Rufus Lige Edmisten (born July 12, 1941) is an American attorney who served as

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, and was the Democratic nominee for

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. He is currently a lawyer in private practice.

Life and career

Edmisten was born on July 12, 1941, in

Boone, North Carolina Boone is a town in and the county seat of Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Boone is the home of Appalachian State University and the headquarters of the disaster and me ...

, to Walter F. Edmisten and Nell Hollar Edmisten. He graduated from Appalachian High School in 1959. He earned an undergraduate degree in political science with honors at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

, and a J.D. from the

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

Law Center in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, where he served on the Law Review. During law school, he joined the Capitol Hill staff of North Carolina Senator

Sam Ervin Samuel James Ervin Jr. (September 27, 1896April 23, 1985) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1954 to 1974. A Southern Democrat, he liked to call himself a " country lawyer", and often told humorous ...

, where he served as the Counsel to Senator Ervin's Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights and as Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Separation of Powers. In 1973-1974, Edmisten was the Deputy Chief Counsel for the

Senate Watergate Committee The Senate Watergate Committee, known officially as the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, was a special committee established by the United States Senate, , in 1973, to investigate the Watergate scandal, with the power to inv ...

, which Ervin chaired. With

Terry Lenzner Terry Falk Lenzner (August 10, 1939 – April 23, 2020) was an American attorney and founder of Investigative Group International. Biography Lenzner was born in Manhattan, the son of Eleanor (Falk), a homemaker, and Joseph Lenzner, a dentist. H ...

, an assistant counsel on the Senate Watergate Committee, Edmisten served the subpoena to the White House for the

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revol ...

tapes. It was the first time in history that a Congressional Committee served a subpoena on a sitting president. During his time working for Senator Ervin, Edmisten participated in important legislative initiatives, such as securing constitutional rights for American Indians and providing constitutional protections for military personnel. Following Senator Ervin's retirement in 1974, Edmisten returned to North Carolina. He was elected state attorney general in 1974 and served in that post for ten years. Edmisten was the Democratic nominee for governor in 1984, losing to Republican James G. Martin, a loss attributed to Martin's endorsements by Edmisten's Democratic primary rivals. After his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign, Edmisten practiced law with Reagan H. Weaver for four years. In the 1988 and 1992 elections, Edmisten won the office of Secretary of State. As Secretary of State he broadened securities oversight in an effort to protect investors, and worked with the General Assembly to craft a law to establish

Limited Liability Companies A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

in North Carolina. In 1996 Edmisten resigned from office after an audit of the Secretary of State's office led to a State Bureau of Investigations inquiry into several alleged abuses of office. The investigation, which involved more than 100 interviews and culminated in a 3000-page report, exonerated Edmisten and his staff from all the accusations. Edmisten maintained that his resignation had nothing to do with the investigation. After his resignation in 1996 Edmisten launched a legal practice that merged with that of former NC

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

colleague and Deputy US attorney, Woody Webb, in 1998. Edmisten runs a charity in North Carolina called the Foundation for Good Business, Extra Special Super Kids. The Super Kids program provides college scholarships to underprivileged high school students who wish to pursue higher learning. Edmisten has served on the N.C. Capitol Foundation for over 25 years, including a six-year stint (2000–2006) as president of the foundation. He is a member of the boards of directors of the Julia Crump Foundation and Project Enlightenment, both of which are charitable organizations that seek to enhance educational opportunities for disadvantaged youths. Edmisten also served as a board member for the Raleigh region of Union Bank. Edmisten,

Jim Valvano James Thomas Anthony Valvano (March 10, 1946 – April 28, 1993), nicknamed Jimmy V, was an American college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. Valvano had a successful coaching career with multiple schools, culminating at NC State. Whi ...

, and Don Shea founded the Jim Valvano Kids Klassic Golf Tournament, which has raised several million dollars to seek a cure for children suffering from cancer. In addition to Edmisten’s political career and philanthropic work, he has also found success as an acclaimed writer, television news political pundit and esteemed radio personality. He was a panelist on NC Spin, North Carolina's longest running political talk show (the final episode of NC Spin aired on Christmas Day 2020). He is also a longstanding co-host of the popular radio program Weekend Gardener on WPTF in Raleigh, NC. The program holds the distinction of being the longest running gardening radio show in history. (Weekend Gardener initially began in 1924 on WPTF as an on-air gardening report from “The Good Garden Ladies of Raleigh” of the Raleigh Garden Club. The show has retained its current title since January 1985.) Edmiston is, himself, an avid gardener. In 2019 Edmisten published a memoir titled, "That's Rufus: A Memoir of Tar Heel Politics, Watergate and Public Life". Edmisten and his wife, Linda, live in a designated 1921 National Register and Raleigh

Historic Landmark A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

house.

Electoral history

General election results

References

External links

Edmisten & WebbFoundation for Good Business: Extra Special Super Kids
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmisten, Rufus Living people North Carolina attorneys general North Carolina Democrats Secretaries of state of North Carolina 1941 births North Carolina lawyers People from Boone, North Carolina University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni George Washington University Law School alumni Watergate scandal investigators Candidates in the 1984 United States elections