Elizabeth Edwards In Anguish After Affair

Friend, Brother Say Her Cancer Diagnosis Forced Her To Decide Whether To Leave Husband

(CBS/AP)  Elizabeth Edwards' cancer diagnosis forced her to decide quickly whether she would leave her husband after he confessed to having an affair, her brother and a friend told People magazine.

"She couldn't say, 'Well, maybe we'll work through this for years, or maybe we should separate for two years,"' said Hargrave McElroy, a friend, told the magazine for its Aug. 25 issue. "(The cancer) forced her to choose whether to move forward."

Edwards, a two-time Democratic presidential candidate, admitted last week to having a short affair in 2006 with a filmmaker named Rielle Hunter, who was hired that year to produce short videos for his political action committee. The former North Carolina senator denied he was the father of Hunter's five-month old daughter, and offered to take a paternity test to prove it.

Through her attorney, Hunter rejected the idea of such a test and said she has no intention to speak publicly about the affair. Through a spokeswoman, both John and Elizabeth Edwards declined a request for an interview Wednesday.

On The Early Show Thursday, the reporter who wrote the article in People, its Washington correspondent, Sandra Sobieraj Westfall, said to co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez, "He told her it's not his (baby) and she believes him. As her best friend said, she wants to believe him. She does believe him, and that that was really what she wanted most out of him going public -- to knock down those reports, so they could get the truth out, and get on with her life."

"You say she believes him about the child?" Rodriguez asked again.

"That's what I'm told," replied Westfall.

She added that Elizabeth has been taken aback by the public reaction to John's announcement.

Said Westfall, "(Elizabeth's) friend told me (Elizabeth) thought her forgiving him should be enough for everybody else and (Elizabeth) was unprepared for the amount of disgust and how swiftly everything else he had done in his career would be wiped away, and that (Elizabeth is) really reeling from that and afraid what it will do to their legacy as a couple and what their children will inherit."

Edwards has said he both ended the affair and told Elizabeth about his infidelity in 2006. He kicked off his second bid for the White House in New Orleans a few days after Christmas, at an event that Hunter attended and Elizabeth did not.

"The campaign had already gone through its official launch," when John told Elizabeth, Westfall said, " ... and she felt sort of trapped. It was the end of the year 2006, between Christmas and New Year's. They had already done the announcement tour. He was a candidate. And then he drops this bombshell on her. And only in pieces. He told the truth slowly."

But Elizabeth was out campaigning soon thereafter, and continued to do so after the couple disclosed in March that her breast cancer has spread to her bone and could not be cured. In July of that year, the Edwards renewed their vows to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary in the presence of a small group of friends and family, including their three children.

"There was anguish - excruciating anguish - for her in dealing with this," McElroy said. "She was angry and furious and everything, but at one point she had to make a choice: Do I kick him out, or do we have a 30-year marriage that can be rebuilt."

Edwards brother, Jay Anania, told People that his sister was focused on her children - 8-year-old Jack, 10-year-old Emma Claire and eldest daughter Cate, 26. When he reached her the day after Edwards admitted publicly to the affair, he said Elizabeth asked him to call later because she was reading with Jack.

"Jack reads to her an hour a day as part of his home-schooling," Anania told People. "The world is whizzing around her and she's cool as a cucumber, saying, 'Jack just started, can I call you back?' "

Why did McElroy and Anania go public?

"They wanted to put out there (Elizabeth) wasn't this wind-up doll that went on stage and let the campaign continue out of some sort of craven ambition, but that she really was going through a lot of anguish," Westfall replied.

[keithle1]

Men have needs. The male *** drive is very powerful. It''s a 24-7 thing.

Attn gents/playas/ladies men: ALWAYS use a condom when you cheat on your wife/girlfriend.

I can''t stress that enough. You don''t want the beeyotch showing up at your door with a crying baby now do you?

Have fun. But be smart. Use a condom! Preferably two!

[hwy71so]

Elizabeth Edwards should castrate that punk!!!

[grahampoor]

How does Carol feel? Does anyone care about her? Sounds like she still hurts 30 years later?
But we don''t hear about her, though she would tell her story is the US press would print it.
Search the daily mail UK "The wife John McCain callously left behind" to hear what she has to say.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?searchPhrase=The-wife-John-McCain-callously
Edwards and McCain are both admitted adulterers. Like Edwards, McCain committed adultery while his wife was in the hospital fighting for her life. McCain''s wife waited for him for 7 years while he was a war prisoner in Vietnam. McCain divorced her. McCain married Cindy who was rich and young enough to be his daughter. If you care about this behavior from your president shouldn''t vote for Edwards or McCain. Edwards and McCain are the same in terms of their lack of personal morality while saying that they are a superior choice to Obama on family issues. Be an informed voter! Research the media claims and claims above. God Bless You and God Bless America!

[galloglaigh]

At the time that John announced for Pres. She knew that he was a BIG FAT LIAR. And still she did not try to stop him . Can you imagine what a disaster it would have been to have a pathologic liar as Pres.?? Another Clinton, no thanks.
She has cancer, yes, but she was willing to do anything to get the power and glory herself.
Where am i wrong.
Theses people are very very selfish. Both of them
Posted by HamiltonGRAD at 10:52 AM : Aug 14, 2008


The only part you are wrong is where you say "...have a pathologic liar as Pres..." Every president in my lifetime (and I''ve lived a LONG time) has been a liar. It''s just that some were more pathological than others.

I especially agree with "These people are very selfish. Both of them."

IMHO, Mrs. Edwards should have exposed Mr. Edwards BEFORE he ran for president.

[whofhearted0]

yeah, right. now you are the patient in Room D who forgot who she is or anything she did prior to now?
good luck with that.
another rockerfeller?
Posted by fenner at 12:53 AM : Aug 15, 2008

-----------------------

LOL!!! You''re only weapon is your weak insults.

You''re not worth my time.

Bye...

[whofhearted0]

Where is Obama''s birth certificat?

And what does it have to do with Mrs. Edwards?

[whofhearted0]

you got caught in a boldface lie! now you are trying to clean it up...?

Posted by fenner at 12:47 AM : Aug 15, 2008

---------------------------

What''s the lie?

I don''t get my facts from Daylife.com. LOL!!

[whofhearted0]

why do we need to compare the above when they nave ZIP to do with Obama or McCain?

are u trying to deflect from the obvious?
OBAMA IS A FRAUD!

Posted by fenner at 12:41 AM : Aug 15, 2008

--------------------------

If nothing else, you ARE good for laughs!!

What DOES Obama''s BIRTH CERTIFICATE have to do with Elizabeth Edwards??

[whofhearted0]

DAYLIFE.COM is reporting that the Republicans have obamas birthcertificate and it shows his name as Barry Soetoro. They aslo have a picture of his School REcord from Indonesia and it lists his religion as ISLAM and his legal name as BARRY SOETORO.

the question now is WHEN DID OBAMA CHANGE HIS NAME?
DID HE EVER CHANGE IT OFFICIALLY, OR JUST ADAPTED IT?
WAS HE EVER A CITIZEN OF INDONESIA WHICH DISALLOWED DUAL CITIZENSHIP UNTIL JUST RECENTLY

%u2013 it is very possible HILLARY is staying visible because she knows obama is not leagally qualified to run for president.
%u2013 obama just may have been given the headsup and that is why he%u2019s now in Hawaii - - he doesnt look too happy there nor does his wife%u2026. IMO, SOMETHING IS UP.

WHY HASNT OBAMA SLAP HIS AUTHENTIC BIRTH CERTIFICATE ON THE TABLE FOR ALL TO SEE?
SOMETHING STINKS, FOLKS%u2026%u2026.AND ITS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE OBAMA IS CHALLENGED IN ONE OF THE VISITING STATES%u2026%u2026%u2026.QUITE POSSIBLY IN DENVER.

Posted by fenner at 12:14 AM : Aug 15, 2008

-----------------------------

Daylife.com??? Ha Ha Ha.... Pathetic.

Did you ever ask yourself, "If they have Obama''s birth certificate, why didn''t they publish it in the media?"

ROFLMMFAO!!!

And YOU call people DUMBO...

[whofhearted0]

MY POINT EXACTLY DUMBO!!!! newt was NOT RUNNING.
Posted by fenner at 12:25 AM : Aug 15, 2008


So...was he running for political office (congress), or not?

Did Gingrich express interest in being a Republican candidate in 2008? Yes, he did. But he wisely changed his mind, perhaps because he realized he had too many skeletons that had crawled out of the closet.

LOL!!! I will not lower myself to your level by calling you names...

[whofhearted0]

Can you imagine what a disaster it would have been to have a pathologic liar as Pres.?? Posted by HamiltonGRAD at 10:52 AM : Aug 14, 2008


Ha Ha Ha... We already know what a disaster a pathological liar (such as Bush) can create.

Compare Bush''s presidency to Clinton''s and then tell me how you like your economy.

[whofhearted0]

newt wasnt running for office and his wife wasnt dying of cancer.
Posted by fenner


LOL!!! Open mouth, insert foot!!!

Newt had already run (unsuccessfully) for congress twice when he cheated on his first wife. He subsequently presented her with the details of their divorce WHILE she was in the hospital RECOVERING from surgery for uterine CANCER.

[nyteryder2]

john wasnt running for president. and there were already problems in the marriage... they were only technically married.
and johns wife was not dying of cancer.
and edwards had not just come back from a war and making adjustments of 5 years of pure hell.
Posted by fenner at 05:08 AM : Aug 14, 2008


It''s amazing how some people can justify anything...

[nyteryder2]

Try this list on for size: George Bush, *** Cheney, Colin Powell, Newt Gingrich, Donald Rumsfeld. There''''s never been one story or leak that any of these guys has ever cheated.
Posted by michaelt302 at 03:36 AM : Aug 14, 2008


Ha Ha Ha!! Hilarious!! Your list isn''t very credible.

TRY THIS ON FOR SIZE...

Newt was cheating on his wife AT THE SAME TIME he was hounding Bill Clinton for doing the SAME THING!!

LOL!!! It took a lot of humility for Newt to admit that he wasn''t as good as God.

George Bush cheat?? The guy is impotent at EVERYTHING he has ever tried. He made up for not cheating on his wife by screwwing everyone in the U.S. How do you like your gas prices?? High or higher??

Cheney cheat?? Ditto George Bush...

There''s much more to being a decent human being than simply being faithful to one''s spouse.

[citizenusa-2009]

To clarify, the "old w.h.o.r.e" to whom I am referring would be (in my humble opinion), Ms. Lisa Druck aka "Rielle Hunter"..by the way, her ex got off easily and quickly. It didn''t take long for him to scrape this barnacle off of him....why doesn''t someone contact him for a comment or three?

[citizenusa-2009]

As I''ve said before, the IRS has driven people into poverty and suicide. They MUST go after the monthly "stipend" ($15,000 +) that the old w.h.o.r.e. is raking in and TAX IT AS INCOME! Although she is making the $$$ by practicing "the oldest profession in the world" it is STILL TAXABLE INCOME!

[wellhell3]

I don''t feel sorry for her at all! She CHOSE to stay with the lying cheating bastward.

She CHOSE to campaign with him presenting themselves as happy blooming families and the real deal moral majority, and touted the BS about how the people deserved the TRUTH from their leaders! She''s just as big a LIAR as he is, plus using the sympathy vote for her disease!

And then they allowed the DNC to use his LYING face in their endorsement scam to give people the warm fuzzies when the DNC Nazi''d all the superdelelgates to migrate to Obscamma!

Neither Edwards, Obscamma, nor the DNC have one WHITE OF CREDIBILITY LEFT!

[barbaraf4]

I am curious how many hypercrits we have on this blog who are oh, so sanctimoniously judging the Edwards family when in fact, many (male and female)of you are guilty of the same offense.

It''s like homosex*uality. You have to sound strongly against it, just to protect your own lifestyle.

[pollroller1]

I told my wife the first time I heard John Edwards make a speech that he was nothing but a phony. Looks like I had him pegged.

[credibility2]

Women who forgive men who cheat on them, or vice versa, only leave themselves open for the same thing to happen again. Remember how mostly everyone trashed Hillary for forgiving Bill? Women are held as a double victim, once by their unfaithful spouses and another by those who challenge their sanity for forgiving them and taking them back. These infidels never recover nor do they ever truly appreciate what forgiveness really means.