Edwards is a candidate for the 2008 U.S. presidential election; his concession speech at the close of the 2004 race already hinted at his continued presidential ambitions: “You can be disappointed, but you cannot walk away. This fight has just begun.” The following day, he announced that his wife Elizabeth had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Coincidentally, a few months earlier, in February 2004, doctors suggested that the distinctive mole on Edwards’ upper lip might be developing cancerous properties; he had it removed, although it turned out to be benign.

During the following months, Edwards was courted by a number of organizations; he told interviewer Larry King that he doubted he would return to his occupation as a trial lawyer and showed no interest in the possibility of becoming the Democratic National Committee chairman, a post sought by fellow nomination contender Howard Dean. He finally chose to accept an offer from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, of a part-time faculty position as director of a new “Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity” at the university. Shortly before the November 2004 election, he had purchased a parcel of land in Orange County, to which his family plans to move.

Throughout 2005, Edwards has carried out several activities that may constitute the beginning of a presidential campaign. In February, he headlined the “100 Club” Dinner, a major fundraiser for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. That same month, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced that he had been appointed as director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity in the university for studying ways to move people out of poverty.

On March 21, 2005, John Edwards recorded his first podcast with his wife. Several months later, in August, Edwards traveled to Waterloo, Iowa to deliver an address to the Iowa AFL-CIO, a potential key supporter in the Iowa caucus. The following month, Edwards sent an e-mail to his supporters and announced that he opposed the nomination of Judge John Roberts to become Chief Justice of the United States. He was also opposed to the nomination of Justice Samuel Alito.

In 2005, Edwards joined the Wall Street investment firm Fortress Investment Group as a senior adviser.

During the summer and fall of 2005, he toured the country, promoting various progressive causes. He visited homeless shelters and job training centers and spoke at events organized by such groups as ACORN, the NAACP, and the SEIU. He spoke out in favor of an expansion of the earned income tax credit, a crackdown on predatory lending, a raise in the capital gains tax, housing vouchers for minorities to integrate upper-income neighborhoods, and a program modeled on the Works Progress Administration to rehabilitate the Gulf Coast following the effects of Hurricane Katrina. In low-income Greene County, North Carolina, he unveiled the pilot program for College for Everyone, an educational measure he promised during his presidential campaign, in which prospective college students will receive a scholarship for their first year, in exchange for ten hours of work a week.

On November 14, 2005, he wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post, saying he regretted his vote supporting the Iraq War in 2002 and addressed three solutions for success in Iraq.

Edwards is a co-chair of a Council on Foreign Relations task force on United States-Russia relations, alongside Republican Jack Kemp, a former congressman, Cabinet official, and vice presidential nominee.

[From Wikipedia]