John and Elizabeth Edwards: After a Son’s Death, a Shared Mission in Politics

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: The Long Run
The Edwardses
This is part of a series of articles about the lives and careers of contenders for the 2008 Republican and Democratic presidential nominations.

After a Son’s Death, a Shared Mission in Politics
By KATE ZERNIKE
Published: December 31, 2007


Baby Made Three: Elizabeth and John Edwards, in 1980 with their first-born, Wade, who was killed in a car crash 16 years later.

In an instant, a world in which everything seemed right suddenly seemed all wrong. John and Elizabeth Edwards’s 16-year-old son, Wade, their first-born, was dead, with nothing to blame but the gust of wind that had flipped his car off a wide-open road. As the couple walked down the aisle of the church for his funeral, they braced each other, friends recalled, as if they could not stand alone.

In the bleak months that followed, the Edwardses looked for ways to keep Wade’s name alive, taking comfort even in seeing it printed on credit-card offers that arrived in the mail. Determined to honor their son publicly and fill their life with meaning, they created a learning center named after him. They chose to have more children. And they decided Mr. Edwards would enter politics, a path that took him first to the United States Senate and now to his second run for the presidency.

The campaign is a shared mission. Elizabeth Edwards is her husband’s most trusted adviser, his chief provocateur and his most popular surrogate, mobbed at campaign stops by people who admire her struggle against breast cancer and share stories of children lost. She describes the presidency as not just his quest, but hers, too.

Her visibility and their decision to continue with the campaign despite learning in March that her cancer was incurable has put the Edwardses’ marriage on display like no other in this presidential race. From afar, Americans have wondered at their bond or questioned their values, cheered them on or condemned them. Some people assumed they were in denial, others accused them of an ambition that knew no bounds.

But to the Edwardses, their decision simply showed a sense of purpose and a lesson learned a decade ago from crushing pain: If you can’t control life, you can at least embrace it more urgently....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/us/politics/31edwards.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1199113543-EbOBX3AMSAYqlvhJx0u7kQ&pagewanted=all

[zalinda]

1. Wow, just wow

I have so much respect for this couple. I don't care who wants to be petty and slam them. I know after reading this article that they are the real deal.

zalinda

[K Gardner]

2. I read this about JE back in early 2002 or 2003, before he even

announced he was running. Was impressed with him then and remain so.

[Catchawave]

3. Thank you ....we need this today :)

:kick: 'n' R :patriot:

[pioneer111]

4. Things I didn't know about the Edwards that touched me

The story is really well written, but a couple of ordinary details stood out for me.

They embraced parenthood with near professionalism. They held weekly meetings with Wade and Cate, two years younger.
Every year they invited hundreds of friends to a Christmas party at their house in Raleigh, with Mrs. Edwards cooking
and dozens of children playing upstairs.

Mr. Edwards coached soccer, and his wife assisted, making sure every player had enough time on the field. She arranged
her schedule as a bankruptcy lawyer to spend more time with her children in the afternoons. She sewed Halloween costumes
for them and their friends.

They really were ordinary and devoted parents. This really has impressed me. Of course they know first hand the lives of middle class Americans.

While some political families try to erect barriers between their personal and public lives, the Edwardses have
actively torn them down. Mr. Edwards’s Senate staff learned a cardinal rule at the couple’s house: don’t knock,
just come right in. "We don’t fight, we don’t walk around naked," Mrs. Edwards explained to one staff member.
"You don’t have to worry about walking in on something."

This openness with staff and strangers shows up on the campaign trail. They include everyone into their family. I couldn't put my finger on it but this paragraph really explained what I sensed.

Great diary article, everyone should read it.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Thanks, pioneer, for adding this additional info to the thread! nt

[Triana]

6. They are very open and inclusive as a family...I noticed that even when he talks

in Iowa and Elizabeth and kids are there. They're natural and real. They don't put on airs and TRY to be something they're not. They're a normal, decent family. I'd love to see them in the White House!

[benny05]

7. You are looking at the Future First Couple

and who have adopted the "we" (meaning all of us) theme a long time ago. This article radiates that theme.

[K Gardner]

9. This picture is Priceless... n/t

[ShadesOfGrey]

8. Very nice article. K&r