Senator John Edwards

Senator John Edwards’s bold ideas have been critical to shaping the debate in 2008. Whether it was his proposals for creating universal health care, halting global warming, ending poverty, or stopping the war in Iraq and restoring America’s moral leadership around the world, Senator Edwards offered bold and comprehensive plans for overcoming the challenges we face.

A proud product of public schools, Senator Edwards was the first person in his family to attend college. He worked his way through North Carolina State University and then earned a law degree with honors from the University of North Carolina. For the next 20 years, Senator Edwards dedicated his life to representing families victimized by powerful interests.

In 1998, Senator Edwards took his commitment into politics. He ran for the Senate and won an upset victory. As a Senator, John Edwards took on critical issues like quality health care, better schools, civil liberties, the environment, and getting big money out of politics. As a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Edwards worked tirelessly to protect our national security and to ensure that our government respected the law and civil liberties.

Senator Edwards brought his positive message of change and fighting for regular families to the 2004 presidential primaries. He served as Senator John Kerry’s running mate in the 2004 general election.

Senator Edwards is the founder and former director of the Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is currently the chair of Half in Ten, a campaign by ACORN, the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the Coalition on Human Needs, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, to cut poverty in half in ten years in the United States.