Former senator and presidential candidate, John Edwards, is narcissistic, greedy and power-hungry. His cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth, blinded by wealth, power and fame, is ambitious, demanding and, at times, "crazy." That's how Andrew Young, the self-described "longest-serving and most trusted aide" to John Edwards, depicts the couple in his new tell-all book, "The Politician." The same could be said of the author. If there is a lesson to be learned from "The Politician" it's not from the consequences of a famous person flying too close to the sun, but from the dangers of a regular aide who hitches his wagon to another's star. Andrew Young was an enthusiastic volunteer in John Edwards's 1998 senate race in North Carolina – recognizing, even then, that Edwards had presidential possibilities. Young put himself at the disposal of the first-time candidate and parlayed his work on the campaign into a position with the newly elected senator. Over time, Young's responsibilities increased, he became a confidante to the freshman senator and the line between personal and professional and between ethical and smarmy began to blur. It was Andrew Young who made certain that Edwards's $400 haircuts were not a matter of public record, correctly sensing that it would seem hypocritical if the anti-poverty presidential candidate spent that much money on his appearance. It was Young who served as the go-between for Edwards and Rielle Hunter, the senator's mistress. And, it was Andrew Young, with a wife and children of his own, who agreed to claim paternity when news broke that Hunter was pregnant with what was believed to be John Edwards's child. Bankrolled by supporters of John Edwards, Andrew Young, together with his wife, children and Rielle Hunter, embarked on an odyssey to avoid the press. The group traveled by private plane to resorts in Florida and luxury homes in Aspen and Santa Barbara in an attempt to keep the scandal from exploding during the presidential campaign. As Edwards's presidential (and vice-presidential) aspirations began to dissolve in 2008, Young became more and more concerned about his own future. In a face-to-face confrontation with the senator, Young asked Edwards about a promise he made to create an anti-poverty foundation and give Young "a good job with health insurance." According to Young, Edwards agreed to establish the foundation, though this came after Young threatened to take what he knew about the Rielle Hunter affair to the press. Young didn't need to go to the press. Edwards handed the story to The National Enquirer by visiting Hunter and their baby at the Beverly Hilton hotel. There would be one final encounter between the former aide and Edwards when Young would again ask about a job with a future foundation. When Edwards said that wasn't going to happen and offered only to give Young a "good reference," Young again implied that he would go public with his story. Writing in "The Politician" Young says: "After a decade of devoted service, untold sacrifices on the part of my wife and children, and an act of extreme loyalty that left my reputation ruined, John Edwards proposed to compensate me with a good reference." Well, Mr. Young, that is what most people get after 10 years of service on a job – a reference – not a foundation created to provide income and health insurance and to buy the silence of an aide who, time and again, showed his own lapses in ethics and morality. As a tell-all book, "The Politician" will quickly slip from the best-seller lists, but there is a secondary market for Andrew Young's book. It should be required reading for any impressionable person seeking a career as a politician's aide. Perhaps the next generation of aides could learn from Mr. Young's mistakes and sycophancy.