Elizabeth Edwards Dies in North Carolina

Friends say Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards, died at her Chapel Hill home on Tuesday after a long battle with breast cancer.

A lawyer, an author, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a local furniture store owner, Elizabeth Edwards became a popular fixture on the Democratic presidential campaign trail during her husband John Edward’s run for Vice President in 2004 and his bid for the presidency in 2008.

Elizabeth Edwards was first diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2004. She announced in 2007 that her breast cancer had returned, as John Edwards was launching his 2008 presidential bid. In a 60 Minutes interview, the couple explained their decision to stay in the race. "You know, you really have two choices here. I mean, either you push forward with the things that you were doing yesterday or you start dying," Elizabeth Edwards told Katie Couric. "That seems to be your only two choices. If I had given up everything that my life was about -- first of all, I'd let cancer win before it needed to. You know, maybe eventually it will win. But I'd let it win before I needed to."

After John Edwards exited the 2008 race, Elizabeth Edwards became a health care advisor to the Obama campaign.

John Edwards admitted earlier this year that he had fathered a daughter with a campaign staffer, and Elizabeth Edwards filed for legal separation. 

On Monday, Elizabeth Edwards announced that she was discontinuing cancer treatment. "The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered," she wrote on her Facebook page. "We know that. And yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful."

Edwards wrote two books about facing personal difficulties in the public eye, including Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities, which she wrote after John Edwards’ admission of his infidelity.

She talked to WNYC’s Leonard Lopate in 2009: