“My father had gone to Vietnam.”

American attorney, author, and health care activist

Mary Elizabeth Anania Edwards was an American attorney, author, and health care activist. She was known for speaking publicly about her life and for her role as the wife of John Edwards, the former U.S. Senator from North Carolina and the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in the 2004 U.S. presidential election. Her public work centered on law, writing, and health care advocacy. She became a familiar figure in American political life through her husband’s national campaigns, and her words often reflected the personal and public pressures of that setting.