John Edwards

John Edwards

Johnny Reid "John" Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.

He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in North Carolina's 1998 Senate election. Towards the end of his single six-year term, he sought the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2004 presidential election. He eventually became the 2004 Democratic candidate for vice president, the running mate of presidential nominee Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Following Kerry's loss to incumbent President George W. Bush, Edwards began working full-time at the One America Committee, a political action committee he established in 2001, and was appointed director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law. He was also a consultant for Fortress Investment Group LLC. Edwards launched a second bid for the Democratic nomination during the 2008 presidential campaign.

On June 3, 2011, Edwards was indicted by a North Carolina grand jury on six felony charges of violating multiple federal campaign contribution laws to cover up an extramarital affair he admitted to following his 2008 campaign. Edwards' trial began on April 23, 2012, and had he been convicted, he would have faced up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine. On May 31, 2012, Edwards was found not guilty on one count, and the judge declared a mistrial on the remaining five charges, as the jury was unable to come to an agreement. On June 13, 2012, the Justice Department announced that it dropped the charges and will not attempt to retry Edwards.