John Edwards

John Edwards biography information is list below credit  for each section is above the information.

John Edwards Extramartial affair See Wikipedia for full biography

In October 2007, The National Enquirer began a series of reports alleging an adulterous affair between Edwards and former campaign worker Rielle Hunter. By July 2008, several news media outlets speculated that Edwards’ 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. However, the story was not widely covered by the press for some time, until, after initially denying the allegations,^{[79][80][81][82]} Edwards admitted the affair.^[83][83] On January 21, 2010, John Edwards issued a press release to admit that he fathered Hunter’s child.^[84]

In an August 8, 2008, statement,^[85] and an interview with Bob Woodruff of 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”.^[86] Initially, campaign aide Andrew Young claimed that he, not Edwards, was the child’s father.^[87] Young has since renounced that statement, and told publishers in a book proposal that Edwards knew all along that he was the child’s father; Young alleged that Edwards pleaded with him to accept responsibility falsely.^[88]

In the proposal, which The New York Times examined, Young claims to have set up private meetings between Edwards and Hunter. He wrote 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.^[88] ABC News reports that Young stated 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.”^[89] On February 2, 2010, Young released a book detailing the affair.

John Edwards full Biography from FindLaw

Newsmaker Profile:

As a veteran trial lawyer, John Edwards brings to his Vice Presidential candidacy years of legal experience honed in personal injury cases in state and federal courts. Until he graduated law school at the University of North Carolina, he explains in his autobiography The Four Trials, “[t]here were no lawyers in my extended family. There were millworkers, grocery clerks, ministers, Marines, boxers – but not lawyers.” When he was eleven years old, Edwards wrote that he wanted to be a lawyer “to protect innocent people from blind justice the best I can.” Edwards pursed this vision trying to live his life by righting wrongs, captivated by television shows like The Fugitive and Perry Mason. Twenty-seven years after he passed the bar exam, Edwards’ track record as a litigator remains remarkable: according to North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, he obtained verdicts and settlements for his clients totaling more than $175 million over his career. Republicans and Democrats continue their debate over malpractice awards medical costs, and corporate liability during the 2004 presidential election campaigns, but even conservative publications like The National Review bestow a healthy respect of Edwards, acknowledging that he “brings real strengths to the Democratic ticket.” His twenty years of success as a trial lawyer, followed by his election to the U.S. Senate, are surely a key factor for such respect. Edwards’ successful track record as a trial lawyer is intimately connected to his skill at communicating his clients’ cases to juries. He is a master of breaking down sophisticated medical terms into layman’s language, and known for his meticulous trial preparation. The wide variety of personal injury cases that Edwards accepted (some of which are detailed in his Thomson Legal Record and on Westlaw) were generally complex, and typically involved life-altering tragedies. He obtained multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for catastrophic birth injuries to newborns. In the 1988 case of a couple whose daughter suffered cerebral palsy when a doctor and hospital staff failed to timely respond to fetal distress, Edwards’ and his legal team won a $1.5 million pre-trial settlement against the obstetrician, and $6.5 million trial verdict against the hospital (later reduced to $4.25 million). In another case involving birth-related injuries, including cerebral palsy, he secured a jury verdict of more than $23 million. Edwards’ first big damages award involved the medical malpractice case of E.G. Sawyer, a salesman who sought medical help for his drinking problem. Instead of help, however, he received a debilitating overdose of Antabuse, the drug used to control alcoholism. Edwards showed the jury that the doctor and hospital gave his client three times the maximum daily recommended drug dosage, resulting in permanent brain and nerve damage. A judge warned him that local “juries down here don’t award more than a hundred thousand dollars.” Since the plaintiff was an alcoholic, the judge added, he said Edwards’ client would lose the case. The jury’s disagreed, awarding Mr. Sawyer damages of $3.7 million. Injuries and wrongful death lawsuits from motor vehicle accidents involving cars and trucks were also a staple of Edwards’ law practice. Reported settlements for some of these included damage awards of $3 – $5.89 million. Settlements in some of his other, similar cases remain confidential, but may have been even higher. Perhaps no trial victory was greater in the eyes of Edwards’s fellow lawyers than his record-setting product liability award for the Lakey family, parents of a five-year-old girl whose daughter was disemboweled after she became caught in a wading-pool drain, and lived. The manufacturer, Sta-Rite Industries, knew about similar drain cover injury lawsuits involving its products, but still failed to include a warning on the drain’s cover. The company initially offered Edwards’ $100,000 to settle his clients’ case, The jury rendered a verdict of $25 million. Under North Carolina law at the time, punitive damages could have tripled that award, but Edwards’ clients settled. For that case, Edwards and his law partner were honored with a public service award from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. In January 2004, an obscure conservative web site charge that Edwards’ trial record was based upon “junk science”, alleging that cerebral palsy and brain damage may not be birth-related injuries. GOP supporters and talk show hosts have repeated this “junk science” label, but retired North Carolina Superior Court Judge Robert Farmer, who presided over a landmark $25M product liability case that Edwards successfully litigated, rebuked such claims in an interview on Fox News.

Biography from John Edwards 2008 Presidential Campaign (http://www.johnedwards.com/about/john/)

John Edwards’ bold ideas have shaped the debate in this election. Whether it’s creating universal health care or halting global warming, ending poverty or ending the war in Iraq and restoring America’s moral leadership around the world, John has led with the boldest and most comprehensive plans for overcoming the challenges we face today.

John is the one candidate willing to speak the truth about what’s going on in Washington: big corporations and special interests have taken over our government and taken the power away from the American people. And he knows there’s only one way to get it back: to stand up, take them on, and beat them.

John is ready for this fight – because fighting special interests on behalf of regular, hard-working Americans is what he’s been doing his entire life.

John is a self-made man who was born in Seneca, South Carolina and raised in Robbins, North Carolina, a small town in the Piedmont. Growing up, John learned the values of hard work and perseverance from his father, Wallace, who worked in the textile mills for 36 years, and from his mother, Bobbie, who ran a shop and worked at the post office. Working alongside his father at the mill, John developed his strong belief that all Americans deserve an equal opportunity to succeed and be heard.

A proud product of public schools, John was the first person in his family to attend college. He worked his way through North Carolina State University where he graduated with high honors in 1974, and then earned a law degree with honors in 1977 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

For the next 20 years, John dedicated his life to representing families and children just like the families he grew up with in Robbins, who were being victimized by powerful interests.

Throughout his career, John found himself on one side of the courtroom with an army of corporate lawyers on the other. Every time, they thought they could win. But they were wrong. Because John beat them, again and again, on behalf of hard-working families facing the darkest moments of their lives. Through his career, he helped families overcome tremendous challenges, and earned a national reputation as a forceful and tireless champion for regular, hard-working people.

In 1998, John took that commitment into politics, to give a voice to the kind of people he represented throughout his career. Without taking a dime from lobbyists or political actions committees (he never has), John ran for the Senate and won an upset victory, unseating an incumbent Republican who was a part of the corrupt Jesse Helms political machine.

In the Senate, Senator Edwards continued to be a champion for regular, hard-working families, taking on critical issues like quality health care, better schools, protecting civil liberties, preserving the environment, saving Social Security and Medicare, and getting big money out of politics.

As a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Edwards worked tirelessly for a strong national defense and to strengthen the security of our homeland. He authored key pieces of legislation on cyber, bio, and port security.

Senator Edwards brought his positive message of change and fighting for regular families to the 2004 presidential primaries. During the primary season he spoke about the Two Americas that exist in our country today: one for people at the top who have everything they need and one for everybody else who struggle to get by. This powerful message resonated with voters all across America.

After the Democratic primaries, Senator John Kerry picked Senator Edwards to serve as his running mate in the 2004 general election, and Senator Edwards crisscrossed the country and campaigned tirelessly on Senator Kerry’s behalf.

Today, he is running for president on behalf of the people he grew up with: good, hard-working Americans who want nothing more than to leave a better life for their children – just like their parents did for them.

He is the former Director of the Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Senator Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, whom he met when both were law students at Chapel Hill, were married in 1977. They have had four children, including: their eldest daughter, Catharine, who is attending law school; nine-year-old Emma Claire; and a seven-year-old son, Jack. Their first child, Wade, died in 1996.

Biography from John Edwards Senate website (this is copied from archive copy)

Sworn into office on January 6, 1999, Senator John Edwards has emerged as a champion for issues affecting the daily lives of regular people in North Carolina and the nation.

Senator Edwards was a chief sponsor of the Bipartisan Patient Protection Act, strong and far-reaching patient protection legislation that passed the Senate in 2001.

Senator Edwards’s bipartisan accomplishments also include a major investment in America’s public schools, strong antiterrorism measures, modernization of the nation’s banking system, sweeping campaign finance reform and legislation to fight corporate corruption.

The News & Observer of Raleigh described Senator Edwards as “smart, disciplined, [and] hard-working” with “a down-home manner.” The Wall Street Journal called him a senator who “impresses colleagues in behind-doors deliberations.” The Washington Post said Senator Edwards has “the ability to think on his feet…master complex issues and…communicate in plain language to ordinary people.”

Senator Edwards serves on five committees: Commerce, Science and Transportation; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Intelligence; Judiciary; and Small Business.

As part of his commitment to North Carolina, Senator Edwards has been to all 100 counties in the state, from Murphy (where he went to a college) to Manteo (where he honored Andy Griffith). Every week that the Senate is in session, he hosts Tar Heel Thursday, town-hall style meetings open to all North Carolinians visiting Washington.

Born in 1953, Senator Edwards grew up in Robbins, a small town in the Piedmont. His father, Wallace, worked in textile mills for 36 years. His mother, Bobbie, had a number of jobs including working at the post office.

A product of North Carolina public schools, Senator Edwards was the first person in his family to go to college. He worked his way through North Carolina State University and graduated with an honors degree in textiles in 1974. He earned a law degree with honors in 1977 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

He met his wife, Elizabeth, when both were law school students at Chapel Hill. They married in 1977, and have had four children. Their first child, Wade, died in 1996. Their eldest daughter, Catharine, is a student at Princeton University. The Edwards household also includes a 4-year-old daughter, Emma Claire, and a 2-year-old son, Jack.

Do you know where you still on the political spectrum? See “Political Beliefs, Where Are You” to find out where you stand.