The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down

by Andrew Young

“The greatest political saga, the one that has it all, that gets to the real heart of American politics, is the John Edwards story... This isn’t just politics, it’s literature. It’s the great American novel, the kind that isn’t written anymore.” --Michael Wolff on John Edwards's trajectory, on VanityFair.com The underside of modern American politics -- raw ambition, manipulation, and deception -- are revealed in detail by Andrew Young’s riveting account of a presidential hopeful’s meteoric rise and scandalous fall. Like a non-fiction version of All the King’s Men , The Politician offers a truly disturbing, even shocking perspective on the risks taken and tactics employed by a man determined to rule the most powerful nation on earth. Idealistic and ambitious, Andrew Young volunteered for the John Edwards campaign for Senate in 1998 and quickly became the candidate’s right hand man. As the senator became a national star, Young’s responsibilities grew. For a decade he was this politician’s confidant and he was assured he was ‘like family.” In time, however, Young was drawn into a series of questionable assignments that culminated with Edwards asking him to help conceal the Senator’s ongoing adultery. Days before the 2008 presidential primaries began, Young gained international notoriety when he told the world that he was the father of a child being carried by a woman named Rielle Hunter, who was actually the senator’s mistress. While Young began a life on the run, hiding from the press with his family and alleged mistress, John Edwards continued to pursue the presidency and then the Vice Presidency in the future Obama administration. Young had been the senator’s closest aide and most trusted friend. He believed that John Edwards could be a great president, and was assured throughout the cover-up that his boss and friend would ultimately step forward to both tell the truth and protect his aide’s career. Neither promise was kept. Not only a moving personal account of Andrew Young’s political education, THE POLITICIAN offers a look at the trajectory which made John Edwards the ideal Democratic candidate for president, and the hubris which brought him down, leaving his career, his marriage and his dreams in ashes.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Biography, Memoir, Biography Memoir, History, Audiobook

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 30, 2010

About the author

Andrew Young is the author of The Politician, his insider account of John Edwards’ pursuit of the presidency. After earning a bachelors degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a law degree at the Wake Forest University School of Law, Young was a volunteer for John Edwards’ winning campaign for U.S. Senate. Hired in 1999, Young became Edwards’ longest serving and most trusted aide. He raised more than $10 million for the politician’s various causes and played a key role in Edwards’ efforts to become President of the United States. Now a private citizen, he lives in Chapel Hill with his wife Cheri and their three children.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/andrew...

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as a penance: I donated to the Edwards presidential campaign, and I wanted to know how vile the man was who persuaded me to send him money. Pretty vile, it turns out. Viler than the fellow that wrote the book? I wouldn't be willing to bet on it.

I feel about this book similarly to how I felt about Peter Maas' "Underboss"--an "as told to" book by "Sammy the Bull" Gravano. I believed every horrible thing it says about John Gotti, but when Sammy swears he didn't whack his own brother-in-law . . . well, let's just say I have doubts. And when Andrew Young--the author of "The Politician"--says he only kept the Edwards/Hunter sex-tape for protection, not for "nefarious purposes," let's just say I reserve judgment.

Nobody gets out of this smelling like a rose. Young is obviously a gopher, git-er-done sort of guy who doesn't mind being humiliated, ignoring his family and cutting a few corners for the promise of an influential job in the White House. (And to his credit, he really doesn't try to keep this a secret.) Edwards is a cunning opportunist without any depth, his wife is consumed with ambition and--as her husband's affair and her cancer both metastisize--increasingly paranoid. And Rielle Hunter . . . well, Rielle Hunter is a trip.

My favorite Rielle story from the book is about the time she calls her spiritual guru Bob (at $200 per phone consultation) after she receives a Ruben she's ordered at the local greasy spoon and has serious doubts about the dressing.

I enjoyed the book. Would I recommend it? Not necessarily. But it does give a vivid picture of 1) a politician's bodyman/gopher and what may be required of him, and 2) the complete meltdown of a major presidential political campaign.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

One afternoon I was thumbing through TV shows and noticed Oprah interviewing a couple that I didn’t recognize. After watching for a few minutes I learned that the couple was Cheri and Andrew Young. Andrew was the former aid to John Edwards and was promoting the book he had written to clear his own name in regards to the scandal that brought Edwards’ political career down. What caught my attention was, to me, it seemed that Oprah was bullying the couple about the choices they had made. She mentioned that she had read Mr. Young’s book prior to the interview. I was curious as to the Young’s side of the story and since I’m not an Opera fan, wanted to come to my own conclusion so I put my name on the waiting list at the library.
The book was interesting in the fact that you receive an inside look into what and how politics are run back east. Sometimes I think westerners (me included) are not exposed to enough of the reality of how our government truly operates. We’re ignorant but for the most part are also so far removed from that environment that I don’t think we should blame ourselves.
Well I have to admit that I understand Oprah’s angle. She really was not out of line in the way she conducted her interview. Every event that Mr. Young explains in his book is motivated by one thing, greed. Greed on the part of John and Elizabeth Edwards, Rielle Hunter and the Young family included. Of course the motivation for the greed of each person involved was intended for different reasons but that is no excuse for their actions. Like Oprah questioned, why didn’t the Youngs just walk away? Refuse to be any part of the senator’s crazy schemes? Andrew admits there are multiple opportunities for him to expose the senator and his mistress yet he chooses to stay loyal, mostly in hopes of scoring a long term position as a result of a successful campaign to better the life of his own family. Greed, greed, greed at the expense of many people’s lives in addition to the innocent child that was born. While I was blown away by many of the details Andrew Young revealed, I’m still trying to come to an understanding of these people and their choices. I’m truly grateful that my own husband is only an electrician and NOT a politician. It is no wonder politics can be so infuriating.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's an element of 'mea culpa' about this book - a certain degree to which Andrew Young wants the forgiveness of those near and dear to him, and the world at large, for his part in the John Edwards/Rielle Hunter debacle. Yet Young does not come out of this book looking good - he looks power-hungry, self-absorded, and gullible - and for that I give him some props. I'm sure he crafted his narrative to give him the maximum amount of cover, but there's just no good way to explain away how you publicly accept the blame for John Edwards love child. In telling his story, Young can't help but damn himself.

And yet there's plenty of damnation to go around. Edwards is - I can't help myself - everything I *ever thought he was*. It perhaps shouldn't give me such deep satisfaction to learn that (from at least one point of view) he was never invested in poverty-relief to the degree that he professed, and he was, with his wife, caught up in a world of privilege beyond which they couldn't really see. But it does satisfy me. I want such men unmasked. I'm glad his private life is being picked apart in this way, because for all that we would like to believe private actions and public acts aren't connected, the person who would spin his cancer-striken wife a string of lies, ignore his pregnant girlfriend, ask donors to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep those lies afloat, and jeopardize his adviser's family life (albeit with that adviser's compliance), that's not someone I want in office, making decisions about anything. When a guy like that can't make a decision about truth, or lies, or money, or loyalty, why the hell should I trust he can make a better decision about taxes or health care or the environment or bombs?

I can't say I loved this book - it leaves me feeling a little soiled. It's well written, for what that's worth. But I am glad I read it, and I'm glad I know what's in it, even if there's little in it I believe as the last word on the subject. But wow. John Edwards. This I can say for sure - you're a real frickin' jerk.

[Nicholas Montemarano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely riveting. When you read this book, you will come to see John Edwards as a narcissistic, selfish, deceitful, greedy, power-hungry man who lost his way. You will come to view Elizabeth Edwards as power-hungry, controlling, and often ill-tempered. Andrew Young -- maybe it's his tone -- comes across as sincere. He makes the case that he made terrible choices, especially to pretend to have fathered Rielle Hunter's child, but that he did so because he believed in Senator Edwards and his vision for the country, and because, yes, he was ambitious. Reading this book, and following it with Elizabeth Edwards' final book, RESILIENCE, written after the scandal and not long before her death, it's hard, perhaps impossible, to know what to believe. My guess is that Young, here, slants the truth, and that Elizabeth Edwards does a bit of the same. Young's book is a "tell all" but Elizabeth Edwards' book is not; it's a personal reflection on how to carry on when one's life plans don't materialize. Young's book may be riveting, but Edwards' memoir is heartbreaking. The two in all of this for whom it's difficult to summon empathy are John Edwards, though I do have some for him, and Rielle Hunter, for whom I have none. John Edwards' life is shattered, but he's still alive. So is Andrew Young (even though he'll be paying his lawyers for a long time to come) and so is Rielle Hunter (who has in the form of a child the connection to John Edwards she seems so badly to have wanted). But Elizabeth Edwards -- she's gone.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Edwards is a creep. I found Andrew Young to be believable, but did question a couple of items. I just can't believe he and his wife went along with such a crazy charade. It goes to show you what some people will do for power or to be close to someone in power. I just don’t understand how he could have still wanted Edwards as President since he clearly has shown he has no integrity or character.

I found this to be extremely disheartening because of what really happens behind the scenes as someone tries to get money and votes as they campaign for President (as I am sure this happens at the state and local levels as well). I am sick and tired of the wealthy and well known being able to be the only ones that can raise enough money to campaign as President nowadays. That goes for both parties. We just have to keep in mind that we have the power to change the system with our voice and vote. Campaign reform and the ways of Washington need to change and soon.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A descent to the gates of Hell, it reads almost like a Grisham novel. "Get out," I urged at numerous places in Young's saga. Gotta go take a shower now.

[Adrenalynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't put this book down. After reading "Game Change" I had to get to know more about what exactly happened to John Edwards that caused this downward spiral in his career & life. I thought I would really dislike John Edwards, but the person I most disliked immensely was his wife. Maybe it was a little bit of Andrew's obvious dislike for her, but she came off as the more ambitious, cold and calculating of the duo. John was as I expected, arrogant and stupid for cheating on his wife and thinking he was above everyone else and would never ever be caught. Boy was he wrong! But what I didn't expect was how wimpy and emasculated John Edwards was both around his wife and his mistress. What a total dope! His wife berates and chastises him constantly. And then in front of his mistress he reverts to 17-year old high school boy who can't say no to the first pretty girl that gives him attention. What a idiot! Then Rielle Hunter. No words could describe her brand of stupidity.

After reading this book, I was left feeling more convinced that politicians are a different breed of human. I discovered that at first after reading Game Change, but after reading this book I was 10x more convinced!

I didn't feel sorry for the author Andrew Young, and he pretty much tells you throughout not to feel sorry for him and is honest that he's writing this book for the money. I give him kudos for being honest about that. While reading this book I kept thinking how it must have been painful for him to write it. I know the feeling of betrayal, and even after getting stepped on & being hurt, you wish you can still be that person's friend and could see yourself forgiving them, but then reality kicks in and you realize its over. It's a sad and lonely feeling. So in that regard I felt a bit of his pain. I probably wouldn't have done the same thing he did, but I'm not critical of of his choice for doing it.

Overall it was an easy read and pretty good.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll admit it, this book was a guilty pleasure. I've followed the John & Elizabeth Edwards Show with great interest for some time now and I've taken a certain satisfaction in watching the former senator's decline and fall. I've been hungry for more details and "The Politician" really dishes the dirt.

There are plenty of details to be read. As a political aide, Young saved everything. He shares emails from Mrs. Edwards, listing all the menial tasks Young has promised to perform at the Edwards's houses, he recounts his private conversations with Sen. Edwards ("You're family, Andrew") and prints the vicious voicemail messages from Elizabeth during the height of her husband's affair with Rielle Hunter.

Of course, Young does his best to appear sympathetic, admitting that although he started off believing John Edwards would change the world, he was motivated just as much by greed and power. He'd hitched his wagon to Edwards's star, convinced he'd follow the senator all the way to the White House if he just showed how loyal he was. Plus he was paid damn good money to be a lackey.

This book is by no means an Important Work of Historical Non-Fiction. But as a celebrity tell-all, it works just fine. And you close the book thanking your lucky stars you're not married to John Edwards. Or Elizabeth, for that matter.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Andrew Young's memoir thoroughly engaging and remarkably revealing, and I tend to believe almost all of it. For reasons too arcane to be detailed here, I once had lunch with John Edwards and his campaign staff, in 2003, along with a half dozen other people. Even then, the man's lack of credible empathy and apparent moral hollowness was evident to me. He did not seem to have convictions so much as schemes, and he could not respond to questions (much less challenges) with anything that came across as true passion, much less true conviction. It was clear to me he was a smart, good-looking, successful man who thought those qualities and his accomplishments up to that point made him electable as president. Therefore he felt entitled to be elected president. I never felt he had any real drive to help people or to reshape the world. That's not to say he was evil or would not have attempted to do good should he have been elected. He did believe he was a moral person. But it wasn't morality that drove him. It was ego and entitlement.

This book bears out my impressions from nearly nine years ago, as have the revelations of his infidelities and massive lying in attempt to cover them up.

But I don't admire this book simply because it agrees with my observations over an hourlong lunch a decade ago. I admire it because it's such a remarkable portrait of a politician who exhibits what appear to be pathological behavior that borders on sociopathy, and because the narrator seems to me to be honest about his own failings, which are legion.

It's interesting to me that nearly all the negative reviews of this book on Amazon focus on how Andrew Young is culpable in the infidelity and its coverup, how he's a loser and a lackey, how he's a disgruntled employee -- in general, how he's not really an admirable, likable guy. Well, duh. Young himself is upfront about nearly all of that, and what he doesn't explicitly confess to, his narration reveals: He does indeed have a perhaps inflated opinion of his ability to handle problems and people, and to raise money. He also readily admits, right at the beginning and at the end, that he has written this book to make a buck. And since he has a fascinating story to tell, what's wrong with that?

The Amazon reviewer would respond, well, he's scum (many use that word). I wouldn't use that word, since it's harsh and suggests a certain moral condescension, but sure, he's a guy who made a lot of bad, immoral decisions, mostly in the hope of receiving (or desperate need to receive) money and power. And in the end it was his undoing.

But what seems to me to be the difference between Young and Edwards is clear: Young is admitting (mostly) what he did wrong and putting himself out there as a cautionary tale. Edwards has been dragged kicking and screaming toward the truth by the media and federal investigators but will never, ever attempt to tell the unvarnished truth. The "loser," whatever his flaws and failures, whatever his craven motives, is trying to make right, while the millionaire politician, once a hair's breadth away from becoming Vice President of the United States, will lie and conceal and dissemble and attempt to manipulate his image to his dying day. So who's the scum?

The central question in rating this narrative is not whether Young is a good guy -- he's not; he's the confessing capo who earns sympathy mostly because the bosses are even worse -- but whether Young is telling the truth. I think he is, for the most part. Sure, maybe the tale of finding a stash of Edwards's mistress's trash, discarded months earlier but somehow still sitting around, which contains a trove of damning videotapes -- maybe that story and a few others sound like inventions covering up who knows what. But the basic narrative flow and his portraits of the people involved have a great deal of credibility. And much of it is backed up by notes, telephone records and other documentation, not to mention years of reporting in both online and mainstream media.

So, if you're willing to believe Young, on the whole, and you're not turned off by the fact that he's a critically flawed, perhaps unredeemable person, I'd recommend this book highly. It's NOT an insider portrait of any of Edwards' campaigns. It IS an insider portrait from the point of view of a minion who sees the differences between a politician's public persona and his private self (ditto the politician's wife). Perhaps just as fascinating, it's a portrait of a couple with a vast sense of entitlement -- and a mistress with an even loopier sense of entitlement -- who are themselves rich yet still envy those considerably richer than themselves. As such, it's a quintessentially American story and a cautionary tale of the kind of people we often choose to elect to public office (fill in any number of names here). It's a portrait of a hollow politician who selects poverty as his "issue" because he thinks it will play well, while at the same time demanding private jets, asking for millions to support his cavalier political career and setting out to build a multimillion-dollar mansion. (Even if you believe in Edwards' sincerity about "two Americas," his actions to secure his place in the more elite of those two Americas ought to enrage you.)

So, if you think you're interested, a few caveats: The mistress only arrives at the midpoint; the book's first half is an account of Young's life before Edwards (fairly compactly told) and his years with the politician up until the mistress arrives. The second half is the slow, downward spiral. The book could have been shorter and contains some repetitions, but not drastically so. And the epilogue does not reveal how it all played out in the end, perhaps because it was written before much of the federal investigation had become public and before Young could tell what happened to all his characters after his final confrontation with the politician. What happened to the mistress or the billionaire widow or the Young family? You'll have to check the Internet.

Still, the pathology of the politician was fascinating to me, in all its excruciating detail and in all its dubious authority. Whatever's not true is probably close enough to the truth that the arc of the story and the general portrait of the people involved is probably not far off.

Is this kind of slick, empty suit without moral compass typical of American politicians? You be the judge.

[Thomas Edmund · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Politician describes the beginning and end of Senator and presidential hopeful's scandal ridden political career. For most interested much the scandal is probably already known/supposed and this book will simple provide the insider info from aide/slave Andrew Young.

While the scandal is both interesting and horrifying, the first 200 pages of the work were a dull slog through Edward's earlier years in the senate, and 2004 presidential race. Young admits this himself, he has no prior writing skills and the book lacks the necessary prose to keep it running beyond the shear shockability of the outrageous behaviour of Edwards, wife and mistress.

The book is mildly premature, Young presumably wanted to capatalize on popularity and exposure rather than waiting for the outcome Edward's court cases, but it left me slightly unsatisfied.

The Politician is still a worthwhile read, at least to get some good insight into political campaigns and how not to let your boss treat you. Throughout the book I couldn't shake the depressing thought that all the money Edwards squandered on his own debauchery could have actually done good work in the work combatting poverty. I hope like hell that The Politician describes an anomelie in the politcal world not the norm.

[Cindy]

So who is the sleaziest of them all? Andrew Young, that's who. His account of the rise and fall of John Edwards' political career is poorly-written--including typos--and paints a disgusting picture of a man and his wife willing to sell their souls for the chance to be attached to someone possibly headed for the White House.

The tales he tells about John and Elizabeth Edwards are really not shocking. A politician lying, having affairs, even the ill wife bit----been there, done that in U.S. politics too many times already for it to be gasp-worthy.

Losing his friends and his reputation, earning the disdain of his family and coworkers, showing complete disregard for the needs of his children, none of this seemed to matter to Andrew Young as he shamelessly did anything John Edwards wanted him to do.

[Teechbiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forget the $400 hair cuts. John and Elizabeth possessed hubris and a great sense of entitlement.

Yes John there definitely were two Americas. One in which people have 1,000 square foot tree houses for their kids and fly private jets while the other has those "rednecks" and "little people" you didn't like mixing with.

Your mistress was right, "It's good to be king."

[Carol Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate that I'm reading this! Both John Edwards and Andrew Young make me sick. I have to finish it now that I've started reading it!

[Meighan O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, surprisingly well-written, frightening account. Recommend to any political junkie.

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea what is true in this book, and what is Young's justifications after the fact. I read it as a political thriller with real names :) And as that, it works really well. Young (or whoever he got to ghost-write) is really good at telling a compelling story about fascinatingly horrible people.

[Kirsti · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I know I'm the people's senator, but do I have to hang out with 'em?" --presidential candidate John Edwards, bitching about attending state fairs

Andrew Young seems like a decent, kind, hardworking person . . . who once threatened to send media outlets a videotape of his boss having sex with a former colleague. Also, he depicts Elizabeth Edwards as vicious, paranoid, and mentally unstable . . . which she may well have been. Young claims to have copies of the e-mails and voicemails he quotes from, and I'm sure this book was thoroughly vetted by the publisher's lawyers.

Young has had some difficult times in his life. When he writes, "My hero was exposed as an adulterer," he is referring not to John Edwards but to his own father, a minister who was divorced and disgraced after a scandal. (A deacon videotaped the minister and the deacon's wife checking into a motel.) However, Young doesn't seem to have much insight into why he would allow himself to become an enabler in a similar scandal as an adult.

I've never been through what Young has, and I don't have a law degree like he does. But it seems to me that it should not have taken ten years for him to figure out that the Edwardses were abusive narcissists who would never fulfill their promises to him and would never stop pushing him for more favors, more work, more humiliation. If you work for people you despise, the answer is to get another job, even if the job is less prestigious. The answer is not to build a gigantic, expensive house right next to the despised boss's house.

Edwards comes across as a strange combination of genius and idiot, hillbilly and snob, poverty educator and plutocrat. At one point Young scolds Edwards for skipping the funeral of a friend's daughter. Young mentions that the friend provided advice, emotional support, political connections, and OVER SIX MILLION DOLLARS AND A PRIVATE JET, no strings attached. If Edwards can't figure out how to live up to commitments for moral or financial reasons, then he may be unredeemable.

I'm glad that Young wrote this book and that Elizabeth Edwards wrote her books because it means that the children of both families will have access to some money. And it's interesting to read these "stranger than fiction" accounts of political turmoil and speculate on what might have been had Edwards won the nomination. But they don't seem worthwhile on any other basis.

[Candace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never been a fan of tell-all books. In this case, there are a few reasons why I chose to read Andrew Young's account of his work with and for John and Elizabeth Edwards. First of all, I backed John Edwards early on, and I was curious to understand more about just what happened there. Second, I was impressed that Young was upfront about the fact that he wrote the book for the money. As my sister commented, after listening to Oprah's interview with Young, "Maybe you ought to buy the book just to give the guy a few bucks. It sounds like he got left high and dry."

The book is decently written and a "fast read." I quickly found myself caught up in the story, and I read it within a day or two of starting it.

One interesting thread in the book is the life and drive of people who are primarily motivated by a need to have power or to be near it. I've never been power-oriented, and so it fascinates me. I can understand the "excitement junkie" aspects of politics — I encountered the same thing in journalism and I have to admit that for a time it really hooked me. But the power thing? It's kind of a mystery to me.

I came to the conlusion in reading the book that we give our elected representatives altogether too much power. It would be better if people went into politics for different, better reasons. I thought of Plato's idea of choosing leaders and dragging them, fighting tooth and nail to avoid having to lead, assauaged only with the promise that after a time, they would be permitted to return to a more normal and secluded life. (Ah, but can you keep 'em down on the farm, after they've seen the big city?)

John Edwards comes across as a total scoundrel, on many, many levels. Although Young describes some despicable actions on Elizabeth Edwards' part, I felt that her illness, in combination with John's infidelity, cast her in a more sympathetic light.

While Young is forthright about his actions, I don't think he entirely owns up to his own degree of greed and ambition. Most con games play on people's greed, and I think that was his downfall.

Still, the book is not only an "insider's view," it's also that rare thing — the story from the point of view of the losing side, and the view looking up at power from within the organization. While "The Politician" doesn't provide answers or solutions, it gave me much to ponder and think about.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a juicy behind the scenes account of the John Edwards scandal as recounted by "I Am/Not the Baby Daddy" Andrew Young. It's a gripping read, and it delivers a lot of dirt on John, Elizabeth, and Rielle.

It's fascinating to read as Andrew Young's side of the story unfolds, but also more than a little disconcerting. It's like the memoir of someone still suffering from vestigial Stockholm syndrome, as Andrew Young never once makes a compelling case for why the ends--in this case an Edwards presidency--would have in any way justified the means of the vast cover up necessary to conceal the breadth of his infidelity. It is certainly clear that Young, as the author, is putting the best face on his role as he can - but if this is the best he can do, he may be running for office as the biggest patsy in American politics.

The narrative recounts events as they happened, and has emails, voice mails, and sex tape details galore. What is really missing from these excerpts, however, is any sense of motivation. Why didn't anyone (Young included, but Elizabeth Edwards not excluded) pull in the reins of the campaign when it became clear that if Edwards got the nomination, the latent scandal could hand the general election to the Republican party? Based on Occam's Razor, it would seem that these are all people who operate on a ruling principle of such aggrandized self-interest that the greater good simply ceases to exist.

One of the most interesting revelations in the book is how little the Edwards clan really cared about poverty or the poor. His signature campaign issue is pretty much outed as a convenient coat of paint chosen to make an empty suit look the most attractive to voters. Whole chapters could really be titled Edwards: Hypocrisy on Parade! Especially amusing are the Senator's (valid) observations about the short comings of Gore (refusing to have Clinton campaign with him) and Kerry (too pompous) as politicians, lobbing heavy stones right through the walls of his own glass house. But perhaps this is the key to the book's title and theme, that Edwards was great at being a politician, but terrible at being a good - or even a genuine - person.

[John Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

While admittedly a kiss-and-tell self-centered book, this is an important story of the deception of a man who could have become president last year. It's a well-documented and written confessional by Young, who notes that he had to write a book to make money--his life and career have been ruined by John Edwards. There has been some history-making fallout since it's publication last month: Edwards finally admitted fathering the child of Rielle Hunter after two years and his wife Elizabeth has filed for divorce.
The view of the ultimate insider is a valuable one that would have proved valuable if something like Young in Kennedy's or Clinton's administration had the courage to expose their sexual escapades. Young shows how his blind loyalties to a greater goal--getting Edwards elected president--led him to behave out of character for years on end.
"The Politician" is a fascinating portrait of how someone in this day of media saturation still can carry on an affair and lie to his wife and the American people, recklessly staying in hotels with his mistress. Young found himself complicit in the immoral behavior of his boss, yet dependent on him for his livelihood. Young willingly participated in the plot to cover up the senator's adulterous behavior, and in potentially criminal actions by being a party to filtering campaign contributions to pay for the leased mansions and luxury cars of his paramour. The conflicted Young even agreed to take the rap for Hunter's pregnancy in an effort to help Edwards achieve the presidency.
How could such a sleaze as Edwards fool so many people, including his cancer-stricken wife? How could a political aide consent to such a scheme, making his life a living hell for his wife?
It took the National Enquirer to bring the scam to light. Both Edwards and Young have a lot of soul-searching to do to come to grips with their sins. Young is much further along in the process.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are so many things I want to say about this book, but I don't even know where to begin.

First of all, Andrew Young was an idiot, but I think he recognizes that fact. He let his loyaly to John and Elizabeth Edawards rule his decision making, culminating in the most "You have GOT to be kidding me!!" decision of them all- letting himself take the fall for Edwards affair and child with Rielle Hunter. I don't begrudge him writing this book; as he said himself, his reputation is destroyed (partly by his own doing) and he is virtually unemployable at this point.

Second- John and Elizabeth Edwards. There are no words to describe the way they treated the people around them. I am sure they aren't alone in this type of behavior, but this book isn't about those other people. Their mutual ambition and selfishness has destoyed the lives of people around them, and with the recent events (Edwards admitting he fathered a child out of wedlock and Elizabeth Edwards filing for divorce) it is clear they have also destroyed their own lives. Although, they are both so self-serving and narcissitic that I'm not so sure they *should* divorce, as they clearly deserve each other.

I feel incredibly sorry for the Edwards' children, who are victims in all of this, and I'll include Rielle Hunter's child in the group as well, seeing as her mother is just as selfish and manipulative as John and Elizabeth (with a healthy dash of cuckoo thrown in for good measure!).

After finishing the book, I'm left wondering what the point of it all was. Clearly, if Edwards had won the presidency, this story would be much different. But he didn't, and all that is left are lives ruined in pursuit of power, money and fame.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is as self-aware an account as one is likely to get from this debacle. I admit that I picked it up because of its salaciousness then kept reading hoping to discover why a man (and his wife) would agree to a cover up and life on the run.

My conclusion is that Andrew Young was a fool, first for his blind loyalty, then for his lust for power or its adjacency and finally for his greed in believing that he was owed and would be provided for for life.

But the greatest fools in this are John and Elizabeth Edwards. They were arrogant to assume Young would remain their lackey forever, simply because they told him he was "family." In fact, it did work for too long. And they both seem to have forgotten that e-mails, texts and phone messages can be saved. Elizabeth is trying to claim her caustic diatribes as recorded by Young are her personal property and is trying to deny him royalties from the sale of his book. As he states, he is unemployable now and needs to provide for his family.

I can't say that I understand what made him claim paternity and what convinced his wife to go along with it. I can only see greed to be set up for life with work at a future charitable foundation must have had something to do with it.

What this book ultimately shows me, although I knew it already, is that there can be a twisted face behind the mask of success. I'm glad I read it. And I hope that someday Andrew Young will be able to lead a normal life.

[Lori Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sad, tawdry and alarming tale of how close the corrupt and narcissistic John Edwards came to being in the highest seat of power. I never liked him, nor did I condone his running for president when his wife was terminally ill and this book simply validates everything I felt was "off" about him. There are no good guys (or gals) in this book, only selfish, misguided, power hungry and downright greedy individuals. Andrew Young does a credible job of portraying the events in an entirely authentic, detailed and believeable way, though it does stretch the normal person's belief system that he and his wife would go to such lengths to protect the Edwards, who were so clearly using them and everyone around them. Elizabeth Edward's comes off very negatively in this book, as a downright mean and mercurial person, so gripped by desire to be in the White House that she would overlook the obvious fact that her husband was conducting an affair right under her nose. No one in this book seems to take much personal accountability for their actions, except for the author himself, who admits he is writing the book not only to tell the truth but also to make money. Some may feel this book is a little on the sleazy side but I think it's worth reading just to open your eyes even wider about how dirty and disgusting the current state of politics in the United States really is.

[Deborah Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I knew most of what was in this book, I read it anyway! It boggles the mind at the audacity John Edward! He is just a narcissus! All the while touting his platform on helping the poor, he was driving a fake, beat up buick, while his BMW and other cars were in his garage, to appear to be more of a common man. All this time he and Mrs. Edwards are building their dream house and he is getting $400 haircuts from some guy in California! I have no problem with people spending their own money building whatever. It is their money. But don't be fake about it. And, Andrew Young and his family on the run and taking the fall for the his affair and baby? I don't care whether you are worried about job security or what, in my eyes they are no better than the Edwards! Especially what are they thinking that this man needs to be President of the US? And, all this was taking place while Mrs. Edwards' cancer was spreading. Glad she got rid of him but she is as crazy as he is and much more driven to succeed.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to admit that I read this book because I have been casually following the John Edwards' trial and the book was mentioned in one news story (and it only cost me $4.00 to download to my kindle). I thought that the book was a very interesting read and the author blatantly says that he wrote the book so that he could make money now that he is no longer employable (because of John Edwards). There were a few things about the story that bothered me, however: at one point the author relates the story about the frogs in the pot (i.e. that the frogs don't jump out because the water temperature is slowing increased and they are finally cooked). He says that, unlike the frogs, he jumped out in time. I thought that was a ridiculous statement and shows that the author did not learn much in this whole escapade - he jumped out in time? How much longer could have have stayed in??
Anyway, the short of it is this: politicians are liars (should I have listed that as a spoiler?) and charismatic.

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book with no heroes. I believe if you substitute spinelessness for sloth, you have all the deadly sins represented. I'm reminded that politics is a nasty business, you don't know about anybody unless you live with them, (and maybe not even then), appearance is everything, and it's amazing how people can be sucked in. I admired Elizabeth Edwards and John Edwards until the scandal struck. Now I'm one of the many duped by good ole boy charm and noble spouse support. The only character that is even marginally okay is Andrew Young's wife, and she wins the spineless award for allowing his greed to be associated with power to nearly destroy their family. Gee, I'm glad I live in Utah where we don't have political scandals.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, sickening, super juicy. I was totally sucked in. The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is because I don't know how I feel about the author. I can only imagine he stuck around and put up with so much because he liked the perks and money that come with being top aide to a high powered politician. I don't really buy that he was fueled by Edwards "vision." He seemed bitter in the book and like he was making excuses for himself or trying to convince you that he was a good guy while totally trashing the Edwards. It does make you wonder about the other side of the story. But overall it was super, crazy interesting.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is filled with completely titillating gossip, and I really couldn't put it down. I felt disgusted by the political process and the players in it. Why the four stars then? After reading it, I realized that this book is one of the few I've read that tells the tale of the American Dream gone sour. The rampant lies, greed, and lust (for power and sex) break this man, family, and community. It's an insightful look into the American political system.
This book is like a bath scrub: I felt dirty while in the thick of it, but surprisingly refreshed afterwards.

[Kai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found Andrew Young's factual narrative style and introspective honesty quite refreshing. I admire that ability in a person. It is not easy to reach a degree of objectivity when tunnel vision and compromise of values are recognized as one's deliberate choices at critical crossroads. In addition to that, it's confirmed: life is remarkably stranger than fiction.

[Roxann G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, it's probably not cool to say I really enjoyed this book but I did. I WAS a John Edwards fan and greatly admired his wife - now I am not a JE fan and sadly the book does not paint a good picture of Elizabeth. Anyway....what is it with feet of clay politicians?? Good grief.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay -- I admit it. I read this book. But I borrowed it from a friend! It really is an unbelievable, cautionary tale.