As one of the candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, John Kerry is trying to assure voters that he's more than just another Democrat from the liberal state of Massachusetts.
Kerry, who was re-elected to a fourth Senate term in 2002, is a decorated Vietnam veteran, a former anti-war activist, a one-time prosecutor and a senator with what he calls an independent and balanced record in Congress.
The son of a foreign service worker and wealthy Massachusetts Yankee, Kerry has largely lived the life of a high patrician. He went to boarding school overseas and then spent his undergraduate years at Yale. After graduation, he volunteered for the Navy, eventually commanding a Swift boat in Vietnam.
Kerry was awarded a Silver Star, three Purple Hearts and other honors for his service in Vietnam before returning home to become a prominent spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War. He tried to use his newfound celebrity to run for Congress in 1972. He failed, went to law school and was elected lieutenant governor in 1982. He was elected to the Senate in 1984.
Kerry at a glance
Birth date: 1943-12-11
Birth place: Denver, CO
Residence: Boston, MA
Occupation: lawyer
Education: Boston College Law School;
Yale University
Religion: Catholic
Phone numbers: 202-224-2742;
617-565-8519
Fax: 202-224-8525
Email addresses:
[email protected];
[email protected]
After divorcing in the mid-1980s, Kerry's personal life ended up on the society pages, as the senator dated such starlets as Morgan Fairchild and Catherine Oxenberg. In 1995, he got married for a second time to Teresa Heinz. The widow of Kerry's former colleague, the late Sen. John Heinz, R-Pa. she has a fortune from his ketchup empire that has been estimated at $550 million or more, putting her among the 400 richest Americans on Forbes magazine's list last year.
Kery's grasp on Washington politics has been honed by his tenure in the senate. In 1998, Kerry was weighing those strengths in seriously considering the prospect of making a bid for the presidency in 2000. Less that two years earlier, the senator was fighting for his political future against Gov. William F. Weld. But Kerry's surprisingly strong seven-point victory against Weld, a moderate once considered presidential timber in the Republican Party, left the senator and his supporters wondering whether there was a hurdle he couldn't clear.
Kerry opted not to seek the presidency in 2000, but played a minor role in the campaign as he found his name on an ever-shrinking list of possible running mates for Vice President Al Gore. Gore's choice of Sen. Joseph Lieberman dashed Kerry's hopes for the number two pick, but stoked rumors he might be looking beyond his senate seat.
In recent appearances around the country, Kerry has been drawing differences with President Bush in the areas of energy and foreign policy. Kerry cautiously backed President Bush's Iraq war resolution but has criticized the president's diplomatic efforts, saying Bush alienated U.S. allies in the run-up to war. At the same time, he has called for middle-class tax cuts, greater energy independence and expanded health care coverage.
An avowed environmentalist, Kerry has called for tougher fuel efficiency standards coupled with aid to the auto industry, and proposed a new environmental fund to pay for research on expanding the use of alternative fuels.
Kerry is focused on standard Democratic issues: campaign finance reform, dealing with environmental issues such as global warming and ocean pollution, and trying to add funding for early childhood education and health care.
During his 1996 race with Weld, Kerry was branded a mooch for giving little to charity and living rent-free with a lobbyist and two developers during the 1980s. He also was chastised for violating a spending cap he negotiated with Weld, dumping $1.7 million of his newfound wealth into the campaign.
In 1991, Kerry was named chairman of a special U.S. Senate committee investigating the POW-MIA issue. Kerry played a significant role leading up to the lifting of the 19-year-old U.S. trade embargo on Vietnam in 1994. Several visits to Vietnam and stacks of declassified documents convinced Kerry and other Vietnam veterans in the Senate that only a few dozen U.S. soldiers remained unaccounted for from the war, a major sticking point on easing the U.S. sanctions. President Clinton lifted the embargo on Feb. 3, 1994.
As relations improved between the United States and the Soviet Union under Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Kerry advocated deep cuts in military programs. He called for cutting $500 million from the "Star Wars" missile defense system and directing the funds to the war on drugs. He also proposed using military bases slated for closing as detention centers for first-time drug offenders.
Kerry is pro-choice and opposes the death penalty. In January 1991, just after beginning his second term, he voted in the minority against the resolution giving the first President Bush the power to launch the Persian Gulf War against Iraq.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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