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US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOHN EDWARDS PAUSES WHILE CAMPAIGNING IN DAVENPORT IOWA

Politics News

John Edwards' public life

Former Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, has faced public and private challenges throughout his life and career.

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John Edwards Named Kerry's Running Mate

Early family portrait

In an undated photograph, future Sen. John Edwards, bottom right, sits with his sister, Kathy Edwards, left, and parents Bobbie and Wallace. He was born on June 10, 1953, in Seneca, S.C.

EDWARDS

Gridiron pose

In 1970, Edwards was a member of the North Moore High School Mustangs varsity football team during his senior year.

EDWARDS
John Edwards Named Kerry's Running Mate

I thee wed

Elizabeth and John Edwards on their wedding day July 30, 1977.

Edwards Family / ZUMA
EDWARDS

A son's legacy

Edwards stands with his late son, Wade, on Mount Kilimanjaro in 1995. Less than a year after the Kilimanjaro trek, Wade was swept away with the high winds that pushed his Jeep off a highway in April 1996.

EDWARDS FAMILY
Image: The Edwards family in the Oval Office.

Visiting the White House

Left to right, John Edwards, Cate Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Wade Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 13, 1996. Wade Edwards was invited to a reception honoring the American National Endowment for the Humanities National Essay Winners.

pool, accident, trial, Lakey, family, John Edwards John Edwards Named Kerry's Running Mate

Order in the court

A successful trial attorney, on Sept. 5, 1997, Edwards, right, sits with clients Sandy and David Lakey as they await what turned out to be the largest personal injury verdict in North Carolina history, $25 million in compensatory damages for injuries suffered by their daughter in a swimming pool.

The News Observer / Observer
ELECTION SENATE SENATOR GOVERNMENT POLITICS VOTE RACE VICTORY DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE TURNOVER

Political victory

Edwards, the Democratic Senate candidate, celebrates his victory with his six-month-old daughter, Emma Claire, on Nov. 3, 1998, at the North Raleigh Hilton in Raleigh, N.C. Edwards defeated GOP incumbent Lauch Faircloth, 51 percent to 47 percent.

Patrick Schneider / THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
This 03 February 1999 file photo shows US Senator

Presidential impeachment

On Feb. 3, 1999, Edwards is surrounded, from the left, by fellow senators, Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, Arlen Specter, R-Pa., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., as they meet reporters to discuss the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.

Tim Sloan / AFP
SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES HIS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN.

Hat in the ring

On Sept. 16, 2003, Edwards, along with his family, from left, daughter Catherine, son Jack, daughter Emma Claire and his wife Elizabeth, wave to supporters at the old Milliken Mill in Robbins, N.C., where he officially announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Ellen Ozier / © Reuters Photographer / Reuters
SENATOR EDWARDS SMILES WHILE SIGNING HIS BOOK IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Book barnstorming

Now a presidential candidate, Edwards smiles while signing copies of his book, "Four Trials," at a bookstore in Concord, N.H., on Dec. 22, 2003.

Brian Snyder / © Reuters Photographer / Reuters
US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOHN EDWARDS PAUSES WHILE CAMPAIGNING IN DAVENPORT IOWA

Opening day

A day before Iowa's electoral caucus on Jan. 19, 2004, Edwards pauses during a campaign stop in Davenport. Sen. John Kerry won in Iowa, with Edwards finishing second.

John Gress / Reuters
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE EDWARDS AND FAMILY LEAN OUT OF BUS WINDOW

On the road again

Edwards and his children, Jack, 3, Emma Claire, 5, lean out of a window on the campaign bus outside a polling place in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 3, 2004.

Reuters
U.S. SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS PAUSES DURING CAMPAIGN SPEECH IN RALEIGH.

Facing facts

Edwards pauses during a speech at Broughton High School, in his hometown of Raleigh, N.C., on March 3, 2004, before formally announcing the end of his underdog campaign and praising John Kerry as the right man to challenge President Bush for the presidency.

Ellen Ozier / © Reuters Photographer / Reuters
Supporters of Democratic presidential ca

Kerry/Edwards 2004

Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry display their support at an event in Market Square in Pittsburgh on July 6, 2004, where Kerry formally announced that his former rival, Edwards, would be his vice presidential running mate.

Hector Mata / AFP
CHENEY EDWARDS

Vice presidential debaters

Vice President Dick Cheney, left, listens to Edwards answer a question during their campaign debate on Oct. 5, 2004, at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Tony Dejak / AP
Former Democratic presidential candidate

Conceding defeat

Edwards and Kerry stand together at Faneuil Hall in Boston on Nov. 3, 2004, as the pair conceded defeat to President Bush in the presidential election.

Jeff Haynes / AFP
ELIZABETH EDWARDS CANCER

Breast cancer diagnosis

Edwards, with his wife, Elizabeth, right, and their daughter Cate, look to supporters following Sen. John Kerry's concession speech in Boston on Nov. 3, 2004. That same day it was reported that Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Amy Sancetta / AP
EDWARDS

Katrina comments

At the formal opening of his new poverty center in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Sept. 7, 2005, Edwards joins critics who panned the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina, saying the president was slow and indecisive in making decisions about the disaster.

Jeffrey A. Camarati / AP
John Edwards Campaigns With Ned Lamont In Connecticut

Lending support

On Aug. 17, 2006, Edwards waits to speak at a rally for Senate nominee Ned Lamont, D-Conn., at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. Lamont went on to beat Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary, but lost to Lieberman, who ran as an independent, in the general election.

Darren Mccollester / Getty Images North America
John Edwards

Back in the race

Edwards walks past a cordon of student volunteers as he arrives to announce his candidacy for president, Dec. 28, 2006, at a house affected by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Charles Dharapak / AP
John Edwards

Family ties

Edwards is introduced by daughter Emma Claire during a March 13, 2007, rally at Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C.

Gerry Broome / AP
U.S. presidential candidate John Edwards and wife Elizabeth talk to the media regarding Elizabeth's ongoing battle with cancer in Chapel Hill

A new challenge

Edwards and his wife discuss her cancer reoccurrence at a March 22, 2007 news conference in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Ellen Ozier / X00893
Former US senator John Edwards speaks 30

Leaving the race

John Edwards speaks on January 30, 2008. He is watched by his wife and children on Bartholomew Street in the Upper Ninth Ward in New Orleans, where the Habitat for Humanity project Musician’s Village is being built. Edwards pulled out of the White House race, leaving the fight for the Democratic nomination to bitter rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Matthew Hinton / AFP
John Edwards Endorses Barack Obama For President

Obama endorsement

Sen. Barack Obama and Edwards wave during a rally at Van Andel Arena on May 14, 2008 in Grand Rapids, Mich., following Edwards' endorsement of Obama after Sen. Hillary Clinton won the West Virginia primary.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images North America
Image: Rielle Hunter

The other woman

In this Aug. 6, 2009 file photo, Rielle Hunter leaves the Terry Sanford Federal Building and Courthouse in Raleigh, N.C., with her daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter. On Jan. 21, 2010, publicly admitted that he fathered the child with Hunter, a campaign videographer.

Jim R. Bounds / FR3003 AP
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Admitting an affair

Bob Woodruff interviews John Edwards on ABC News Friday, Aug. 8, 2008 in Chapel Hill, N.C. The former North Carolina senator, who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2004, confessed to ABC News that he had lied repeatedly about the affair with 42-year-old Rielle Hunter.

ABC News
Image: John Edwards

Funeral for Elizabeth

John Edwards and his children, Emma Claire, left, Jack and Cate, far right, leave the funeral service for Elizabeth Edwards at Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010. Elizabeth died Tuesday, Dec. 7 of cancer at the age of 61.

Jim R. Bounds / AP
Image: Former U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Edwards departs the U.S. District Court in Winston-Salem (Davis Turner / Reuters)

Facing indictment

John Edwards is accompanied by his daughter, Cate Edwards, left wearing red, as he departs the U.S. District Court after pleading not guilty to six federal charges in Winston-Salem, N.C., June 3, 2011. Edwards was indicted for using nearly $1 million in illegal campaign funds to help cover up an extramarital affair during his White House bid.

Davis Turner / X02053
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Difficult testimony

Cate Upham glances at her father, former Sen. John Edwards as they leave the Federal Courthouse in Greensboro, N.C., May 2, 2012. Upham left the courtroom crying during testimony about a confrontation between her father and deceased mother. Edwards is charged with six criminal counts related to payments from wealthy donors that were used to conceal his mistress and the child they had.

Chuck Liddy / The News & Observer
Image: John Edwards, Cate Edwards, Wallace Edwards, Bobbie Edwards

Not guilty

John Edwards speaks outside a federal courthouse as his daughter Cate Upham, left, and his parents Wallace Edwards, second from right, and Bobbie Edwards, right, stand by his side after the jury's verdict in his trial on charges of campaign corruption in Greensboro, N.C., Thursday, May 31, 2012. The jury found Edwards 'not guilty' on one count of accepting illegal campaign contributions and a mistrial was declared on the remaining five charges because the jurors were deadlocked. Edwards said in a statement following the verdict, "While I don't believe I did anything illegal, I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong and there is no one else responsible for my sins."

Chuck Burton / AP
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