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Elizabeth Edwards, who advocated for her husband, John Edwards, through two presidential campaigns and dealt with the aftermath of his affair, has died at 61 after a long battle with cancer. TIME was there as she entered and exited the public eye.
See TIME’s takes on Edwards, as she spoke out on law, politics, health and infidelity.
On her early life as a lawyer:
— When Elizabeth Edwards was a bankruptcy lawyer in Raleigh, N.C., she spent much of her court time in the “second chair,” providing advice and often doing the heavy legal lifting for the lead attorney on a case. Being second chair was less glamorous than taking the lead, and it didn’t come naturally to someone so outspoken, eloquent and whip-smart. But it gave Elizabeth what she wanted–more manageable hours and more time to spend with her children. And it was great training for advising her husband through a meteoric six-year rise from political neophyte to vice-presidential nominee. (July 19, 2004)
On her relationship with husband John Edwards:
— Despite vastly improved finances, Elizabeth still wears the $11 ring that John slipped on her finger that day, and they still celebrate each anniversary the way they spent the first one: by dining at Wendy’s. (July 19, 2004)
On her Second Lady plans:
— If her husband becomes Vice President, Elizabeth’s first job will still be raising her kids. But she’ll venture into issues, especially education. As one Edwards adviser puts it, “She has the smarts of Hillary Clinton and the charm of Tipper Gore.” Friends say she would bring a refreshing lack of pretension to her new life. “She never puts on airs,” says Washington pal Bonnie LePard. “In fact, sometimes she doesn’t even put on shoes.” (July 19, 2004)
On losing her son, Wade, in a freak car accident in 1996:
— What advice do you have for parents who lose a child?
— You don’t want to make decisions in those first awful moments that are going to make 10 years down the road harder. If you can’t stand to see his things or her things, ask a friend to hold them for you. Maybe you’ll never ask for them again. But there may come a day when you’d like to see her second-grade paper or a poem he wrote when he was a sophomore. (September 24, 2006)
After the recurrence of her breast cancer in 2007:
— For now, Edwards is happy to be the public face of living with cancer and has enjoyed seeing fellow travelers at campaign stops, greeting her in headscarves or with thinly thatched noggins. She expects to begin a new round of treatment in mid-April, after a bit more campaigning and some time off to spend spring break with her kids. She’s thinking less about how much time she may have and more about how she spends it. “I was cleaning my bathroom, and thinking, I really don’t want to spend too much time doing this,” she says. “Another thing I did was plant some lilacs and other flowers — something I hope to enjoy and I know my family will enjoy. That’s work I’m happy to fill my days with.” (March 29, 2007)
On the Edwards’ decision to keep campaigning, despite Elizabeth’s cancer:
— When it comes to the never-ending debate over Elizabeth and John Edwards’ decision to continue his campaign after her diagnosis with incurable breast cancer, much of the blame has been directed at her. In devoting herself to her husband’s goal, was she ignoring what might be best for her children? Earlier this month, Edwards got into a public spat with a Clinton supporter, who had blogged that she was a “terrible mother.” Elizabeth, a lifelong insomniac who spends her wakeful hours surfing the internet, came across the post and wrote back: “You don’t get to judge me because you think you know exactly what you would do if you had my disease. I want to be really clear: you don’t know.” (September 13, 2009)
Being inducted into the TIME 100 in 2007, with a passage written by Melissa Etheridge:
— They said Elizabeth would receive treatment but the campaign would go forward. The Edwardses have built a dream. It is who they are and what they know. To stop that dream would be to let the fear of cancer win. (May 3, 2007)
Dealing with the aftermath of her husband’s affair, as written in an excerpt from her book:
— Just as I don’t want cancer to take over my life, I don’t want this indiscretion, however long in duration, to take over my life either. But I need to deal with both; I need to find peace with both … There is still a great deal of sorting through to do — the lies went on for some time. And we both understand that there are no guarantees, but the road ahead looks clear enough, although from here it looks long. (May 5, 2009)
-Nick Carbone and Megan Friedman