Freeper Survey: John Edwards "Rags to Riches" Resume

Vanity

[Mo1]

I'll start. Neither of my parents completed high school -- both going to work at age 16 to help put food on the table

My grandmother had to quite school in the 2nd Grade to work in the mills to help support her family after her father died

My mother never went to college .. My father did after coming home from WWII

I didn't attend college myself because I to had to help pay the bills .. my father died when I was young and left my mother with 7 kids to raise by herself

However, my brothers did attend college

We worked for everything we had and didn't ask the government for help. As my mother would say .. we were not a charity case for the government

I can guarantee you that neither Kerry or Edwards has a clue of what REAL America is like

[Carolinamom]

This thread is absolutely wonderful and proof that Edwards' rag to riches story is not as unique as he and the media try to show.

I was the first girl on either side of the family to go to college. I told my dad that I was going even if I had to hitch hike to get there. He, who would have been an exceptional college grad if he had had the chance, told me that he would SEE that I got there! I like to think that my PBK key is proof that he did not waste his money on me.

My husband used his GI bill to graduate w/honors and our 5 children are also college grads w/multiple degrees as well as being tax paying Republicans!

[Aeronaut]

Mom and Dad both finished high school, no more. Dad was in the South Pacific during WWII, and worked in a factory until he retired. By brother became an accountant from a business school, and after 4 years in the Navy I was the first to get a degree, and later a Master's.

I have never sued anyone, and I never declared myself a war criminal. I am not qualified to be a democRAT.

[Mo1]

This thread is absolutely wonderful and proof that Edwards' rag to riches story is not as unique as he and the media try to show

No it's not unique .. and Edwards didn't grow up in rags

[Watery Tart]

My Story? I was born a poor black child....</Navin Johnson>

[YaYa123]

Seldom mentioned is that one year old John moved out of that mill house when his Dad moved up to a management position. But of course super rich lawyer Edwards is milking his humble beginnings for everything it's worth....and people will vote for him because of it.

I really relate to this tale of woe because my husband was born, literally, in a mill house. In Chicopee Mills, Georgia, and the mill doctor came to the house and delivered him. But I can't imagine my husband disparaging his parents and the times in which they lived, in order to boost his accomplishments.

But the more serious deception in Edwards' resume is that he took the cases he did to fight injustice, evil corporations, and greedy, incompetent doctors. BULLHOCKEYDOODOO! Edwards carefully chose his cases for maximum moola!

But watch out folks! Edwards meets the real presidential qualifier...he's got a naar-do-well brother...and the very generous Edwards brought the brother and his family a 100,000.00 house.

[mass55th]

Both parents were immigrants to this country. Neither of my parents finished highschool, infact, my father never even completed grade school. He worked first as a laborer on the New York Central Railroad and then as a Track Foreman until he retired around 1970 at the age of 65. He died in 1978. My mother quit school when she was 16 to marry my father. He would never let her work outside the home, although she did do some laundry and housecleaning for people on our street. She died at age 69 in 1990. I was the only one of the four kids in our family to go to college. My brother was a Vietnam vet (66'67 in Nam). He did not graduate from highschool, but enlisted at the age of 21 and got his GED when he returned home. He died in 1995 at the age of 51. My oldest sister, born in '40 is in a nursing home. My other sister, born in '42 retired from the phone company when she was 50. We three girls are the only ones left in the family.

Does this background mean I can run for President?

[familyofman]

"...his story is not unique!"

That's true, but he has every right to be just as proud of his; family, background, education, and acheivements - as the rest of us with similar stories. It's the 'American Dream' and should be applauded and held out as a goal that everyone can acheive in this country. It is a bit 'cheesy' and over the top being mentioned at least daily - but it does appear to be basically true. It it isn't true, that's a different matter.
I thought I heard over the weekend that Sen. L. Graham of SC was born in the same town & hospital as Sen. Edwards (different wings though - right & left, respectively).

[mass55th]

I should add that I went to college full-time nights and worked full-time days, while I raised two boys alone. I was divorced by the time I started college.

[Chad Fairbanks]

I come from a Rural family - the backwoods of New England where my mother worked long long days in a textile mill, with no help from my "disabled" alcoholic stepfather, and I was the first person in my family to ever attend college - and I paid my own way...

Tell me your sob story again, Edwards.

[mass55th]

Your Dad is a hero! God bless him and your family.

[Howlin]

The part John Edwards leaves out is that the very town he grew up in -- the ones he talks about all the time -- does not support him or the DNC.

They don't have the same values.

And he uses a story that is common in this state and throughout this country to try to make himself sound special.

His daddy was MANAGEMENT, not a millworker. The very "management" that he now rails against.

One of the reasons the mills are out of business is because of skyrocketing health costs, in which he played a HUGE part right here in this state.

He can talk about it all he wants; we're free to point out that he's playing fast and loose with the facts.

[mak5]

Agreed, but isn't Edwards' story (and ours) proof that there are not "two Americas", but one which is available to everyone? It is the policies of Kerry and Edwards that would limit the possibility of future generations to have similar stories by causing more loss of jobs, by taxing achievement and by driving incentive out of the marketplace.

[OldFriend]

Good on you!

You are right, your story is similar to the story of millions of americans who didn't and don't now want a handout.

[OldFriend]

Your grandfather left a priceless gift. He valued education and made sure everyone understood that. There really is no greater gift!

[MeekOneGOP]

I was the first person on EITHER side of my parents families to ever graduate from college.

[Ditto]

Might want to pass on to your ping lists to see how many VP candidates we can find.

[Dr._Joseph_Warren]

Neither of my parents went to college.

Mother worked as school secretary. Father was a machine shop foreman and then farm equipment salesman.

They had 7 children. Six of us went to college. Three have masters. Career wise:
- 2 teachers
- 2 lawyers
- 1 engineer (me)
- 1 social worker

One sister did not go to college. She now owns four McDonalds restaurants!

[Darlin']

Ditto, what a great thread idea. I do hope you'll consider sending these wonderful stories to Bush-Cheney. The only unique aspect of Edwards success story is the manner in which he chose to achieve it. Until his ruthless abuse and manipulation of our court system catapaulted him into fame and fortune, Edwards "America" was no different from any one of us. America doesn't care where you started out in life. America is a place where anyone can dream big and realize those dreams when we work hard and apply ourselves, or in the case of Kerry marry them. America doesn't hold people down. To the contrary, its the land of opportunity where Edwards, like any other American, is able to live his dreams.

[mountaineer]

My husband's story is like yours: all four grandparents were Serb immigrants to the Ohio Valley, who arrived with barely a penny in their pockets. The men worked in the steel mills around Weirton and Steubenville, while the women raised children and took in boarders to make ends meet. My father-in-law worked in the mill after high school, then became a letter carrier. He and his wife built a little house themselves, had their first child, then he was off to serve in WWII. After his return, and two more children, he worked his way up to ass't postmaster. Two of his children went to college and graduate school, one earning PhD in biochemistry, the other a law degree. My father-in-law is very well read (probably better than most college grads) and a staunch Republican.

So, to John Edwards, I say, "So what?"