Inside John Edwards' Political Scandal
Photo: AP
In early 2008, former Sen. John Edwards was on the road to the White House. With strong poll numbers and a second-place finish in the Iowa Caucus, Edwards was considered by many a strong contender for the Democratic presidential nomination. After Edwards suspended his campaign later that month, the charismatic former senator was reportedly placed on the short list for vice president or attorney general.
Publicly, Edwards stood united with his wife, Elizabeth, who campaigned for her husband through her battle with terminal cancer. Behind the scenes, an affair, a series of lies and subsequent coverups threatened to destroy his political aspirations.
At the center of this political and personal firestorm was Andrew Young, Edwards' right-hand man for more than a decade. When tabloid stories suggested Edwards had fathered a love child with mistress Rielle Hunter, Andrew did the unfathomable—the married father of three told the world the baby was his.
Now, Andrew is coming clean. In his explosive tell-all book The Politician, Andrew details how he helped his former boss carry on a two-year affair in secret. "I say all the ridiculously stupid things that I did to my family, to my wife," he says. "But one of the things that I did with this book is I tried to tell the truth about what modern presidential politics is like and how cutthroat it is."
Publicly, Edwards stood united with his wife, Elizabeth, who campaigned for her husband through her battle with terminal cancer. Behind the scenes, an affair, a series of lies and subsequent coverups threatened to destroy his political aspirations.
At the center of this political and personal firestorm was Andrew Young, Edwards' right-hand man for more than a decade. When tabloid stories suggested Edwards had fathered a love child with mistress Rielle Hunter, Andrew did the unfathomable—the married father of three told the world the baby was his.
Now, Andrew is coming clean. In his explosive tell-all book The Politician, Andrew details how he helped his former boss carry on a two-year affair in secret. "I say all the ridiculously stupid things that I did to my family, to my wife," he says. "But one of the things that I did with this book is I tried to tell the truth about what modern presidential politics is like and how cutthroat it is."
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