North Carolina Democratic Sen. John Edwards

Senator John Edwards was sworn into office on January 6, 1999. Edwards serves on four committees: Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Small Business; and Intelligence.

Much of his focus on Capitol Hill is on creating better schools, saving Social Security and Medicare, and developing a Patients' Bill of Rights.

The first person in his family to attend college, Edwards worked his way through North Carolina State University and graduated with honors in 1974. He earned a law degree with honors in 1977 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Born in 1953 to Wallace and Bobbie, Senator Edwards grew up in Robbins, a small town in the Piedmont.

He met his wife, Elizabeth, when both were law school students at Chapel Hill. They married in 1977 and have had four children. Their first child, Wade, died in 1996. Their eldest daughter, Catharine, is a student at Princeton University. The Edwards household also includes a two year old daughter, Emma Claire, and an infant son, Jack.