John Edwards
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This article is about the American attorney and politician. For other people, see John Edwards (disambiguation).
| John Reid Edwards | |
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| In office January 1999–January 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Lauch Faircloth |
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| Succeeded by | Richard Burr |
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| Born | June 10, 1953 Seneca, South Carolina |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Edwards |
| Religion | Methodist |
Johnny "John" Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) was the Democratic 2004 nominee for Vice President, and a one-term U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He is considered a potentially strong Democratic candidate for the 2008 Presidential election.
Edwards was a trial lawyer before entering politics. He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in North Carolina's 1998 Senate election and during his six-year term sought the Democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential election based on a populist message.
He eventually became the Democratic candidate for Vice President, the running mate of presidential nominee Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. After Edwards and Kerry lost the election to the incumbents George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, Edwards formed the One America Committee and was appointed director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law and is also now a consultant to an investment bank in New York.
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[edit] Early life and education
Edwards was born on June 10, 1953, to Wallace R. Edwards and Kathryn Juanita Wade in Seneca, South Carolina. The family moved several times during Edwards' childhood, eventually settling in Robbins, North Carolina, where his father worked in a textile mill and his mother was a postal employee. Edwards was the first person in his family to attend college. He first attended Clemson University and later transferred to North Carolina State University.
Edwards graduated with a bachelor's degree in textile technology in 1974, and later earned his law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, both with honors. While at UNC, he met fellow law student Elizabeth Anania. They married in 1977 and have four children. Their first two, Wade and Cate, were born soon after John and Elizabeth's marriage. In 1996, their 16-year-old son, Wade, was killed in a car accident; in remembrance of his son, Edwards donated a large computer lab to his son's school, Broughton High School in Raleigh, which provides technology access to Broughton students. He also wears Wade's Outward Bound pin on his suit jacket. Following Wade's death, Edwards and his wife chose to have children again: Emma Claire, born via a surrogate mother when Elizabeth was 49 years old in 1998, and Jack, born via surrogacy when Elizabeth was 51 in 2000. The Edwards family now live in rural/suburban Orange County, in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill metro area, in North Carolina.
[edit] Legal career
Both Edwards and his wife began private practice with law firms in Nashville, Tennessee. Edwards became an associate at the law firm of Dearborn & Ewing in 1978, doing primarily trial work, defending a Nashville bank and other corporate clients. The Edwards family (John, Elizabeth, and son Wade) returned to North Carolina in 1981, settling in the capital of Raleigh.
Before entering politics, Edwards was a personal injury trial attorney. He represented families and children, and specialized in corporate negligence and medical malpractice claims. Edwards made his personal fortune through his trial successes and his 2003 financial disclosure forms showed a total net worth between $12.8 and $60 million.[1] Edwards was criticized for paying himself mostly through subchapter S corporate dividends, rather than a salary, to take advantage of a tax-law loophole that allowed him to avoid paying $591,000 in Medicare taxes; Edwards claimed that he chose the subchapter S structure to protect his assets from liability.[2]
Edwards' first important case was a 1984 medical malpractice lawsuit. In that case, Edwards won a $3.7 million verdict on behalf of his client who suffered permanent brain and nerve damage after a doctor prescribed a drug overdose of anti-alcoholism drug Antabuse.[3] In 1985, Edwards obtained a $5.75 million settlement in a cerebral palsy case for medical malpractice during childbirth. This established the North Carolina precedent of physician and hospital liability for failing to determine if patient understood risks of a particular procedure.[4]
The biggest case of his legal career was a 1997 product liability lawsuit against Sta-Rite, the manufacturer of a defective pool drain cover. The case involved a Cary, North Carolina girl, Valerie Lakey, who was disemboweled by the suction power of the pool drain pump when she sat on an open pool drain whose protective cover other children at the pool had removed, after the municipality 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. In his closing arguments, Edwards spoke to the jury for an hour and a half without referring to notes. It was an emotional appeal that made reference to his son, Wade, who had been killed shortly before testimony began in the trial. Mark Dayton, editor of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, would later call it "the most impressive legal performance I have ever seen."[5] The jury awarded the Lakeys $25 million, the largest personal injury award in North Carolina history. The company settled for the $25 million while the jury was deliberating punitive damages, rather than risk appeal. 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.[6]
In December 2003, during his presidential campaign, Edwards (with John Auchard) published Four Trials, a biographical book focusing on cases from his legal career.
[edit] Senate term
Both the success of the Lakey 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. A Democrat, Edwards won election to the U.S. Senate in 1998 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.
During President Bill Clinton's 1999 impeachment trial in the Senate, Edwards was responsible for the deposition of witnesses Monica Lewinsky and fellow Democrat Vernon Jordan; Clinton was acquitted.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, Edwards was reported to be on Democratic nominee Al Gore's vice presidential nominee "short list" (along with John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, Gore's eventual pick). In November 2000, People magazine named Edwards as its choice for the "sexiest politician alive."
Edwards served on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and U.S. Senate Committee on Judiciary.
During his Senate term Edwards co-sponsored 203 bills. He co-sponsored Lieberman's S.J.RES.46, the Iraq War Resolution, and also later voted for it in the full Senate to authorize the use of military force against Iraq. Edwards also supported and voted for the Patriot Act. Among other positions, Edwards generally supported abortion rights, affirmative action, and the death penalty. He also advocated rolling back the Bush administration's tax cuts and ending mandatory minimum sentencing for non-violent offenders [7].
Edwards supported the expansion of the H-1B visa program to increase legal immigration into the United States.[8] Edwards generally supported expanding legal immigration to the United States while working with Mexico to provide better border security and stop illegal trafficking. [9][10]
Before the 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, however, was defeated by Republican Richard Burr in the election.
[edit] 2004 presidential campaign
Edwards unofficially began his presidential campaign as early as 2001, when he began to seek speaking engagements in Iowa, the site of the nation's first party caucuses. On January 2, 2003, he announced formation of an exploratory committee, allowing him to begin fundraising while not officially campaigning. On September 15, 2003, Edwards unofficially announced his intention to seek the 2004 Democratic Presidential nomination, on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, thus fulfilling a promise he made as a guest during the show's coverage of the 2002 midterm elections. The next morning, Edwards made the announcement officially from his hometown. He declined to run for reelection to the Senate in 2004 in order to solely focus on his presidential run. Edwards' campaign was chaired by North Carolina Democratic activist Ed Turlington.
As Edwards had been building support for a presidential bid 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' fellow trial lawyers, their families, and employees. [11]
Edwards' campaign was often characterized by the American news media as populist[12][13]. His stump speech spoke of "two Americas", one composed of the wealthy and privileged, and the other of the hard-working common man [14].
After campaigning for most of 2003, Edwards's campaign struggled to gain substantial support in the Democratic Party. In early 2004, weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Edwards began to gain momentum and poll numbers began to rise steadily. Edwards's late-stage momentum carried him into a surprising second place finish in Iowa with the support of 32% of caucus delegates, behind only John Kerry's 39% and ahead of former front-runner Howard Dean at 18%. Edwards finished with 12% support in the New Hampshire primary one week later, in fourth place behind Kerry, Howard Dean, and Wesley Clark. The following week, during the February 3 primaries, Edwards won South Carolina's primary, lost to Clark in Oklahoma, and lost to Kerry in the other states. Edwards also garnered the second largest number of second place finishes, again falling behind Clark.[15]
After Dean's withdrawal from the contest, Edwards became the only major challenger to Kerry for the Democratic nomination. He finished with 34% of the votes and second place to Kerry in the Wisconsin primary on February 17.
Edwards largely avoided attacking Kerry until a February 29, 2004 debate in New York, where he attempted to put Kerry on the defensive by characterizing the front-runner as a "Washington insider" and by mocking Kerry's plan to form a committee to examine trade agreements.
Edwards' campaign ended after a disappointing finish in the Super Tuesday primaries on March 2, when Kerry finished well ahead in nine of the 10 states voting that day. Edwards finished only slightly behind Kerry in Georgia, but, failing to win a single state, chose to withdraw from the presidential race. He announced his official withdrawal at a Raleigh, North Carolina press conference on March 3, 2004.
News of Edwards's withdrawal from the race made major media outlets relatively early on the evening of Super Tuesday, at about 6:30 p.m. CST, before polls had closed in California and before caucuses in Minnesota had even begun. This influenced many people in Minnesota to vote for other candidates, which may partially account for the strong showing of Dennis Kucinich in that state.[original research?] Edwards did win the presidential straw poll conducted by the Independence Party of Minnesota. He also later won the Democratic caucuses in his home state of North Carolina, making him the only Democratic candidate besides Kerry to win nominating contests in two states.
On July 6, 2004 Kerry announced, first in an email to his supporters and later in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that Edwards would be his vice presidential running mate. Kerry's decision was widely hailed by Democratic voters in public opinion polls and by Democratic leaders in interviews. According to sources close to Kerry, other individuals said to have been under consideration for the vice presidential nomination by the Kerry campaign were Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, Florida Senator Bob Graham, Clark, and Congressman Richard Gephardt (the New York Post had incorrectly reported a day earlier that Kerry had decided on Gephardt for the running mate slot). Though Ralph Nader and many Democrats supported the nomination, others criticized Kerry because of Edwards' perceived lack of experience. In particular, the nomination caused the business community, including the Chamber of Commerce network, to throw its support to George W. Bush when they had been neutral in previous presidential elections, because of Edwards' opposition to tort reform.[16]
[edit] Campaign controversies
Edwards was involved in two well-publicized controversies during the election. One centered on a comment he made in Iowa in October 2004 concerning stem cell research:
If we can do the work that we can do in this country -- the work we will do when John Kerry is president -- people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk. Get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.[1]
— John Edwards, October 10, 2004, campaign event in Iowa''
The quote was later misquoted on the Drudge Report as: "When John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk. Get up out of that wheelchair and walk again."[2] Reacting to the misquote, conservative Washington Post columnist and Fox News Channel contributor Charles Krauthammer stated, "For Edwards to make the claims he did is the worst demagoguery I've heard in Washington in a quarter-century. To imply that Christopher Reeve was kept in the wheelchair because of the policies of the Bush administration on stem cells is ridiculous and insulting."[3] Progressive research and information center Media Matters have argued that when the entire quote is used "Edwards was premising 'people like Christopher Reeve' 'walk[ing] again' on the outcome of research that a Kerry administration would support."[1]
Another controversial moment took place on October 5, 2004 during a televised debate between Edwards and Vice President Dick Cheney. In response to a question regarding gay marriage, Edwards made a reference to Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary Cheney, saying:
I think the vice president and his wife love their daughter. I think they love her very much. And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It's a wonderful thing. And there are millions of parents like that who love their children, who want their children to be happy.
—John Edwards, Vice Presidential debate
In response, Cheney replied "let me simply thank the senator for the kind words he said about my family and our daughter. I appreciate that very much."[4] A week later, Cheney pronounced himself "a pretty angry father" when Kerry answered a similar question in the same vein.[5] While promoting her book two years later, Mary Cheney -- who had been out of the closet for a decade and had been the lesbian/gay corporate relations manager for the Coors Brewing Company[6] -- objected, stating she thought it was a "cheap and blatant political ploy on behalf of Senator Edwards."[7]
The Kerry/Edwards ticket lost the 2004 election. Edwards did receive one Electoral Vote for President (due to a faithless elector in Minnesota).
[edit] Post Senate activities
Edwards is widely regarded as a potential candidate for the 2008 U.S. presidential election; his concession speech at the close of the 2004 race hinted at his continued presidential ambitions: "You can be disappointed, but you cannot walk away. This fight has just begun." The following day, he announced that his wife Elizabeth had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Coincidentally, a few months earlier, in February 2004, doctors suggested that the distinctive mole on Edwards' upper lip might be developing cancerous properties; he had it removed, although it turned out to be benign.
During the months that followed Edwards was courted by a number of organizations; he told interviewer Larry King that he doubted he would return to his occupation as a trial lawyer and showed no interest in the possibility of becoming the Democratic National Committee chairman, a post sought by fellow nomination contender Howard Dean. He finally chose to accept an offer from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, of a part-time faculty position as director of a new "Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity" at the university. Shortly before the November 2004 election Edwards purchased a parcel of land in Orange County, to which his family plans to move.
In February 2005 Edwards headlined the "100 Club" Dinner, a major fundraiser for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. That same month, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced that he had been appointed as director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity in the university for studying ways to move people out of poverty.
On March 21, 2005, Edwards recorded his first podcast[8] with his wife. Several months later, in August, Edwards traveled to Waterloo, Iowa to deliver an address to the state's chapter of the AFL-CIO, a potential key supporter in the Iowa caucus. In the following month Edwards sent an email to his supporters and announced that he opposed the nomination of Judge John Roberts to become Chief Justice of the United States. He was also opposed to the nomination of Justice Samuel Alito.
In 2005 Edwards joined the Wall Street investment firm Fortress Investment Group as a senior adviser.[9]
During the summer and fall of 2005, he toured the country, promoting various progressive causes. He visited homeless shelters and job training centers and spoke at events organized by such groups as ACORN, the NAACP, and the SEIU. He spoke out in favor of an expansion of the earned income tax credit, a crackdown on predatory lending, a raise in the capital gains tax, housing vouchers for minorities to integrate upper-income neighborhoods, and a program modeled on the Works Progress Administration to rehabilitate the Gulf Coast following the effects of Hurricane Katrina. In low-income 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 will receive a scholarship for their first year in exchange for ten hours of work a week.
On November 14, 2005 he wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post in which he expressed regret for his vote supporting the Iraq War in 2002, and discussed three solutions for success in the conflict.[10]
Edwards is co-chairman of a Council on Foreign Relations task force on United States-Russia relations alongside Republican Jack Kemp, a former congressman, Cabinet official, and vice presidential nominee. On April 6, 2006, Edwards joined Ted Kennedy at a rally for raising the minimum wage.[11]
[edit] 2008 Presidential Race
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This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected future events. It may contain information of a tentative nature and the content may change dramatically as the event approaches and more information becomes available. |
It is as yet unknown whether Edwards intends to run for President in 2008. Edwards has kept his political action committee (the One America Committee) open and has given many speeches in such key states as Iowa, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin. On May 21, 2006, during an exclusive interview in This Week with George Stephanopoulos he said that he is thinking seriously about running in 2008. On his November 14, 2006 appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, while discussing the 2008 presidential race, Edwards hinted to viewers that an "exciting announcement" may come within a few weeks on his website, www.johnedwards.com. His appearance coincided with the release of his second book, Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives.
[edit] Polls and speculation
In a Democratic nominee poll conducted by Cook Political Report/RT Strategies between February 23 and February 26, 2006 [17], Edwards finishes second with 16%, leading Kerry (14%) but trailing Hillary Clinton (44%). An April 2006 Pew poll [18] had 64% of Americans with an opinion have a favorable view of Edwards, the highest of any Democrat they asked about. Edwards' 2004 campaign chair, Fred Baron, has "set aside his law practice" to devote preparing for a possible Edwards' 2008 campaign if Edwards runs. [19] On June 11, 2006, a poll conducted by Des Moines Register among Iowans showed that he is leading the Iowa caucus by 30% and he is followed by Clinton by 26% and Kerry by 12%. The poll also showed that, among Democrats, Edwards had an 83% favorable rating, Clinton with a 71% favorable rating, and Kerry with a 69% favorable rating.[20]
On October 20, 2006 his wife Elizabeth Edwards increased speculation about his candidacy by saying that Hillary Clinton would be a "formidable opponent" for Edwards. [21]
On December 5, 2006, it was announced that Edwards had hired former Michigan Congressman David Bonior, who served for 11 years as Democratic Whip in the House, as "senior adviser for policy and politics" at the One American Committee. It has been speculated that, should Edwards decide to run, Bonior will act as his campaign manager, and give Edwards the benefit of his many contacts in the organized labor community. [22]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Conservatives echoed Drudge's doctored quotation of Edwards on stem cell research", Media Matters, 2004-10-13. Retrieved on 2006-09-01. (in English)
- ^ Drudge Report front page. Drudge Report (2004-10-12). Retrieved on 2006-08-29.
- ^ Charles Krauthammer commentary
- ^ Dick Cheney response to John Edwards's comments on Cheney's daughter
- ^ Cheney further response to comments on daughter
- ^ Salon.com article on Mary Cheney
- ^ Mary Cheney's comments in response to John Edwards.
- ^ http://oneamericacommittee.com/media/podcasts/20050321/
- ^ http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/oct2005/nf20051013_3314_db016.htm
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/11/AR2005111101623.html
- ^ http://www.senatedemocrats.net/node/775
[edit] External links
- One America Committee
- Official Blog
- Edwards' Senate Voting Record
- Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity
- Politics1 - P2008: John Edwards
- July 27, 2004, Democratic National Convention speech: Transcript text
- October 5th, 2004, Vice Presidential Debate: Transcript text, Audio and Video
- Subscribe to the John Edwards Podcast One America Committee Podcast
- Notable Names Database
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
[edit] Edwards for President unofficial sites
| Preceded by: Lauch Faircloth |
United States Senator (Class 3) from North Carolina 1999–2005 Served alongside: Jesse Helms, Elizabeth Dole |
Succeeded by: Richard Burr |
| Preceded by: Joe Lieberman |
Democratic Party Vice Presidential candidate 2004 (lost) |
Succeeded by: N/A: Most recent(a) |
| United States Democratic Party Vice Presidential Nominees |
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Edwards, Johnny Reid |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Edwards, John |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 10, 1953 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Seneca, South Carolina |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
Categories: Articles which may contain original research | Future events | 1953 births | Living people | American anti Iraq War activists | American debaters | American Methodists | Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees | English Americans | Members of the Council on Foreign Relations | North Carolina lawyers | People from the Triangle, North Carolina | People from South Carolina | Podcasters | Tennessee lawyers | United States presidential candidates | United States Senators from North Carolina | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
