| Elizabeth Edwards | |
|---|---|
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| Born | July 3, 1949 Jacksonville, Florida |
| Spouse(s) | John Edwards (separated)[1] |
| Children | Wade (1979-1996) Cate (born 1982) Emma Claire (born 1998) Jack (born 2000) |
Elizabeth Anania Edwards (born Mary Elizabeth Anania on July 3, 1949, in Jacksonville, Florida), is an attorney, best-selling author, and the estranged wife of John Edwards, a former U.S. Senator from North Carolina who was the 2004 United States Democratic vice-presidential nominee.
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Elizabeth Edwards is the daughter of Elizabeth and Vincent Anania (1920–2008). For part of her childhood she lived in Japan, where her father, a United States Navy pilot, was stationed. She graduated from the Francis C. Hammond High School in Alexandria, Virginia, then attended Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She then transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from which she received her bachelor's degree. After three years of postgraduate studies in English at UNC, she entered UNC's School of Law and earned a J.D.. She met John Edwards when they were both law students at UNC. They married on July 30, 1977.
Elizabeth and John Edwards are the parents of four children: Wade, Catharine, Emma Claire, and Jack. Wade was killed in April 1996 when he lost control of his Jeep while driving from his Raleigh home to the family's beach house in the private gated community of Figure Eight Island, near Wilmington [2]. Three weeks before his death, Wade Edwards was honored by First Lady Hillary Rodham 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. Wade, accompanied by his parents and sister, met North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms. After he died, Helms entered Wade's essay and his obituary into the Congressional Record. [3]
After Wade's death, the Edwardses decided to have more children: Emma Claire was born in 1998 when Elizabeth was 48, and Jack was born in 2000 when she was 50. She was pregnant with Emma Claire during her husband's 1998 Senate race. Emma Claire and Jack were born in Chapel Hill, where the family now resides. After John's January 21, 2010, public admission that he fathered a child with his mistress, Elizabeth legally separated from him and intends to file for divorce after North Carolina's mandatory one year separation.[4][5][6][7]
Elizabeth began her career as a law clerk for a federal judge, then moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1978 to become an associate at the law firm of Harwell Barr Martin & Sloan. In 1981, she and her husband moved their family to Raleigh, where she worked in the Office of the Attorney General, and at the law firm Merriman, Nicholls, and Crampton. She used her maiden name professionally until 1996,[8] when she retired from legal practice upon the death of her son and changed her name to Elizabeth Edwards. Much of her time since leaving legal practice has been devoted to the administration of the Wade Edwards Foundation.[9] She has taught legal writing as an adjunct instructor at the law school of the University of North Carolina and worked as a substitute teacher in the Wake County Public Schools. In June 2009, it was reported that she plans to open a furniture store in Chapel Hill.[10]
During much of 2004, Edwards joined her husband and United States Democratic Presidential nominee Senator John Kerry on the nationwide campaign trail. She took a similar role in her husband's 2008 presidential bid and was considered one of his closest advisers.
Edwards disagrees with her husband on the topic of same-sex marriage. She became a vocal advocate in 2007 when she stated: "I don't know why someone else’s marriage has anything to do with me. I'm completely comfortable with gay marriage."[11]
On June 10, 2008, it was revealed that Edwards would be advising her husband's former rival, and eventual Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, on healthcare issues.[12] Her husband also endorsed Obama during the later stages of the primary season.
Edwards would go on to become a senior fellow at the American Progress Action Fund and she would testify to Congress about health care reform on their behalf.[13]
On November 3, 2004, the day Kerry conceded defeat in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election, Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer. She later revealed that she discovered a lump in her breast while on a campaign stop in Kenosha, Wisconsin a few weeks earlier, in the midst of the campaign. Edwards was treated and has remained an activist for women's health and cancer patients. In a November 2006 comment on the Daily Kos website, Edwards stated that on her last visit her oncologist said that cancer was not one of the things going on in her life.[14]
In September 2006, Edwards released a book, Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers,[15] focusing on the death of her son and her battle with breast cancer. In May 2009, Edwards released a second book, Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities[16], further detailing her battles with cancer, the 1996 death of her son Wade, the earlier death of her father, the effect of these events on her marriage to John Edwards, his subsequent infidelity, and the general state of health care in America.[17]
At a March 22, 2007 press conference,[18] John and Elizabeth Edwards announced that her cancer had returned, and that his campaign for the Presidency would continue as before. The announcement included the information that she was asymptomatic, and therefore that she expected to be an active part of the campaign. [19] Her doctor, Dr. Lisa Carey of the University of North Carolina's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, described the diagnosis as stage IV (metastatic) breast cancer with a spot in her rib and possibly her lung. In a March 25 interview on 60 Minutes, Edwards said that there was also a spot in her hip found on her bone scan.[20] Elizabeth and John Edwards and Dr. Carey stressed that the cancer is not curable, but is treatable.[18][21] In early April 2007, Edwards was informed that her cancer may be treatable with anti-estrogen drugs. "I consider that a good sign. It means there are more medications to which I can expect to be responsive," she told the Associated Press during a campaign stop with her husband in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[22]
| Preceded by Hadassah Lieberman |
Spouse of the Democratic Party Vice Presidential Nominee 2004 |
Succeeded by Jill Biden |
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   | Edwards posting - Daily Kos :: Comments Hello DailyKos! |
| | Wade Edwards Foundation website - Wade Edwards Learning Lab |
| | For Elizabeth Edwards, a public battle for her life - For Elizabeth Edwards, a public battle for her life - USATODAY.com |
| | Exclusive:John and Elizabeth Edwards, Edwards Open About Cancer, Unconditional About Couple's Decision On Presidential Run - Exclusive: John And Elizabeth Edwards - 60 Minutes - CBS News |
| | Transcript of Former Sen. Edwards News Conference on Wife's Health - Former Sen. Edwards Holds a News Conference on Wife's Health - washingtonpost.com |
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