RALEIGH, N.C. — Elizabeth Anania Edwards, who became a national figure in her fight against cancer and as a partner in her husband’s political career, died Tuesday afternoon. She was 61.

Edwards spent much of her life as a little-known Raleigh lawyer and mother. But that all changed when her husband, John Edwards, entered politics as a U.S. senator, two-time presidential candidate, and Democratic nominee for vice president.

Her husband’s career propelled her into the spotlight as a smart, plain-spoken wife who was a key adviser to her husband.

She later became a figure of sympathy as she battled breast cancer and dealt with her husband’s infidelity. And, in the last few years, her public image shifted again: the scorned woman whose husband fathered a child with another woman.

She and John Edwards separated at the beginning of 2010 but remained close.

Through it all, Edwards helped change the way political wives were viewed. She was the self-proclaimed “anti-Barbie” who was comfortable sitting in on campaign strategy meetings, chatting with Oprah Winfrey on TV, or even going head-to-head with conservative columnist Ann Coulter.

She brought a similar self-possession to the media attacks that circulated around her in the wake of news about her husband’s infidelity.

“I’m 5 feet 2, dark-haired and could hardly be further from the Barbie figure,” Edwards once said. “I think of myself as a fairly serious person.”

It was at the University of North Carolina’s law school that Elizabeth Anania met Johnny Edwards, three years her junior.

He was the pseudo redneck who had few intellectual interests. She was a devotee of Henry James and a politically active liberal Democrat.

They were married a few days after they graduated and passed the bar exam. She kept her last name until her husband prepared to run for the Senate.

Although John Edwards had the high-powered legal career, their marriage was one of intellectual equals. She became his most trusted adviser in both law and politics.

The family’s life took a dark turn in 1996 when Wade, 16, was killed in an automobile accident on Interstate 40 between Raleigh and the North Carolina coast.

The couple were crippled emotionally by Wade’s death. John Edwards stopped working for six months and she quit practicing law for good.

Edwards was an active participant in her husband’s political career, serving as a sounding board for nearly a decade as he climbed the ladder, which culminated with his selection as the Democratic vice presidential running mate of Sen. John Kerry in 2004.

She became a popular figure on the presidential campaign trail in 2004, seen as someone approachable, less glamorous and more down-to-earth than her husband. She would make fun of herself as someone without perfectly coiffed hair or a stylish outfit, as someone who struggled with her weight.

It was during a campaign trip in Wisconsin a few weeks before the 2004 election that Edwards noticed a lump in her breast. Tests indicated she had cancer, but she and her husband kept it a secret until after the election.