The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down - Softcover

John Edwards’s longest-serving former aide gives us the inside story—in shocking, explosive detail—about the meteoric rise and scandalous fall of

THE POLITICIAN

Andrew Young volunteered for the Edwards campaign for U.S. Senate in 1998 and soon became the Democratic candidate’s right-hand man and most trusted friend. As Edwards became a national star, Young’s responsibilities grew to include a series of questionable assignments that culminated with being asked to conceal the Senator’s ongoing adultery. Then, days before his run in the 2008 presidential primaries began, Edwards was faced with a publicity nightmare: Rielle Hunter, the campaign videographer with whom he’d been having an affair, was pregnant. Edwards insisted that Young claim paternity—but America would eventually learn the truth...

“A book worth reading for its larger drama. Mr. Young’s book examines what a politician really is.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

Young believed that Edwards could be a great president, and was assured throughout the cover-up that one day Edwards would come clean to his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth—and the rest of the country—and take responsibility for his actions. Instead, Young watched as his own career and family life fell apart. With this memoir, he finally has the chance to share his account of what really happened—and go beyond the headlines to show who John Edwards really is.

 “Mesmerizing...This is not a political memoir. It’s a morality tale with the chill of Hitchcock.” —Tina Brown, The Daily Beast