John Edwards (born June 10, 1953), is an American attorney and politician from the U.S. state of North Carolina. A Democrat, Edwards came from a working-class family and was became a successful trial lawyer before entering politics. He defeated the incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in North Carolina's 1998 Senate election and during his six-year term sought the Democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential election based on a populist message
He eventually became the Democratic candidate for Vice President, becoming the running mate of the presidential nominee, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. After Kerry lost the election to the incumbent George W. Bush, Edwards formed the One America Committee and was appointed director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is widely considered a potential Democratic candidate for the 2008 presidential election.
