Deaths, Politician | featured news

Gore Vidal, the author, playwright, politician and commentator whose novels, essays, plays and opinions were stamped by his immodest wit and unconventional wisdom, his nephew said Tuesday.

Former Texas Governor Bill Clements, who was the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction when he took office in 1979, has died at the age of 94.

Richard C. Holbrooke, the high-octane diplomat who spearheaded the end of the Bosnian war and most recently served as the Obama administration's point man in the volatile Afghan-Pakistani war zone, has died, officials said.

A son dying young. A six-year battle with cancer. A humiliating betrayal. Americans knew Elizabeth Edwards in large part through her tragedies, but more importantly, they knew her for the vitality and determination she showed in dealing with them. Her cancer incurable and her former-presidential-candidate husband mired in a paternity scandal, she did not shrink from public life but shared her story and advocated for health care reform.

A family friend says Elizabeth Edwards has died of cancer. The friend says the estranged wife of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards died in North Carolina Tuesday morning....

As governor of Alaska and U.S. secretary of the interior, Walter J. Hickel confounded critics by ricocheting from pro-business stalwart to ardent environmentalist.

A spokesman says Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a retired Marine Corps officer who became an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, has died. He was 77.