Johnny Reid "John" Edwards (born June 10, 1953), is an American politician who was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004 and a one-term U.S. Senator from North Carolina. Edwards is currently a Democratic candidate in the 2008 Presidential election.

He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in North Carolina's 1998 Senate election and during his six-year term sought the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2004 presidential election.

He eventually became the Democratic candidate for Vice President, the running mate of presidential nominee Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. After Edwards and Kerry narrowly lost the election to incumbents George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, Edwards began working full time at the One America Committee, a political action committee he established in 2001, and was appointed director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law. He was also a consultant for Fortress Investment Group LLC.