Horst / Vogue-Conde Nast Archive
Rachel "Bunny" Mellon used to cavort with the Kennedys and entertain the British royals. But the reclusive philanthropist, who turns 101 in August, became front-page news when she allegedly gave $725,000 to John Edwards, which he then is accused of using to cover up his affair with Rielle Hunter. Mellon, however, is standing by her candidate. "He would have been a great president," she tells Newsweek in her first discussion of Edwards since the scandal. "He and I were great friends." However, she was not a big fan of Elizabeth, John's late wife. "She was not enamored of his wife and didn't want his wife to know that he was getting money," Mellon's lawyer says. Mellon's family, meanwhile, is unhappy about her closeness to Edwards. "I wish I could have 10 minutes in a room with John Edwards to explain that he's doing nothing but tarnishing her legacy and really taking advantage of her," her grandson tells Newsweek.