Four Trials
by John Edwards
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| Childhood | To put it plainly, "we were a mill family," Edwards writes of his modest upbringing in Robbins, North Carolina. A strong friendship and a sense of mutual respect with his parents framed his childhood. "It was simple," reflects Edwards. "We were family, and we were friends." (p. 118, 116) |
| First Job | Summers spent cleaning the ducts and looms at the local mill taught Edwards about the dignity of ordinary men and women. Edwards heeded their advice to pursue a college degree, but never forgot their lessons. He remembers, "There could have been no better experience than that of having swept the floors in that mill." (p. 236) |
| Education | As the first in his family to enroll in college, Edwards lived with his grandmother while attending Clemson University: just "the football player and his grandma." When his parents could not afford his tuition, he strived for a football scholarship. But when he did not make the varsity squad and had to leave Clemson after just one semester, he was profoundly disappointed that he let his family down. (p. 117) |
| UNC Law | After earning a B.A. in textile technology from North Carolina State University in just three years, Edwards entered law school at UNC Chapel Hill, where he questioned his place among his classmates. "These were not mill kids," he writes. "I frankly wondered if I was up to the task." When one of his peers spoke out mid-lecture, calling a professor's diagram "as clear as mud," Edwards took notice. He and the offender, Elizabeth Anania, would not formally speak until the next semester, but they would wed a week after the Bar exam. (p. 125, 126) |
| Elizabeth | Elizabeth "changed my world and my worldview," writes Edwards. They shared a strong desire to start a family, and two years later son Wade entered their lives. Since his birth, the couple vacationed alone only once — and only for three days — when Wade was still an infant. (p. 127) |
| Family | Whether over Sunday morning animal-shaped pancakes or pre-trial dinners at O'Charley's, Edwards and Elizabeth made family time a priority. This left little room for adult socializing, but the couple "never felt shortchanged." And as his own family grew in size, so did the number of family-based trials Edwards took on. (p. 130) |
| In the Courtroom | In the opening arguments of his first big malpractice case, Edwards told the jury, "I'm nervous because the job I do for E.G. [Sawyer] in this trial is going to count for his entire lifetime." His honest and heartfelt approach echoes through each case in Four Trials. Edwards trusted the jury and felt that they too needed to trust him. Always polite and respectful, he believed "you never win points by being a bully." (p. 31, 206) |
| Wade's Death | The Edwards' world fell apart when son Wade died in a car crash in April 1996 at age sixteen. When he began his book, Edwards didn't intend to dwell on Wade's death, but ultimately couldn't avoid it. "Wade is who I am," he writes. "[I]t is his life, not his death, that has inspired me." (p. 232) |
| Later Trials | In the wake of Wade's death, John represented Valerie Lakey, a child severely injured in a swimming pool accident. When he spoke to the courtroom about the injustices committed against the young girl, he silently thought of the essential injustice of Wade's recent death. While working on the Lakey case, he was "the best lawyer of my life," Edwards recalls. "[I]t was the minimum requirement of myself." (p. 229) |
| In the Senate | Edwards came to realize, "If you can't help enough people being a lawyer, consider being a lawmaker." (p. 158) |
The Candidates In Print
FROM THE TIME ARCHIVE
