Mary Elizabeth Edwards (nee Anania) was born in Jacksonville, Florida on July 3, 1949. She spend her childhood throughout the world, as her father Vincent was a Navy U-2 pilot.
Education and Career
Edwards earned a B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She completed three years of graduate study at UNC in American Literature, but then decided to earn a law degree instead. At the University of North Carolina School of Law , she met fellow student John Edwards, who was four years her junior. Elizabeth and John married on July 30, 1977—days after she passed the bar exam.
After her marriage, Edwards built a family and a law career. Son Wade was born in 1979, followed by daughter Catharine (Cate) in 1982. Edwards began her career as a clerk for a federal judge in Virginia and then worked at the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office. She practiced law in both Memphis and Raleigh and also taught legal writing as an adjunct. Until 1996, she went by her maiden name, Elizabeth Anania.
Death of Wade Edwards
The Edwards’ lives changed forever in 1996, when sixteen-year-old Wade lost control of his Jeep on a windy highway and was killed. Devastated, the couple made drastic changes in their lives. Elizabeth Edwards abandoned her law career and took her husband’s last name. She and John founded the Wade Edwards Foundation, and Edwards devoted much of her time to the administration of this educational foundation. John Edwards also left his legal practice (he had hoped Wade would follow in his footsteps) and successfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 1996.
The Edwards’ also decided to have two children at a very late age. With the help of reproductive therapies, Elizabeth Edwards gave birth to Emma Claire in 1998 at the age of 48, and then to John Atticus (Jack) in 2000 at the age of 50.
Recent Headlines
In 2004, Elizabeth Edwards was thrown into the spotlight when John became the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate under John Kerry. She was received favorably by the public, who saw her as down-to-earth.
Late in her husband’s campaign, Edwards was shocked to find a lump in her breast. She was diagnosed with breast cancer the day after Kerry conceded. After treatment, Edwards was declared cancer free. She then wrote Saving Graces, an emotional and inspirational autobiography highlighted by the death of her son and her battle with breast cancer.
John Edwards entered the 2008 presidential campaign. On March 22, 2007, the Edwards announced that Elizabeth’s cancer was back and had spread. She now had metastatic (stage 4) cancer that was considered treatable but not curable. John Edwards announced that with his wife’s guidance, he had decided not to suspend his campaign. This decision was met with criticism by some, but with a good deal of support by most of the public.
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