accompanied then-Senator [[Elizabeth Dole]] to her swearing-in while Cheney was [[Vice President of the United States|President of the Senate]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Richard Sisk and Helen Kennedy |url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-10-06/news/18279261_1_edwards-and-kerry-dick-cheney-john-edwards |title=THEY GO FOR THE JUGULAR Cheney, Edwards trade nasty barbs in debate |publisher=The New York Daily News |date=6 October 2004 |access-date=2 November 2012 |archive-url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jugular-cheney-edwards-trade-nasty-barbs-debate-article-1.632767 |archive-date=1 January 2015}}</ref>

Kerry's campaign advisor [[Bob Shrum]] later reported in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine that Kerry said he wished he had never picked Edwards, and the two have since stopped speaking to each other.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1626498-2,00.html|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |title=Kerry's Regrets About John Edwards |date=May 30, 2007 |access-date=May 6, 2010 |first=Robert |last=Shrum}}</ref> Edwards said in his concession speech, "You can be disappointed, but you cannot walk away. This fight has just begun."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/politics/campaign/transcript-of-john-edwardss-speech-on-wednesday.html |title=Transcript of John Edwards's Speech on Wednesday |date=2004-11-03 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2019-11-03 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===2008 presidential campaign===
{{main|John Edwards 2008 presidential campaign}}
[[Image:John Edwards Pittsburgh 2007.jpg|thumb|right|John Edwards campaigning in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]] on Labor Day in 2007]]
On December 28, 2006, John Edwards officially announced his candidacy for President in the 2008 election from the yard of a home in [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], that was being rebuilt after [[Hurricane Katrina]] destroyed it.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2521766,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100603225215/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2521766,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 3, 2010 |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |title=John Edwards joins race for White House |first1=Sam |last1=Knight |date=December 28, 2006 |access-date=May 6, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/27/AR2006122701452.html |title=John Edwards Joins Presidential Race |newspaper=The Washington Post |author=Nedra Pickler |date=December 28, 2006 |access-date=December 28, 2006}}</ref> Edwards stated that his main goals were eliminating poverty, fighting [[global warming]], providing [[universal health care]], and withdrawing troops from Iraq.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-12-28-edwards-2008_x.htm |title=Edwards takes another shot at run for White House |work=[[USA Today]] |date=December 29, 2006 |access-date=July 6, 2007 |first=Jill |last=Lawrence}}</ref>

National polls had Edwards placing third among the Democratic field beginning in January 2007, behind Senator [[Hillary Clinton]] and Senator [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Clinton, Obama in Virtual Tie Among Democrats |url=http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2008/2008_presidential_election/clinton_obama_in_virtual_tie_among_democrats |publisher=Rasmussen Reports |date=January 17, 2007 |access-date=June 1, 2007}}</ref> By July 2007, the Edwards campaign had raised $23 million from nearly 100,000 donors, placing him behind Obama and Clinton in fundraising.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/01/ap3874969.html |title=Edwards Raises More Than $9 Million |author=Jim Kuhnhenn |work=Forbes |date=July 1, 2007 |access-date=July 6, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703233837/http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/01/ap3874969.html |archive-date=July 3, 2007}}</ref>

Edwards was first to boycott a [[Fox News]]-sponsored presidential debate in March 2007.<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fox-news-boss-hits-edwards-boycott/ Fox News Boss Hits Edwards' Boycott]  CBS News, March 9, 2007</ref> Hillary Clinton, [[Bill Richardson]], and Barack Obama followed suit.

[[Image:Edwardsraittbrownecoyote.JPG|thumb|John Edwards with [[Bonnie Raitt]], [[Jackson Browne]], and [[Peter Coyote]] at a campaign event in [[Manchester, New Hampshire]]]]

On January 3, 2008, in the [[2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses|Iowa caucuses]], the first contest of the nomination process, Edwards placed second with 29.75% of the vote to Obama (37.58%), with Clinton coming in third with 29.47% of the vote.<ref>[http://www.iowacaucusresults.com/ Online Casino Strategies] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415000251/http://www.iowacaucusresults.com/ |date=April 15, 2016}}. Iowacaucusresults.com. Retrieved on June 3, 2011.</ref> On January 8, Edwards placed a distant third in the [[2008 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary|New Hampshire Democratic primary]] with just under 17% (48,818 votes). On January 26, Edwards again placed third in the [[2008 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary|primary in South Carolina]] – his birth state – which he had carried in 2004, and he placed third in the non-binding January 29 vote in Florida.

[[Image:John Edwards in New Orleans 2008.jpg|left|thumb|At the [[Musicians' Village]] in New Orleans, Edwards announced the suspension of his campaign.]]
On January 30, 2008, following his primary and caucus losses, Edwards announced that he was suspending his campaign for the presidency.<ref name="CBSend">{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/edwards-exits-presidential-race/ |title=Edwards exits presidential race |work=CBS News |date=January 30, 2008 |access-date=January 30, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2964765820080131/ |title=Giuliani, Edwards quit White House Race |date=January 30, 2008 |access-date=January 30, 2008 |publisher=[[Reuters]] |first=Steve |last=Holland}}</ref><ref name=SuspendVideo>{{cite web |title=Edwards Withdrawal Announcement |url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?203861-1/edwards-withdrawal-announcement |website=C-SPAN |access-date=11 April 2015 |format=Video |date=30 January 2008 |quote=At a New Orleans event Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards announced that he is suspending his campaign}}</ref> He did not initially endorse either Clinton or Obama, saying they both had pledged to carry forward his central campaign theme of ending poverty in America.<ref name="Globeend">{{cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/01/edwards_drops_o.html |title=Edwards drops out of race |author=Foon Rhee |work=The Boston Globe |date=January 30, 2008 |access-date=January 30, 2008}}</ref> In April 2008, he stated that he would not accept the 2008 vice presidential slot if asked.<ref>{{cite news |title=John Edwards says would not accept VP nomination |author=Sinead Carew |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0336718220080403 |publisher=Reuters |date=April 3, 2008 |access-date=May 14, 2008}}</ref> On May 14, 2008, Edwards officially endorsed Senator Obama at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/14/edwards.obama/ |work=CNN|title=Edwards endorses Obama, praises Clinton |date=May 15, 2008 |access-date=May 6, 2010}}</ref>

On June 15, 2008, Edwards stepped back from his initial outright denial of interest in the position of Vice President, saying, "I'd take anything he asks me to think about seriously, but obviously this is something that I've done and it's not a job I'm seeking."<ref>{{cite news |title=Edwards not ruling out new VP bid under Obama |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080615/pl_afp/usvotevp |agency=AFP |date=June 15, 2008 |access-date=June 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618185440/http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080615/pl_afp/usvotevp |archive-date=June 18, 2008}}</ref> On June 20, 2008, the [[Associated Press]] reported that according to a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, the names of Edwards and [[Sam Nunn]] were on Obama's vice presidential shortlist.<ref>{{cite news |title=AP: Edwards makes Obama's VP List |url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/20/ap-edwards-makes-obamas-vp-list/ |agency=Associated Press |date=June 20, 2008 |access-date=June 20, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627163027/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/20/ap-edwards-makes-obamas-vp-list/ |archive-date=June 27, 2008}}</ref> Ultimately, then-Senator [[Joe Biden]] of Delaware was tapped to become Obama's running mate.

==Personal life==

===Family===
While at UNC, he met [[Elizabeth Edwards|Elizabeth Anania]]. They married in 1977 and had four children (Wade in 1979, [[Cate Edwards|Cate]] in 1982, Emma Claire in 1998, and Jack in 2000). In a [[John Edwards extramarital affair|widely-publicized extramarital affair]], he fathered a daughter in 2008 with Rielle Hunter, a staffer on his [[John Edwards presidential campaign, 2008|2008 presidential campaign]]. Edwards denied being the father until 2010.<ref name="NYTimesPaternity">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/us/politics/22edwards.html |title=John Edwards Admits He Fathered Girl with Mistress |author=Julie Bosman |access-date=May 8, 2010 |date=January 21, 2010 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Wade was killed in a car accident when strong winds swept his Jeep off a North Carolina highway in 1996. Three weeks before his death, he was honored by [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Hillary Clinton]] at [[The White House]] as one of the 10 finalists in an essay contest sponsored by the [[National Endowment for the Humanities]] and the [[Voice of America]] for an essay he wrote on entering the voting booth with his father.<ref name="FoxNewsWade">{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/john-edwards-opens-up-about-death-of-teenage-son |title=John Edwards Opens Up About Death of Teenage Son |agency=Associated Press |access-date=May 21, 2007 |date=March 29, 2007 |work=Fox News}}</ref>  Wade, accompanied by his parents and sister, went on to meet North Carolina Sen. [[Jesse Helms]], who later entered Wade's essay and his obituary into the ''[[Congressional Record]]''.<ref name="Helms eulogy">{{cite web |url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r104:S16AP6-72: |title=Lucius Wade Edwards July 18, 1979-April 4, 1996 |work=Congressional Record, 104th Congress, (1995-1996) |access-date=May 21, 2008 |archive-date=October 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016224552/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r104:S16AP6-72: |url-status=dead }}</ref> Edwards and his wife began the Wade Edwards Foundation in their son's memory; the purpose of the non-profit organization is "to reward, encourage, and inspire young people in the pursuit of excellence." The foundation funded the Wade Edwards Learning Lab at Wade's high school, [[Needham B. Broughton High School]] in [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]], along with scholarship competitions and essay awards.<ref name="WadeFoundation">{{cite web |url=http://www.wade.org/ |title=Wade Edwards Foundation |access-date=May 21, 2007}}</ref>

On November 3, 2004, Elizabeth Edwards revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She was treated by [[chemotherapy]] and [[radiotherapy]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6522712 |title=Elizabeth Edwards battles breast cancer |author=Katie Couric |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=November 21, 2004 |access-date=May 20, 2007}}</ref> and continued to work within the Democratic Party and her husband's One America Committee. On March 22, 2007, during his campaign for the 2008 Democratic nomination for the presidency, Edwards and his wife announced that her cancer had returned; she was diagnosed with [[Cancer staging|stage IV]] breast cancer, with newly discovered [[metastasis|metastases]] to the bone and possibly to her lung.<ref name="pressconference">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032201422.html |title=Former Sen. Edwards Holds a News Conference on Wife's Health: Breast Cancer Has Returned |author=Transcript of press conference |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=March 22, 2007 |access-date=March 25, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/22/edwards.2008/index.html |title=Edwards: Wife's cancer returns, campaign goes on |work=CNN|author=Candy Crowley |date=March 23, 2007 |access-date=June 14, 2007}}</ref> They said that the cancer was "no longer curable, but is completely treatable"<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/03/22/cancer.edwards/index.html |title=Edwards: Cancer 'no longer curable' |work=CNN|author=Mary Carter |author2=Elizabeth Cohen |author3=Amy Burkholder |date=May 22, 2007 |access-date=June 14, 2007}}</ref> and that they planned to continue campaigning together with an occasional break when she required treatment.<ref name="pressconference"/><ref name="Elizabethhealth">{{cite news |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070322/ap_on_el_pr/edwards2008 |title=Edwards Presses on With 2008 Campaign |author=Nedra Pickler |agency=Associated Press |access-date=March 22, 2007 |date=March 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070328171649/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070322/ap_on_el_pr/edwards2008 |archive-date=March 28, 2007}}</ref>

In June 2010, Elizabeth published a book called ''Resilience''. Her book is about the struggles of her marriage and how she was affected by [[John Edwards extramarital affair|her husband's affair]]. In the book, Elizabeth talks about how long she was in the dark about the affair and how many times her husband lied about the details of the affair. She never addresses John's mistress by name but calls her a "parasitic groupie" and claims that she is "pathetic". Elizabeth also opens up about how she tried to forgive her husband after she first learned of the affair but struggled to find forgiveness when he continued to lie. After Edwards's January 21, 2010, admission that he fathered a child with his [[mistress (lover)|mistress]], Elizabeth obtained a [[legal separation]] from him and intended to file for divorce after a mandatory one-year waiting period.<ref name="reuters.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60Q65P20100127 |title=Politician John Edwards and wife separate |publisher=Reuters |date= January 27, 2010|access-date=May 24, 2010 | first=Richard | last=Cowan}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | author=Lisa Myers and Michael Austin | title=Edwards admits fathering child with mistress | url=http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34963767/ns/today-today_people/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123010119/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34963767/ns/today-today_people/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 23, 2010 | work=NBC News | date=January 21, 2010 | access-date=January 21, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2010/01/elizabeth-edwards-tells-her-sister-ive-had-it-/1 | work=USA Today | title=Elizabeth Edwards tells her sister: 'I've had it.' | date=January 27, 2010 | access-date=May 6, 2010 | first=Ann | last=Oldenburg}}</ref>

On December 7, 2010, Elizabeth died of [[metastatic breast cancer]], aged 61.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://iknowjack.radio.com/2010/12/07/elizabeth-edwards-dies-at-61/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101211201254/http://iknowjack.radio.com/2010/12/07/elizabeth-edwards-dies-at-61/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2010-12-11 |title=Elizabeth Edwards Dies At 61 }}</ref>

===Residence===
In Washington, D.C., Edwards lived on [[Embassy Row]], at 2215 30th Street NW.<ref name="Life">[http://www.washingtonlife.com/issues/2005-09/hungarians_residence/index.php Hungarian Rhapsody] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110137/http://www.washingtonlife.com/issues/2005-09/hungarians_residence/index.php |date=March 4, 2016}}, Mary Mewborn, Washington Life.</ref> In 2004, he sold his house to the [[Hungarian Embassy to the United States]].<ref name="Wright">''[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/06/five-hostages Five Hostages] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018233204/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/06/five-hostages |date=October 18, 2016}}'', [[Lawrence Wright]], July 6, 2015, ''[[The New Yorker]]''.</ref><ref name="NYT">''[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/10/politics/campaign/10edwards.html Campaign Releases Edwards's Earnings] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016224552/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/10/politics/campaign/10edwards.html |date=October 16, 2015}}'', [[Michael Moss]] and [[Kate Zernike]], July 10, 2004, ''The New York Times''.</ref>

===Extramarital affair===
{{main|John Edwards extramarital affair}}
In October 2007, ''[[The National Enquirer]]'' began a series of reports alleging an [[Adultery|adulterous affair]] between Edwards and former campaign worker Rielle Hunter. By July 2008, several news media outlets speculated that Edwards's chances for the vice presidency as well as other positions such as the attorney general were harmed by the allegations, which now included that he fathered a child with Hunter and had visited her and the baby girl at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in [[Beverly Hills, California]]. The story was not widely covered by the press for some time, until, after initially denying the allegations,<ref name="MC073108">{{cite web |date=July 31, 2008 |last=Zagaroli |first=Lisa |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/election2008/story/46066.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130128163414/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/election2008/story/46066.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 28, 2013 |title=Birth certificate of child linked to Edwards lists no father |publisher=[[McClatchy Newspapers]] |access-date=August 1, 2008}}</ref><ref name="FoxNews">{{cite news |title=Guard Confirms Late-Night Hotel Encounter Between Ex-Sen. John Edwards, Tabloid Reporters |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/guard-confirms-late-night-hotel-encounter-between-ex-sen-john-edwards-tabloid-reporters |publisher=[[Fox News Channel]] |date=July 25, 2008 |author=Fox News (unsigned) |access-date=July 28, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215000122/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,391426,00.html |archive-date=February 15, 2013 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="Independent">{{cite news|title= Love child and mistress claims hit Edwards |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/love-child-and-mistress-claims-hit-edwards-878277.html |work=[[The Independent]] |date=July 27, 2008 |author=Guy Adams |location=London}}</ref><ref name="TheTimes1">{{cite news |title=Sleaze scuppers Democrat golden boy |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4406814.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007174835/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4406814.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 7, 2008 |work=The Times |date=July 27, 2008 |author=Sarah Baxter |location=London}}</ref> Edwards admitted the affair.<ref name="RT080108">{{cite magazine |date=8 August 2008 |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2008/08/08/its_mainstream_now_edwards_adm/ |title=It's Mainstream Now; Edwards Admits Affair |last1=Poniewozik |first1=James |magazine=Time |access-date=1 August 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=August 9, 2008 |last=Hoyt |first=Clark |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/opinion/10pubed.html |title=Sometimes, There's News in the Gutter |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 3, 2008}}</ref>

In an August 8, 2008, statement,<ref name="Aug8statement">{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/08/AR2008080802738.html | title=Statement of Senator John Edwards |newspaper=The Washington Post | date=August 8, 2008 | access-date=August 8, 2008}}</ref> and an interview with [[Bob Woodruff]] of [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]], Edwards admitted the affair with Hunter in 2006, but denied being the father of her child. He acknowledged that he had been dishonest in denying the entire ''Enquirer'' story, admitting that some of it was true, but said that the affair ended long before the time of the child's conception. He further said he was willing to take a paternity test, but Hunter responded that she would not be party to a [[DNA]] test "now or in the future".<ref>Lois Romano and Howard Kurtz, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110131094402/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/09/AR2008080901298_pf.html "Edwards's Ex-Lover Rejects Idea Of DNA Test: Hunter Requests Privacy For Herself, Her Child"], ''The Washington Post'', August 10, 2008</ref> Initially, campaign aide Andrew Young claimed that he, not Edwards, was the child's father.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5441195&page=1 |title=Edwards Admits Sexual Affair; Lied as Presidential Candidate |author=Rhonda Swartz |author2=Brian Ross |work=ABC News |date=August 8, 2008 |access-date=August 8, 2008}}</ref> Young later renounced that statement, instead alleging that Edwards always knew he was the child's father and had pleaded with him to falsely accept responsibility.<ref name='Edwards-Denouement'>{{cite news |first=Neil |last=Lewis |title=For Edwards, Drama Builds Toward a Dénouement |date=September 19, 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/us/politics/20edwards.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 20, 2009}}</ref>

Young further claimed to have set up private meetings between Edwards and Hunter, and that Edwards once calmed an anxious Hunter by promising her that after his wife died he would marry her in a rooftop ceremony in New York with an appearance by the [[Dave Matthews Band]].<ref name='Edwards-Denouement' /> Young also maintains that Edwards asked him to "Get a doctor to fake the DNA results ... and to steal a diaper from the baby so he could secretly do a DNA test to find out if this [was] indeed his child."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/john-edwards-admits-fathered-child-affair/story?id=9620812 |title=John Edwards Admits He Fathered Rielle Hunter's Child During Affair  |work=ABC News |date=January 21, 2010 |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref>

On January 21, 2010, John Edwards issued a press release to admit that he fathered Hunter's child.<ref name="APAdmits">{{cite news |date=January 21, 2010 |title=Edwards admits he fathered videographer's child |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/john_edwards_admits_he_fathere.html |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> On February 2, 2010, Young released a book detailing the affair. Young also began working with [[Aaron Sorkin]] on a movie about the affair based on the book ''The Politician''. On February 23, 2012, an Orange County, North Carolina, judge ruled that Young and his wife could not publicize the movie. The judge also ruled that an alleged "sex tape" of Edwards and Hunter be destroyed by the court. The judge also allowed only the materials already in the public domain to be used for public purposes. All other photos and materials not yet released can be used for family purposes only.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/23/justice/north-carolina-edwards-sex-tape/index.html |work=CNN|title=John Edwards sex tape to be destroyed after settlement reached |date=February 24, 2012}}</ref>

Reports surfaced in late 2011 in ''The National Enquirer'' and ''RadarOnline.com'' that Edwards asked his former mistress to move into his North Carolina home, where he had once lived with his wife.<ref>{{cite web |last= Tereszcuk |first=Alexis |title=Disgraced John Edwards Asks Mistress Rielle Hunter to Move in with Him |date=2011 |url=http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/12/john-edwards-asks-mistress-rielle-hunter-move-together |publisher=Radar Online |access-date=December 15, 2011}}</ref> In 2012, Rielle Hunter announced her breakup with Edwards the same day she released a book about their relationship.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/356563/20120626/rielle-hunter-john-edwards-book-breakup.htm |title= Rielle Hunter, John Edwards Breakup Announced Same Day As Book Release |date= June 26, 2012 |publisher= Ibtimes.com |access-date= December 17, 2012}}</ref>

In response to the scandal involving Edwards's extramarital affair and attempts to cover it up, he has stated "I am a sinner, but not a criminal."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Severson |first1=Kim |date=13 June 2012 |title=No New Trial for John Edwards |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/us/politics/john-edwards-charges-dismissed.html |access-date=5 October 2014 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

===Legal troubles===
In May 2009, newspapers reported that Edwards's campaign was being investigated for conversion of campaign money to personal use related to the affair. Edwards said that the campaign was complying with the inquiry. The relevant US attorney refused to comment.<ref>{{cite news |last=Baker |first=Mike |date=May 3, 2009 |title=For Edwards, investigation is latest stage of saga |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090503/ap_on_re_us/us_edwards_affair |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506225808/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090503/ap_on_re_us/us_edwards_affair |archive-date=May 6, 2009 |access-date=June 5, 2011 |newspaper=Yahoo! News |quote=His once-prominent political career is buried and the turmoil of his marriage is playing out in public. |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Locke |first=Mandy |date=May 3, 2009 |title=Mellon gave Edwards a boost |url=http://www.newsobserver.com/114/story/1511324.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505181150/http://www.newsobserver.com/114/story/1511324.html |archive-date=May 5, 2009 |access-date=June 5, 2011 |newspaper=The News & Observer |publisher=The News & Observer Publishing Co. |location=Raleigh, NC |quote=John Edwards marched toward the White House in 2006 seeking an arsenal of millions collected a little at a time.}}</ref> In the same month, [[George Stephanopoulos]] of ABC News reported that members of Edwards's staff had told him that they had planned a "doomsday strategy" to derail Edwards's campaign if he got close to the nomination.<ref>{{cite news |last=Weiner |first=Rachel |date=May 10, 2009 |title=Edwards Staff Had Affair "Doomsday" Strategy (VIDEO) |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/10/edwards-staff-had-affair-_n_201317.html |access-date=May 24, 2010 |work=Huffington Post}}</ref> [[Joe Trippi]], a senior advisor to the campaign, said the report was "complete bullshit".<ref name="cnn trippi">{{cite news |last=Mooney |first=Alexander |date=May 11, 2009 |title=Trippi refutes claim Edwards staffers knew of affair |url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/11/trippi-refutes-claim-edwards-staffers-knew-of-affair/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090514040452/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/11/trippi-refutes-claim-edwards-staffers-knew-of-affair/ |archive-date=May 14, 2009 |access-date=May 13, 2009 |work=CNN |series=Political Ticker}}</ref> In August 2009, Rielle Hunter appeared before the [[grand jury]] investigating this matter.<ref>{{cite news |author=Mandy Locke |date=August 6, 2009 |title=Edwards' ex-girlfriend at courthouse |url=http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1636731.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809092010/http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1636731.html |archive-date=August 9, 2009 |access-date=August 6, 2009 |publisher=[[Charlotte News & Observer]]}}</ref> On March 15, 2010, Hunter broke her silence during an interview with ''[[GQ]]'' magazine and provided new details about the affair.<ref>{{cite web |last=DePaulo |first=Lisa |date=March 15, 2010 |title=Hello, America, My Name Is Rielle Hunter |url=https://www.gq.com/story/rielle-hunter-john-edwards-exclusive-interview |access-date=2019-11-03 |website=GQ}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Kate |date=March 15, 2010 |title=Mistress of Edwards Ends Silence on Affair |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/us/politics/16edwards.html |access-date=May 6, 2010 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> In March 2011, voicemail messages allegedly left by John Edwards were obtained, which Young says prove that Edwards arranged the cover-up of his affair with Hunter.<ref>{{cite news |last=Daniels |first=Steve |date=March 2, 2011 |title=Voicemails detail Edwards affair |url=https://abc11.com/archive/7990480/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305022919/http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news%2Fabc11_investigates&id=7990480 |archive-date=March 5, 2011 |access-date=March 3, 2011 |publisher=[[WTVD]]}}</ref>

On May 24, 2011, [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] and the ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' reported that the [[United States Department of Justice|U.S Department of Justice]]'s [[Public Integrity Section]] had conducted a two-year investigation into whether Edwards had used more than $1 million in political donations to hide his affair and planned to pursue criminal charges for alleged violations of [[campaign finance]] laws.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/us/26edwards.html |title=John Edwards to Face Criminal Charges - NYTimes.com |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date= 2011-02-13 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120131001831/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/us/26edwards.html |archive-date= January 31, 2012 |df=mdy }} On June 3, 2011, Edwards was indicted and charged with four counts of illegal campaign contributions and one count of false statements.</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/03/john-edwards-indicted_n_867406.html |work= Huffington Post |first= Elyse |last= Siegel |title= John Edwards Indicted |date= June 3, 2011}}</ref><ref>Hill, James. (May 24, 2011) [https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/john-edwards-prosecuted-alleged-campaign-law-violations-tied/story?id=13680079 John Edwards: US Green-Lights Prosecution for Alleged Campaign Law Violations Tied to Affair Cover-Up ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160715002641/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/john-edwards-prosecuted-alleged-campaign-law-violations-tied/story?id=13680079 |date= July 15, 2016 }}. Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved on June 3, 2011.</ref>

On June 3, 2011, Edwards was indicted by a [[federal grand jury]] in North Carolina on six felony charges, including four counts of collecting illegal campaign contributions, one count of conspiracy, and one count of making false statements.<ref>[http://famousdockets.com/Famous_Dockets_Ind_Edwards_John_Court_Doc_Indictment_2011.htm Indictment of Edwards. FamousDockets.com. Retrieved 7/8/2011] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091052/http://famousdockets.com/Famous_Dockets_Ind_Edwards_John_Court_Doc_Indictment_2011.htm |date= March 4, 2016 }}</ref>

After postponing the start of the trial while Edwards was treated for a heart condition in February 2012, Judge [[Catherine Eagles]] of the [[U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina]] scheduled jury selection to begin on April 12, 2012.<ref>{{cite news |last=Biesecker |first=Michael |title=Edwards trial to start in April|url=http://www.news-record.com/content/2012/03/01/article/edwards_trial_to_start_in_april |access-date=June 18, 2012 |newspaper=Greensboro News & Record |date=March 1, 2012 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> Edwards's trial began on April 23, 2012, as he faced up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine.<ref name="Associated Press">{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna43260386 |title=Edwards arrives in NC court to face felony charges |date=June 3, 2011 |access-date=June 3, 2011 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In a related development, on March 13, 2012, the [[Federal Election Commission]] ruled that Edwards's campaign must repay $2.1 million in matching federal funds. Edwards's lawyers claimed the money was used, and that the campaign did not receive all the funds to which it was entitled, but the Commission rejected the arguments.<ref name=FECRules>{{cite news |last1=Geiger |first1=Kim |title=FEC: John Edwards must pay back $2.3 million in campaign funds |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-jul-21-la-pn-edwards-fec-20110721-story.html |access-date=11 April 2015 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=21 July 2011}}</ref>

Twelve jurors and four alternates were seated, and opening arguments began April 23, 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20120424/NEWS/304240035/Judge-Edwards-trial-witness-called-others |title=Judge: Edwards trial witness called others |last=Biesecker |first=Michael |work=[[Asheville Citizen-Times]] |agency=Associated Press |date=April 23, 2012 |access-date=April 25, 2012}}</ref> Closing arguments took place May 17, and the case went to the jury the next day.<ref name=Deliberate>{{cite news |last1=Zucchino |first1=David |title=Closing arguments in John Edwards trial |url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-xpm-2012-may-18-la-na-john-edwards-20120518-story.html |access-date=11 April 2015 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=18 May 2012 |location=Greensboro, NC}}</ref>

On May 31, 2012, Edwards was found not guilty on Count 3, illegal use of campaign funding (contributions from [[Rachel Lambert Mellon|Rachel "Bunny" Mellon]]), while mistrials were declared on all other counts against him.<ref name=Mistrial>{{cite news |last1=Severson |first1=Kim |last2=Schwartz |first2=John |title= Edwards Not Guilty on One Count; Mistrial on Five Others |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/us/edwards-jury-returns-not-guilty-verdict-on-one-count.html |access-date= 11 April 2015 |work= The New York Times |date= 31 May 2012 |location= Greensboro, NC}}</ref> On June 13, 2012, the Justice Department announced that it dropped the charges and would not attempt to retry Edwards.<ref name="WashingtonPost061312" />

==Return to law practice==
After his political career ended, Edwards, along with attorneys David Kirby and William Bystrynski, founded the law firm Edwards Kirby in Raleigh, specializing in medical malpractice cases.<ref name=Pitt/> In 2015, his daughter Cate was the managing attorney of the San Diego office of the firm.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://edwardskirby.com/ |title = Edwards Kirby |access-date =November 7, 2015}}</ref>

== Books ==
* ''[[Four Trials]]'' (with [[John Auchard]]) (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003) {{ISBN|0-7432-4497-4}}
* ''Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives'' (New York: Collins, 2006) {{ISBN|0-06-088454-1}}
* ''Ending Poverty in America: How to Restore the American Dream'', co-editor (New Press, 2007)<ref>{{cite news|last=Martelle |first=Scott |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003685693_edwardsbook29.html |title=John Edwards pushes focus on poverty in book |work=The Seattle Times|date=April 29, 2007 |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref> {{ISBN|1-59558-176-6}}

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Biography|Politics}}
* [[List of federal political sex scandals in the United States]]
* [[Two Americas]]
* [[2008 United States presidential election]]
* [[2008 Democratic Party presidential candidates]]
* [[Opinion polling for the Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008]]
* [[Democratic presidential debates, 2008]]

==Explanatory notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Wikisource author}}
{{commons}}
* [http://edwardskirby.com/ Edwards Kirby Law Firm] Edwards's law firm, in Raleigh NC
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070302225243/http://johnedwards.com/ John Edwards for President] official campaign website
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070109142834/http://blog.johnedwards.com/ John Edwards '08 Blog] official campaign blog
* {{CongLinks | congbio=E000286 | votesmart=21107 | fec=S8NC00122 | congress= }}<!--
Links formerly displayed via the CongLinks template:
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00002283 Financial information (federal office)] at [[Center for Responsive Politics|OpenSecrets.org]]
* [http://www.ontheissues.org/John_Edwards.htm Issue positions and quotes] at [[On the Issues]]
* [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/johnedwards03 Appearances] on [[C-SPAN]] programs
* -->
*{{C-SPAN|57445}}

;Record
* {{CongLinks | congbio=E000286 | votesmart=21107 | fec=S8NC00122 | congress= }}<!--
Links formerly displayed via the CongLinks template:
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00002283 Financial information (federal office)] at [[Center for Responsive Politics|OpenSecrets.org]]
* [http://www.ontheissues.org/John_Edwards.htm Issue positions and quotes] at [[On the Issues]]
* -->

;Speeches and statements
* July 27, 2004, Democratic National Convention speech: [https://web.archive.org/web/20060418193823/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,127391,00.html Transcript text]
* October 5, 2004, vice presidential debate: [https://web.archive.org/web/20041106084417/http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2004b.html Transcript text], [https://web.archive.org/web/20051201204450/http://cspanquery.streamsage.com/query/playback.smil?XslFile=realplayer.xsl&contentType=text%2Fsmil&FILEID=139&WD=true&search=&numDisplay=10&startValue=1&sortBy=file_date&sortOrder=desc&program=&source=&div_display=none&startDate=2004-01-01&endDate=&s Audio] and [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/politics/100504-16v.ram Video]
* January 18, 2008, presidential campaign speech in Los Angeles, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100212190423/http://www.hotpotatomash.com/2008/01/video-exclusive.html video]

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{{John Edwards|state=expanded}}
{{Unsuccessful major party VPOTUS candidates}}
{{United States presidential election, 2008}}
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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, John}}
[[Category:John Edwards| ]]
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:21st-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:2004 United States vice-presidential candidates]]
[[Category:American United Methodists]]
[[Category:American anti-poverty advocates]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 2004 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees]]
[[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Family of John Edwards]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:North Carolina Democrats]]
[[Category:North Carolina lawyers]]
[[Category:North Carolina State University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Chapel Hill, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Politicians from Raleigh, North Carolina]]
[[Category:People from Seneca, South Carolina]]
[[Category:Tennessee lawyers]]
[[Category:Trial lawyers]]
[[Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni]]
[[Category:University of North Carolina School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from Raleigh, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Jack Smith (lawyer)]]
[[Category:21st-century United States senators]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]