Elizabeth Edwards

You can't go on trial for cheating on your wife, but if it involves campaign finance abuse, you might face 30 years in prison. Former presidential candidate John Edwards is looking at 30 years behind bars and $1.5 million in fines for allegedly using unclaimed campaign funds to hide his mistress. During an emotional portion of the trial yesterday, about his late wife Elizabeth, his daughter Cate, 30, left the courtroom in tears.

Christina Reynolds, a confidant and aide to the late Elizabeth Edwards, described a confrontation Elizabeth had with her cheating husband in 2007. Elizabeth, who died in 2010 after a battle of breast cancer, confronted her husband at a private airport hanger after the National Enquirer published a story about the affair. Elizabeth had already known about the affair, but became upset by the story. After yelling at John in front of aides, she stormed off and collapsed on the pavement. Reynolds helped her into the bathroom, but then Elizabeth went back out to find John, tore off her shirt and bra, and yelled "You don't see my anymore," shirtless, in front of the staff. According to Reynolds, John told Elizabeth "not in front of our friends," and she responded, "They're not our friends, They're our staff."

Elizabeth was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, which went into remission only to return, terminally, in 2007, the year this episode takes place. In August 2008 John admitted having an affair with Rielle Hunter, his campaign videographer, but denied rumors that he fathered her child. Elizabeth stood by his side until 2010, when John confirmed he was, in fact, the baby's father. Elizabeth passed away in 2010. Despite her parents' very public marital troubles, daughter Cate married in Oct. 2011, and her father walked her down the aisle. She's now at his side at the criminal trial.

All the painful personal details brought out at the trial are meant to help jurors decide if Edwards failed to report $1 million from friends and old donors in order to fund his mistress's lifestyle. Whatever the outcome, I don't think anyone will feel like a winner.

We're thrilled to present our favorite Double X story here on TrèsSugar.

In The Politician, the book by a former John Edwards factotum, Andrew Young describes Edwards’ duplicity, his noxious self-entitlement, and the rot at the heart of what was publicly proclaimed to be the ideal marriage between John and Elizabeth. The sad news that Elizabeth Edwards died this week has made me think one tragedy of the Edwards’ story is that Elizabeth was not the one to become the politician. While John had boyish looks and an oily, phony sheen of charm, it was Elizabeth who really connected with the crowds, Elizabeth who had a passion for policy, Elizabeth who had a cause—health care—she truly believed in.

Elizabeth Edwards, 61, met her husband at law school—she was of a transitional generation, one in which women in significant numbers started entering professions once closed to them. The Edwardses raised two children and both launched successful careers. Then their teenage son, Wade, died. She remade her life after that crushing loss. She left the law, had a second set of children, and then joined with John on the quest to make him president of the United States. It all turned sordid when the National Enquirer got onto the story of John impregnating a campaign aide. Elizabeth refused to believe the accounts and helped her husband continue the campaign, but the truth finally came out. Later many ugly truths were revealed about the couple's marriage and Elizabeth’s behind-the-scenes behavior—wrenching private scenes disgruntled aides were only too happy to tell.

But there’s no mystery to the outpouring of love and sorrow for the end of her amazing, tumultuous life. The way she faced her terrible illness was a model of forthrightness, of courage.Your heart breaks for her and the children she won’t be able to raise. Elizabeth’s life is a lesson in the dangers of a woman investing everything—her ambition, her intelligence, her dreams—to be fulfilled by a man. I wish long ago Elizabeth had said to her husband, “Guess what, I’m the one who’s going to run for the Senate.”

Check out more from Double X:

Assange Defenders Attack Rape Accusers for No Good Reason
Who Cares If People Don't Marry?

The sad passing of Elizabeth Edwards reminds us again of the sobering fact that the cost of cancer is no easy price to pay — emotionally, physically, and financially.

But here's a shocking statistic: over half of cancer professionals refrain from mentioning finances when discussing the topic with their patients, according to a report released this year by the Journal of the American Medical Association. This is slightly alarming as patients should be equipped with proper financial guidance during this draining time.

What have your experiences at the doctor been like — do they address money matters with you?

We just heard Elizabeth Edwards, the estranged wife of former senator and presidential candidate John Edwards, decided to end cancer treatment this morning, but today she died at her home in North Carolina.

She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, which went into remission only to return, terminally, in 2007. Her picture-perfect marriage took a turn for the scandalous in August 2008 when John admitted having an affair with Rielle Hunter, his campaign videographer, but denied rumors that he fathered her child. Elizabeth stood by his side until last January, when John confirmed he was in fact the baby's father. The two legally separated in January 2010, Elizabeth filed for divorce, and Rielle took her 15 minutes to GQ and on Oprah.

Elizabeth earned a controversial reputation by spilling details of her marital troubles in her memoir, Resilience and on the talk-show circuit promoting it. Only to later say, she never wanted to talk about it again. That drama aside, friends report John was at her side today.

"Today we have lost the comfort of Elizabeth's presence but she remains the heart of this family," a statement from the family said. "We love her and will never know anyone more inspiring or full of life. On behalf of Elizabeth we want to express our gratitude to the thousands of kindred spirits who moved and inspired her along the way. Your support and prayers touched our entire family."

• Lessons to learn from Elizabeth Edwards, who has halted cancer treatment — Daily Beast
• WikiLeak's Julian Assange arrested in London for sex crimes — Huffington Post
• Angelina Jolie says she's getting better with age — PopSugar
• Wal-Mart may owe damages to millions of women for discrimination — Nerve
• PETA mad at Sarah Palin for killing a caribou — The Frisky
• Generous donor brings digitally dead celebs back to life — People
• What troops are saying about don't ask, don't tell — Jezebel
• Recap of last night's Gossip Girl — BuzzSugar

"I hope the next time I'm on television, it's to talk about some policy I really care about and not about this part of my life, of which I'm hoping maybe this chapter will close the door."

— Elizabeth Edwards was on The Today Show this morning, promoting the paperback release of her book Resilience. Despite adding an entire chapter about her divorce and details of ex-husband John Edwards's affair with Rielle Hunter, she wishes the media would focus its attention elsewhere.

• Elizabeth Edwards responds to Rielle's GQ interview — People
• Sandra Bullock reportedly moves out — PopSugar
• Democrats getting closer to passing health care reform — Huffington Post
• Larry King asks Betty White if she was easy — The Frisky
• New book recalls memories of Anne Frank at concentration camp — AP
• California lawmakers to vote on requirement that porn stars wear condoms — LA Times
• Important lessons to learn from sex scandals — New York Times

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of perennial presidential candidate John Edwards, has endured a PR crisis since publishing her book, Resilience, last year. Gone is the saintly image of the woman who does nothing but give and gets nothing but the death of a child, cancer, and a philandering husband in return. In its place are accusations that's she's a crazy fame seeker with the grossest disparity between her public and private image.

Now a new book about the 2008 presidential election is slamming her, calling her “an abusive, intrusive, paranoid, condescending crazywoman,” who regularly puts down her husband, calling him a "hick" and his parents "rednecks" in public. While this may not leave her innocent, does it make her any less a victim when her husband cheated on her? "In unhappy marriages," wrote Judith Warner in Sunday's New York Times, "there are rarely pure victims — even if one spouse’s behavior is grossly more offensive than the other’s."

That's like saying that a nagging woman is asking to be cheated on, which hardly seems fair since you never know what came first — the paranoia or the cheating. We can hardly say if they are happy or not, but, like all couples, they both have the choice of leaving or to staying. Maybe they deserve each other?