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(Photo: AP)
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Age: 53
Born: June 10, 1953 in Seneca, S.C.
Education: North Carolina State (1974); University of North Carolina Law School (1977)
Military: None
Family: Married (Elizabeth); three children (a fourth child is deceased)
Hometown: Raleigh, N.C.
Religion: Methodist
Career: Attorney 1977-1998; U.S. Senator, 1998-2004; Committees in Senate: Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, Judiciary, Small Business & Entrepreneurship, select intelligence.
A political neophyte, Edwards was elected to the Senate in 1998. He announced he was running for president in the fall of 2003. After failing to get the Democratic nomination, John Kerry selected him as his Vice Presidential candidate.
Edwards is the son of a North Carolina mill worker; he spent vacations also working at the mill. Growing up in a Republican household, he registered initially as an Independent, but claims to have been a Democrat for most of his adult life.
In 1993, Edwards successfully represented the family of a young girl, 5-year old Valerie Lakey, who was seriously injured in a faulty pool drain accident. The jury’s $30.9 Million award was the largest personal injury award in NC history. The incident prompted the State Assembly to pass legislation preventing future injuries and manufactures have also modified their products. In 1996, Lawyers Weekly USA named Edwards one of the eight "Lawyers of the Year."
Edwards was the first in his family to go to college. He was a high school athlete and lettered in football, track, basketball, and tennis.
In 1996, the Edwards’ teenage son, Wade, was killed in a car accident. The death was devastating for the family; Edwards took more than a month’s sabbatical. To honor their son’s memory, Edwards and his wife founded a learning center in Raleigh. The after-school program provides computers and tutors for high school students.
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