John Edwards (politician, 1953)

John Edwards

Johnny Reid "John" Edwards (born June 10, 1953 in Seneca , Oconee County , South Carolina ) is an American politician and was from 1998 to 2004 one of the two Senators of North Carolina . 2004 and 2008, Edwards competed as a democratic candidate in the primaries for the presidential election , but was defeated in 2004, John Kerry , senator from Massachusetts ; Edwards was his candidate for the office of vice president. In January 2008, Edwards withdrew his candidacyPresidential election retired early after failures in several primary elections and later supported Barack Obama .

Life

John Edwards grew up in a Methodist family in the small town of Robbins , North Carolina . His father Wallace was a production manager in a textile factory, his mother Catharine a postal worker. In 1974 he graduated from North Carolina State University . From 1975 he studied at the University of North Carolina law , and married his fellow student Elizabeth Anania . In 1979 his son Wade was born and in 1980 his daughter Catherine was born. In 1996, shortly before his 17th birthday, Wade was killed in a car accident. In 1999 his daughter Emma Claire was born, and in 2001 his fourth child Jack was born. On December 7, 2010, his wife Elizabeth died of breast cancer at the age of 61 . Elizabeth broke up with John Edwards in early 2010 because of an affair.

In August 2008, Edwards told ABC News that he had an extramarital relationship with actress Rielle Hunter and lied about the matter during his 2008 campaign. He went on to claim that he was not the father of their child and stated that this could be confirmed with a paternity test if necessary. However, Rielle Hunter did without it. On January 21, 2010, John Edwards admitted paternity.

Working life

Before entering politics, Edwards worked as a compensation lawyer; Among other things, he specialized in lawsuits against maternity wards and their hospitals.

Political career

senator

According to his own account, the accidental death of his son Wade in 1996 prompted John Edwards to go into politics. In 1998 he was elected Senator from North Carolina. In the 2004 Senate election, he did not run again, but supported Erskine Bowles , who was defeated by the Republican Richard Burr .

In 1999 he represented Bill Clinton during the impeachment proceedings for the Lewinsky affair before the committee of inquiry. In the 2000 presidential election, John Edwards was shortlisted as a candidate for vice-president under Al Gore , who ultimately chose Joseph Lieberman as a running mate .

Presidential candidate

In 2004 Edwards ran for president . Towards the end of the primaries, he was favorite John Kerry's most dangerous competitor . However, on March 3, he stepped down from his candidacy after losing to Kerry in eight out of ten states on March 2, the second Super Tuesday . On July 6, 2004, John Kerry announced that if he won the election on November 2, John Edwards, who was part of the “left” wing of the Democratic Party, would become Vice President.

On July 28, 2004, Edwards gave his nomination speech for the Vice Presidency at the Democratic Party Conference . In the foreign affairs section he took up positions similar to those of John Kerry the following day; the domestic part of his speech, on the other hand, was decidedly "liberal" in the American view. So he called for a noticeable tax increase for rich and large corporations and the introduction or expansion of various social programs, e.g. B. a generous partial assumption of the high tuition fees by the state, fight against poverty, affordable health insurance for everyone, fight against companies that relocate jobs abroad, and the like. Kerry and Edwards were ultimately defeated by incumbents George W. Bush and Dick Cheney .

John Edwards in September 2007 in Pittsburgh

On December 28, 2006, John Edwards announced on his website that he would run for the Democrats in the 2008 presidential election . His campaign was called Tomorrow begins today . As in previous campaigns, Edwards focused on expanding health insurance for all Americans, "rebuilding the American middle class " and fighting poverty . He also promised to work for the recognition of hard work, not just wealth in society. He was next to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as the third top candidate of the Democratic Party; on January 30, 2008, however, Edwards withdrew from the running for the presidency after he had achieved poor results in the primary .

On May 15, 2008, Edwards announced his support for Barack Obama's bid. In return, it was speculated that he might get an office in the new democratic government; however, no such thing fell to him.

accusation

On April 12, 2012, a lawsuit against Edwards began in North Carolina. He was accused of having illegally diverted around $ 750,000 in donations in the 2008 presidency primary and misused it for private purposes. In particular he used this money to give presents to his beloved; his affair with her was not to be made public. There was also the allegation that the donations accepted were higher than legally permitted for political candidates. Edwards pleaded not guilty, claiming the money was private gifts from friends. Thus, there was neither a statutory upper limit with regard to the sum nor a commitment with regard to the use. In June the trial against him was ruled out because of disagreements in the judicial jury.

Web links

Commons : John Edwards  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikiquote: John Edwards  - Quotes

• John Edwards in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Official campaign site
• John Edwards in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Spiegel: Democrat Edwards gives up
2. ↑ DPA: Ex-candidate Edwards now supports Obama , May 15, 2008, accessed May 15, 2008
3. ↑ Elizabeth Edwards, 61, Dies After Six-Year Battle with Breast Cancer in: abcnews.go.com, December 7, 2010
4. ↑ Elizabeth Edwards is dead in: Spiegel Online from December 7th /
5. ^ That John Edwards story: partly true, at least . In: The Manchester Guardian . August 8, 2008. Archived from the original on August 11, 2008. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
6. ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/09/edwards.paternity/index.html
7. ↑ John Edwards admits paternity . In: The Washington Post . January 21, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
8. ↑ John Edwards' affair trial. In: ORF . April 13, 2012, Retrieved April 13, 2012 . 
9. ↑ spiegel.de May 24, 2012: Crash of a clean man ( memento of the original from May 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ spiegel.de June 1, 2012: Saubermann Edwards gets away with it ( memento of the original from June 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , May 24, 2012: Crash of a clean man ( memento of the original from May 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.