NEW YORK, 7 July 2004 — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry yesterday chose as his running mate his former rival for the nomination, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.
“John understands and defends the values of America,” Kerry said in a statement e-mailed to supporters and the media early yesterday morning. “He has shown courage and conviction as a champion for middle class Americans and those struggling to reach the middle class.”
Edwards, 51, is the son of textile mill workers who had trouble making ends meet. Unlike the privileged Kerry, Edwards attended public schools and universities before becoming a personal injury trial lawyer, making millions by representing victims of medical and corporate negligence.
According to financial disclosure documents filed with the Senate, Edwards is worth between $19 million and $70 million after a 20-year career. But while campaigning, he often placed himself among the “regular people” he says he is dedicated to serving.
As a southerner he is expected to help the ticket in the region where the Republicans won in 2000, and is expected to also help jump-start Kerry’s flagging campaign.
Young, handsome and articulate, Edwards won the admiration of many within the Democratic Party and beyond, and observers say he will be able to infuse the Democratic ticket with much-needed charisma.
Kerry and Edwards will be officially nominated at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, which begins July 26. Together, they face President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in the Nov. 2 election
Kerry, 60, a four-term US senator from Massachusetts, considered four men he defeated in party primaries as possible vice presidential candidates — Edwards, retired army Gen. Wesley Clark, Sen. Bob Graham of Florida and Representative Richard Gephardt of St. Louis, Missouri, according to Democratic Party officials.
Republicans are expected to paint Edwards as a predatory ambulance chaser and will attempt to find examples of $1 million-plus fees Edwards earned as an attorney or a case where a verdict he won drove a company out of business and employees out of their jobs.
Johnny Reid Edwards was born on June 10, 1953, in Seneca, South Carolina, where his family lived in a company-owned three-room rental cottage. During his childhood, Edwards’ mother worked a 4 p.m. to midnight shift at a plant making bathing suits. His father worked his way up from hoisting 100-pound rolls of cloth.
Edwards married fellow law student Elizabeth Anania, with whom he has three children, son Jack and daughters Cate and Emma Claire. Another son, Wade, was killed in a car accident on April 4, 1996, at age 16.
Edwards was elected to the Senate in November 1998. He helped oversee depositions in Clinton’s impeachment trial and won praise from Republicans for his comments in the Senate chamber. “We all saw a brilliant statement by Sen. Edwards,” said Sen. Gordon Smith. “We saw firsthand why he has made so much money talking to jurors.”
