History closed the books on John Edwards' tawdry career a year ago, but his long-suffering wife is adding a footnote to the story of the negligence lawyer who served one term in the Senate, spent more time than that running for president as a champion of the poor while raking in money from a hedge fund and was eventually unmasked as a cheating husband by a tabloid newspaper.
In a forthcoming book titled "Resilience," Elizabeth Edwards now discloses she knew of her husband's infidelity a year before it became public, soon after he announced his candidacy.
"I cried and screamed, I went to the bathroom and threw up," she writes, according to the New York Daily News' report on an advance copy.
"Long-suffering" is inadequate to describe a woman who, after own successful career as a lawyer, lost her 16-year-old son in a car crash and was diagnosed with cancer that went into remission only to return as she supported her unfaithful husband's second bid for the presidency.
Even now, with this new book, Elizabeth Edwards chooses once again to forfeit her privacy and, while expressing her anger, hold on to a stand-by-your-man outlook.
"I lie in bed," she writes, "circles under my eyes, my sparse hair sticking in too many directions, and he looks at me as if I am the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. It matters."
It's hard not to feel for her pain and admire her spirit while wishing she had had better luck in love and life.
Showing posts with label John and Elizabeth Edwards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John and Elizabeth Edwards. Show all posts
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
A Contrast in Losing
Two heavyweights, John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani, get out of the ring today and leave behind different modes of fighting for the presidency and being beaten.
Edwards, who began his campaign in New Orleans a year ago, will apparently end it there and symbolically go to work building a house with Habitat for Humanity. He worked hard on the campaign trail, basing his claim to the nomination on an honorable Democratic tradition of fighting for the poor and dispossessed.
Giuliani, on the other hand, all smiles and guile, tried to ride the 9/11 wave that made him rich all the way to the White House, disdaining the early primaries and expecting to be anointed the Republican candidate with even less exertion than lackadaisical Fred Thompson, who at least showed up for the early contests.
Typically, Giuliani will trade in the fruits of his minimal effort by endorsing John McCain in return for who-knows-what if McCain gets to the White House. Edwards may eventually attempt to convert his delegates and supporters into leverage, but it will more likely be to push Clinton or Obama toward greater emphasis on the issues he raised.
Their personal stories are a contrast as well. Edwards made a run despite his wife's cancer and with her spirited support. Giuliani was brought down, in part, by revelations of his misuse of New York Police to run errands for his third wife-to-be while he was still married to his second.
Running for President is a brutal trial. Edwards will be carried out on his shield. Giuliani will leave without a scratch, except to his ego.
Edwards, who began his campaign in New Orleans a year ago, will apparently end it there and symbolically go to work building a house with Habitat for Humanity. He worked hard on the campaign trail, basing his claim to the nomination on an honorable Democratic tradition of fighting for the poor and dispossessed.
Giuliani, on the other hand, all smiles and guile, tried to ride the 9/11 wave that made him rich all the way to the White House, disdaining the early primaries and expecting to be anointed the Republican candidate with even less exertion than lackadaisical Fred Thompson, who at least showed up for the early contests.
Typically, Giuliani will trade in the fruits of his minimal effort by endorsing John McCain in return for who-knows-what if McCain gets to the White House. Edwards may eventually attempt to convert his delegates and supporters into leverage, but it will more likely be to push Clinton or Obama toward greater emphasis on the issues he raised.
Their personal stories are a contrast as well. Edwards made a run despite his wife's cancer and with her spirited support. Giuliani was brought down, in part, by revelations of his misuse of New York Police to run errands for his third wife-to-be while he was still married to his second.
Running for President is a brutal trial. Edwards will be carried out on his shield. Giuliani will leave without a scratch, except to his ego.
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