WASHINGTON ? Here are 10 things about John Kerry's newly named running mate, John Edwards, that most Americans might not know:
1. He grew up in a modest household, but is one of the Senate's wealthiest members. Edwards' father was a textile mill worker in North Carolina. His wealth came by representing people in personal injury claims against corporations.
2. Unlike many elected officials, Edwards did not work his way up the political ladder. In his first run for political office, he was elected to the Senate in 1998 at age 45.
3. Even though he had been in the Senate only two years, Al Gore seriously considered Edwards as a vice presidential running mate in 2000. Edwards' youthful appeal and his home state of North Carolina ? considered a potential swing state in 2000 ? made him stand out to Gore.
4. Edwards, 51, won only one presidential primary- South Carolina, where he was born ? before dropping out of the Democratic race. But he impressed many Democrats with his vigor and message of economic populism.
5. Edwards' telegenic style and good looks often draw comparisons to John F. Kennedy. People magazine named him "sexiest politician" in its November 2000, "Sexiest Man Alive" issue.
6. The comparisons to Kennedy stop, however, when Edwards talks. He has a Southern drawl, which he sometimes poked fun at when he campaigned in Iowa, New Hampshire and other non-Southern states in the primaries.
7. He was the first in his family to go to college. Edwards graduated from North Carolina State University in 1974. Three years later, he received a law degree from the University of North Carolina.
8. John and Elizabeth Edwards' life together has been touched by tragedy. Their 16-year-old son was killed in a car accident in 1996. They have three other children.
9. Edwards often talks about "regular people" and their struggles in "two Americas" as a way to delineate between people on the lower and upper ends of the income scale, but critics say it is class warfare disguised as folksy rhetoric.
10. According to the Almanac of American Politics, Edwards won more than $150 million in verdicts for plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits before selling his law practice for $5 million. He began his legal career defending record companies accused of pirating Elvis Presley records.
