(Information courtesy of the U.S. Department of State)

John Edwards is a former senator from North Carolina and was the Democratic candidate for vice president in 2004. The first in his family to attend college, Edwards was a practicing attorney until he was elected to the Senate. Edwards has said he would build a "new energy economy based on clean renewable energy and energy efficiency" if elected.

Edwards was born June 10, 1953, in Seneca, South Carolina. He attended North Carolina State University and received a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, have had four children, one of whom died in a car accident in 1996.