Edwards served for one term in the United States Senate from 1999 to 2005, serving his state of North Carolina. He decided not to run for re-election as he was running for president, and later vice-president, in the 2004 election cycle. He ran for President of the United States twice, in 2004 and 2008, but was defeated by John Kerry and Barack Obama in the Primaries. He was later chosen to be the Democratic candidate for Vice-President in 2004 on the Kerry ticket, but he was defeated by incumbent Vice-President Dick Cheney.