[1] He served in the Navy in 1951 and 1952, after which he attended University of California, Los Angeles, where he graduated in 1954 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.

[2] Edelman engaged in a rough election race to unseat incumbent Councilwoman Rosalind Wyman in the 5th District.

[3][4] Supported by Mayor Sam Yorty, he won the runoff vote of May 25, 1965, by 37,291 to 12,201[5] and became the then-youngest member of the council at age 35.

They asked for $400,000, but in the end, settled out of court in 1970 after Edelman sent a $5,000 check to a scholarship fund at Northwestern University.

He was sworn into office on December 2 of that year, succeeding Ernest E. Debs, a conservative Democrat and outspoken opponent of the 1960s counterculture among youth, who retired.