John Kerry

While his father was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway ,Kerry was sent to Massachusetts to attend boarding school. In 1957, he attended the Fessenden School in West Newton,a village in Newton, Massachusetts . There he met andbefriended RichardPershing , grandson of the famed U.S. Gen. John JosephPershing .

The following year, he enrolled at St. Paul'sSchool in Concord, New Hampshire , and graduatedfrom there in 1962 . His father's Foreign Service salary did not earn enough to pay theschool's tuition. Kerry's childless great-aunt, Clara Winthrop , thenvery much advanced in age, voluntarily covered the costs. At St. Paul's, Kerry felt like an outsider because he was a Catholicand liberal while most of his fellow students were Republican Episcopalians .

Despite having difficulty fitting in, he made friends and developed his interests. He learned skills in public speaking and he became deeply interested in politics . In his free time, he enjoyed ice hockey and lacrosse , which he played on teams captained by classmate Robert S. Mueller III , the current director of the FBI . Kerry also played electric bass for the prep school's bandThe Electras, which produced an album in 1961. Only 500 copies were made, and in 2004 one of the copies was auctioned at EBay for $2,551.

In 1959 Kerry founded the John Winant Society at St. Paul's to debate the issues of the day; the Society still existsthere. In November of 1960 , Kerry gave his first political speech, in favor of John F. Kennedy 's election to the White House .

While living in the U.S., Kerry spent several summers at the Forbes family's estates on Naushon Island off Cape Cod .

Encounters with President Kennedy

John Kerry on Coast Guard Yacht Manitou. Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island , with President John F. Kennedy , August 26, 1962

In 1962 , Kerry volunteered to work for Ted Kennedy 's first senatorial campaign.Kerry was known to broadcast the words "Kennedy for Senate" from a loudspeaker in his Volkswagen Beetle , adding the words "And Kerry for dogcatcher !" That summer, he began dating Janet JenningsAuchincloss , Jacqueline Kennedy 's half-sister. Auchinclossinvited Kerry to visit her family's estate, Hammersmith Farm in Rhode Island (home to Janet andJackie's mother Janet Lee BouvierAuchincloss and her husband Hugh D. Auchincloss, Jr. ), on Sunday, August 26 .It was then that Kerry met President Kennedy for the first time.

When Kerry told Kennedy that he was about to enter Yale University, Kennedy grimaced because he had gone to rival school Harvard University . Kerry later recalled, "He smiled at me,laughed and said, 'Oh, don't worry about it. You know I'm a Yale man too now.'" According to Kerry, " The President uttered that famous comment abouthow he had the best of two worlds now: a Harvard education and Yale degree," in reference to the fact he had received an honorarydegree from Yale a few months prior ( June 11 , 1962 ). Later that day, a White House photographer snapped a photo of Kerry sailing with Kennedy and his family in Narragansett Bay . They met again a few weeks later while at theSeptember 1962 America's Cup race off the coast of Rhode Island.

Yale University

John Kerry's 1966 Yale yearbook photo

In 1962 Kerry entered Yale University, where he majored in political science , graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1966 . To earn money during the summers,he loaded trucks in a grocery warehouse and sold encyclopedias door to door.

As a student, he lived in a three-room dormitory suite.

During the summer of 1963 , Kerry and some classmates drove from Paris to Austria , where they visited an old ski instructor of Kerry's. When they arrived at theAustrian Alps , Kerry insisted on climbing a mountain even though it was only 5 a.m., andthen raced his friend down the peak. When they visited London that summer, Kerry delivered an impromptu speech from the famed Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park .

During his time at Yale, Kerry played soccer , hockey and lacrosse . He was also on the fencing team and took flying lessons.

In his sophomore year Kerry became president of the Yale Political Union . Hisinvolvement with the Political Union gave him an opportunity to be involved with important issues of the day, such as the civil rights movement and President Kennedy's New Frontier program. Under the guidance of the speaking coach and historyprofessor RollinOsterweis , Kerry won dozens of debate contests against other college students from across the nation. In March 1965 , as the Vietnam War escalated, he won the Ten Eyck prize as the bestorator in the junior class for a speech that was critical of U.S. foreign policy. In the speech he said, "It is the specter ofWestern imperialism that causes more fear among Africans and Asians than communism, and thus it is self-defeating." Because ofhis public speaking skills, he was chosen to give the class oration at graduation. The speech was hastily rewritten at the lastmoment, and was a broad criticism of American foreign policy, including the war.

In April 1965 , his friend John Shattuck (who would later become CEO of the John F. Kennedy LibraryFoundation) inducted him to Yale's Skull and Bones secret society,three years before George W. Bush joined the same group.

A few weeks before graduating, Kerry and all of the Skull and Bones seniors went on a trip together to the fishing camp ownedby the organization on the secluded 50-acre Deer Island , located on the St. LawrenceRiver . According to an article by Joe Klein for The New Yorker in 2002, David Thorne remembered there was a seriousongoing discussion about Vietnam . He said, "There were four of us [Kerry, Smith,Pershing and Thorne] going to war in a matter of months. That tends to concentrate the mind. This may have been the first time wereally seriously began to question Vietnam. It was: 'Hey, what the hell is going on over there? What the hell are we infor'?"

Military Service

Medals awarded to Lt. Kerry include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts.

First tour of duty

After an application for a twelve month deferment to study in Paris was denied, Kerry joined the United States Navy on February 18 , 1966 . He was ordered into active duty on October 19 , and received his Navy commission on December 16 . After completing a year of training, in December 1967 he began his first tour of duty, serving asa Lieutenant (Junior Grade) in the electricaldepartment on the guided-missile frigate USS Gridley (DLG-21) .

In February 1968, the Gridley sailed into war to support aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin , but wasfar removed from combat. Kerry had no contact with the enemy during that time. His ship returned to port in Long Beach, California on June 6 , 1968 .

Second tour of duty

Initially, Kerry had hoped to keep a relatively safe distance from most of the fighting by obtaining an assignment ascommander of a Swift Boat . Hecommanded his Swift Boat Patrol Craft Fast-94 during several operations, including Operation Sea Lords (raidson the NLF -controlled Cua Long River in the Mekong Delta near the Cà Mau province), and proved an aggressive commander.

Kerry lost five friends in war, including Pershing, who was killed in action on February 17 , 1968. The death had a devastating impact on Kerry, who expressed hisgrief in a letter to his parents.

Combat medals

Kerry was awarded his first Purple Heart for an injury incurred duringhis first combat experience (on December 2 , 1968). He was treated for a smallpiece of shrapnel in his arm and he immediately returned to duty. On February20 , 1969 , he earned a second Purple Heart when his left thigh was hit with shrapneland, again, he was treated and returned to duty. Eight days later, on February28 , 1969 , Kerry's boat was hit by a B-40 rocket . After beaching his boat, Kerrychased down and killed a wounded National Liberation Front guerilla, who had been shot in the leg by acrew-mate and was fleeing with another B-40 rocket. Kerry came back to the boat with the rocket and launcher. He was awarded the Silver Star medal for his actions. Some have suggested that rather than beawared with a medal for this action, Kerry should have been reprimanded for endagering his crew for beaching his boat. On March 13 , 1969 , Kerry's boat detonated a mine(as his position took heavy fire) and his arm was wounded. For his injury and rescuing U.S. Army Green Beret James Rassmann on the same occasion, Kerry was awarded a third Purple Heart andthe Bronze Star with Combat V . The last of his three injuries included a bruised arm and shrapnel in his posterior which, accordingto Kerry, cost him about two days of active service.

Due to questions regarding the nature of his wounds, the Kerry Campaign released his military records. These show secondcitations for a Silver Star and a Bronze Star were issued by John F.Lehman , who was Secretary of the Navy eleven years after Kerry's service.

John Kerry's former commander, Grant Hibbard (Kerry Purple Heart in Dispute) disputesKerry's account of how he received his first Purple Heart. According to Hibbard, the evidence strongly suggests that Kerryexaggerated the source and extent of his injury. Because records also show that Hibbard gave Kerry a positive performanceevaluation shortly after the incident, some have questioned Hibbard's motives for coming forward at this time. Hibbard is joinedin his criticism of Kerry by approximately 300 other veterans calling themselves Swift BoatVeterans for Truth .

Return from Vietnam

Within a week of his receiving his third purple heart, Kerry requested reassignment to the U.S. He was entitled to an earlydeparture from Vietnam, subject to approval by the Bureau of Naval Personnel, according to then current regulations which saidthose who are wounded "three times, regardless of the nature of the wound or treatment required ... will not be ordered to servein Vietnam and contiguous waters or to duty with ships or units which have been alerted for movement to that area."

On March 17 , 1969 , Commodore Charles Horne , an administrative official and commander of the coastal squadron in whichKerry served, filled out a document that said Kerry "has been thrice wounded in action while on duty incountry Vietnam.Reassignment is requested as a personal aide in Boston, New York, or Washington, D.C., area." Kerry ended his tour of duty inVietnam in 1969 after 11 months in-country. He remained on active duty for one more yearwith the Military Sea Transportation Service, Atlantic based in Brooklyn, N.Y . All told, he was on active duty for four years, from1966 until 1970. He was transferred to the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1970. There is no documentation that he fulfilled his activeReserve obligations while engaged in his anti-waractivities . Transferred to the Standby (inactive) Reserve in 1972, he then no longer was required to participate in Reserveactivities. He received his honorable discharge in 1978.

Anti-war Activism

John Kerry speaking at an anti-war rally.

Kerry returned to America in 1969. In 1968, Kerry's first cousin, Lalonde, became president of the National Student's Union atthe Sorbonne , and had actively participated in the May 1968 student uprisings in France, which showed all of Europe (and the U.S.) the power of student protest andconfrontation. Peggy Kerry, his sister, was also active in anti-war activities then.

He was involved in anti-war activities while on active duty as an admiral's aide in Brooklyn. Arranged by his sister, in October 1969 he spent two days flying Ted Kennedy 's advisor Adam Walinsky to present antiwar speeches. The Boston Globe says "the experience helped convince him that he wanted to become a public leader of the antiwarmovement." In November he requested release from active duty so he could campaignfor a Congressional seat in the House .

He was transferred from active duty to the Naval Reserve (inactive) on January3 , 1970 , so he could fulfill his Ready Reserve obligations. Within three months he lostthe caucus to Father RobertF. Drinan , and later became manager of his campaign.

On May 7 , 1970 , he appeared on The Dick Cavett Show for the first time, to speak about his opposition to the United States' involvement in the Vietnam. Just a few weeks later, May 23 , 1970, he married JuliaThorne , his girlfriend of six years, at a lavish ceremony attended by approximately 250 guests in Bay Shore, New York . After honeymooning in Jamaica he met with Hanoi peace talk representatives in Paris. Kerry then stepped up his antiwar activities,becoming a media celebrity for his outspoken opposition to the war, behavior which, according to some reports, served as a greatannoyance to the Nixon administration .

Joining the Vietnam Veterans against the War

In June 1970, Kerry joined the newly formed Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), where he became a prominent spokesman and memberof the Executive Committee, leading numerous protests, marches and rallies. On September 7 , Kerry spoke at an event that the group organized called Operation RAW , or Rapid AmericanWithdrawal, in which Vietnam veterans marched 86 miles from two Revolutionary War sites, Morristown, New Jersey , and Valley Forge , Pennsylvania .

Protest in Washington, D.C.

As part of the VVAW, Kerry organized a non-violent protest of the war entitled Operation DeweyCanyon III , which occurred from April 18 to April 23 , 1971 . The organizers called the protest "a limited incursion intothe country of Congress."

On April 19 , a procession of about 1,100 veterans moved across the Lincoln Memorial Bridge to Arlington Cemetery , led by the GoldStar Mothers who lost their sons in the war. There, on the small plot of grass outside the cemetery beneath the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the grave ofPresident Kennedy, Reverend JacksonDay led a brief ceremony for the war dead. In the following days, the protestors, who camped out on a grassy quadranglebetween Third and Fourth streets, took part in guerilla theatre , marches, and speeches.

Testimony before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee

Kerry spoke before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee . He informed the committee about the VVAW's Winter Soldier Investigation , an eventwhich took place from January 31 to February 2 , 1971 in Detroit, Michigan . That event was presented as having over 150 honorably discharged veterans whotestified to war crimes supposedly committed in Southeast Asia during the war. Questions had already been raised by the DetroitStar about the testimony, and an investigation found that claimed events could not be confirmed, some participants were notVietnam veterans, some were not honorably discharged, some were impostors. Although Kerry interviewed the participants before themeetings, it is not known when he learned about the problems with the testimony.

The medal-tossing incident

The following day, April 23 , Kerry and other veterans threw medals and ribbonsover a fence at the U.S. Capitol building to protest thewar. This became a controversy when it was discovered that he has his service medals on display, suggesting that what he threwwere not his own medals. Kerry later said that he “threw some medals back that belonged to some folks who asked me to throwthem back for them."

President Nixon comments on Kerry

In a secretly recorded White House conversation of April 28 , 1971 , president Nixon discussed Kerry with his counsel, Charles Colson . Nixon said, "Well, he is sort of a phony, isn't he?" Colson agreed, and mentioned thatduring the antiwar demonstrations that had just taken place, Kerry stayed at the home of a Georgetown socialite while the other protesters slept on the National Mall. Colson opined, "He's politically ambitious and just looking for an issue.Yeah. He came back [from Vietnam] a hawk and became a dove when he saw the political opportunities." "Sure," said Nixon. "Well,anyway, keep the faith."

In the following months, The FBI engaged in surveillance of Kerry and his activities with the VVAW. They followed him,recorded the content of his speeches, took photographs, and reported their findings to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and president Nixon. In May of 1972, the FBI stoppedmonitoring his activities, stating in a final memorandum that "It should be noted that a review of the subject's file revealsnothing whatsoever to link subject with any violent type activity... Thus, considering the subject's apparently legitimateinvolvement in politics, it is recommended that no further investigation be conducted regarding subject until such time as it iswarranted."

In 1993 , Colson sent a letter of apology to Kerry for his and Nixon's behavior againsthim in the 1970s.

Media attention

All of the events of 1971 thrust him into the national spotlight. On May 25 , 1971 , he appeared in a segment of 60Minutes entitled "The First Hurrah," with Morley Safer .

In the Washington Star on June 6 , 1971 , Kerry is quoted: "We establishedan American presence in most cases by showing the flag and firing at sampans and villages along the banks. Those were ourinstructions, but they seemed so out of line that we finally began to go ashore, against our orders, and investigate the villagesthat were supposed to be our targets. We discovered we were butchering a lot of innocent people, and morale became so low amongthe officers on those 'swift boats' that we were called back to Saigon for special instructions from Gen. Abrams. He told us wewere doing the right thing. He said our efforts would help win the war in the long run. That's when I realized I could neverremain silent about the realities of the war in Vietnam."

On June 20 , 1971 , Kerry appeared on TheDick Cavett Show to debate the White House-selected Navy veteran JohnO'Neill , who represented a group called Veterans for a Just Peace . He was also parodied in the comic strip Doonesbury

In 1978 he co-founded Vietnam Veterans of America .

He maintains a lifetime membership in the Veteransof Foreign Wars (VFW) organization.

Vietnam War era photos

As supposed evidence of Kerry's ties to Jane Fonda , this photo is from ananti-war rally in Valley Forge. Although sitting several rows apart, the photo demonstrates the involvement of both with the VVAWevent. Both were among eight speakers at a VVAW rally in Valley Forge, and Kerry was involved in organizing the rally. VVAW recordsshow that four days later there were arrangements for her to tour and raise funds. This was before Fonda's famous visit toVietnam, and after Kerry's first meeting with Hanoi representatives. John Kerry and Jane Fonda

In 2004 , a new photograph emerged, that showed Fonda standing by Kerry's side at anantiwar demonstration. It made the rounds on the Internet, and was quickly found to be a hoax . The event, known as the Register for Peace Rally , took place on June 13 , 1971 , in Mineola, NewYork , with thousands in attendance. Kerry spoke at the rally, but JaneFonda was not in fact present.

In attempts to continue the association of Kerry with Fonda, Rep. SamJohnson and other representatives referred to Kerry as Hanoi John in the US House of Representatives ,although chamber rules do not permit personal attacks on senators.

Resignation from VVAW

From November 12 to 15 , 1971, a VVAW meeting was held in Kansas City, Missouri , in which a member proposed that they escalate their tactics and assassinatepro-war politicians. The statement was immediately shouted down by a disgusted majority. However, some groups use this story topaint VVAW as a violent group. VVAW did decide to meet with North Vietnamese leaders, an action Kerry thought was disastrous forthe appearance of the group.

Over the years, Kerry said that he did not remember attending the meeting in Kansas City, stating that he retired from theorganization at the St. Louis meeting in July 1971. However, there are conflicting accounts, including newspaper articles, FBIreports, and witnesses who have different recollections.

Law, Politics, Public Service

Senator Kerry speaks from behind PresidentClinton 's podium at
Walden Woods in 1998.

John Kerry entered Boston College Law School in Newton, Mass. , in September 1973 , within days of the birth of his first daughter, Alexandra . He graduated in May 1976 , the same year his second daughter, Vanessa , was born. Also in 1976, he and friend K. Dun Gifford opened a cookie and muffin shop called Kilvert & Forbes inBoston’s Quincy Market area.

Law practice and first election

He was the First Assistant District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts , from 1977 to 1979 .

In 1979 he opened a private law practice, and in the fall of 1981 began his campaign for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. During the campaign, he separated from his wife Julia, butit had no effect on the election; he won in November 1982 , and served under Michael Dukakis until 1984 . In January 1984, Kerry announced his decision to again run for Congress. This time he set hissights on the United States Senate, running as a Democrat to replace PaulTsongas . In his campaign he promised to mix liberalism with tight budget controls. In the November election he won the seat,despite a nationwide landslide for the re-election of Republican president Ronald Reagan . In his acceptance speech, Kerry asserted that his win meant that the people of Massachusetts"emphatically reject the politics of selfishness and the notion that women must be treated as second-class citizens."

Controversy

Shortly after taking office in 1985, Kerry and Senator Tom Harkin of Iowatraveled to Nicaragua , and met the Communist leader of the Sandanista National Liberation Front, Daniel Ortega . The visit prompted a storm of controversy at a time when Ronald Reagan and US foreign policy was decidedly anti- Soviet . Kerryand Ortega

Iran-Contra hearings

In April 1986 , Kerry and Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) proposed that hearings be conducted bythe Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding charges of Contra involvement in cocaine trafficking. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), the Republican chairman of the committee, agreed toconduct the hearings. Meanwhile, Kerry's staff began their own investigations, and on October 14 issued a report which charged that Lieut. Col. Oliver North set up a private network involving the National Security Council and the CIA todeliver military equipment to the Nicaraguan rebels. Furthermore, the network was thought to be involved with shipping cocaineand marijuana to the United States, with profits from their sales going to payfor more arms for the insurgents. The investigation, the report said, raised "serious questions about whether the United Stateshas abided by the law in its handling of the contras over the past three years." The Kerry report generated a firestorm ofcontroversy and lead to years of investigations, hearings, and widely-seen television proceedings, known collectively as the Iran-Contra affair .

Kerry's inquiry eventually widened to look not just at the Contras, but at events in Cuba , Haiti , the Bahamas , Panama , and Honduras . In 1989 he released a report that slammed the Reagan administration for neglecting and undermining anti-drugefforts while pursing other objectives in foreign policy. The report noted that the government "turned a blind eye" in the 1980sto the corruption and drug dealings of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega , who had assisted the contras. The report concluded that the CIAand the State Deparment had known that "individuals who provided support for the contras were involved in drug trafficking...andelements of the contras themselves knowingly received financial and material assistance from drug traffickers." While somecritics attacked him as being a conspiracy theorist , a decadelater the CIA inspector general released a pair of reports that affirmed Kerry's findings.

During the investigation of Noriega, Kerry's staff discovered that the Pakistan-based Bank of Credit and CommerceInternational (BCCI) had facilitated Noriega's drug trafficking and money laundering. This led to a separate inquiry intoBCCI, and as a result, banking regulators finally shut down BCCI in 1991 . In December 1992 Kerry and Sen. Hank Brown (R-Colo.), released " The BCCI Affair ," a report on the BCCI scandal. The report showed that the bank was crooked and wasworking with terrorists, including Abu Nidal . It blasted the U.S. Department of Justice , the U.S. Department of the Treasury , the U.S. Customs Service , the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States , high-level lobbyists, and the CentralIntelligence Agency. One of the Bush administration figures criticized for his handling of BCCI was Robert Mueller who, as deputy attorney general, had dragged his heels on theinvestigation.

Committee assignments

In the Senate, Kerry serves on the Committee on Foreign Relations , Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and Committee on Finance . He was thechairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship from 2001 to 2003 and remains the ranking Democrat.

Kerry is also the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Fisheries and the Environment andthe Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs . He also serveson the Subcommittee on Communications , Subcommittee on Transportation (both part of Commerce, Science andTransportation); the Subcommittee on Health Care , Subcommittee on International Trade and the Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy (Financesubcommittees); and on the Subcommittee on European Affairs and Subcommittee on WesternHemisphere, Peace Corps & Narcotics Affairs (Foreign Relations subcommittees).

Political chairmanship and presidential nomination

Kerry was the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from 1987 to 1989 , and was reelected to the Senate in 1990 , 1996 (despite the candidacy of popular Republican ex-Gov. William Weld ), and 2002 . His current term will end on January 3 , 2009 .

In 2003 and 2004, the Presidential campaign of John Kerry defeated Democratic rivals Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), ex-Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark , all butclinching the Democratic nomination for Kerry. Kerry is running for President of the United States against incumbent George W. Bush . On July 6, 2004, he announced JohnEdwards as his running mate.

Issues and Voting Record

For information on Kerry's political views and voting record, see John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004 .

Home Life and Interests

Teresa and John Kerry on the campaign trail.

John Kerry is 6-feet 4-inches (1.94 meters) tall and has been called the "Lanky Yankee." His oldest friends and family callhim Johnny. He speaks fluent French , having spent time in Switzerland and France with his family as ayoung man. He enjoys surfing, hockey, hunting, and playing the bass .

Kerry's favorite films are Giant and Casablanca . His favorite books are said to be James Bradley 's Flags of Our Fathers and Stephen Ambrose 's Undaunted Courage. While campaigning in 2003, he read Clyde Prestowitz 's RogueNation, and Barbara Ehrenreich 's Nickel and Dimed .

In 2003, he was diagnosed with and cured of prostate cancer .

Family

Kerry was married to Julia Thorne in 1970, and they had two childrentogether: Alexandra Kerry (b. 1973 ), who graduated in June 2004 from a film-school in the LosAngeles area, and Vanessa Kerry (b. 1976 ), a graduate of Phillips Academy like her grandfather, Yale University, and currently a student at Harvard Medical School . Vanessa has been active in her father'sPresidential campaign.

Kerry and Thorne were separated in 1982 and divorced July 25 , 1988 . "After 14 years as a political wife," she wrote in A Change of Heart, her book about depression,"I associated politics only with anger, fear and loneliness." The marriage was formally annulled by the Roman Catholic Church in 1997 . Thorne later married an architect named Richard Charlesworth, and moved to Bozeman, Mont. , where she became active in local environmental groups such as the GreaterYellowstone Coalition .

Between his first and second marriages he dated actresses MorganFairchild and Catherine Oxenberg .

Kerry and Teresa Simões-FerreiraHeinz , the widow of Pennsylvania Sen. H. John Heinz III (R-Pa.) and formerly a United Nations translator, met at the U.N.-sponsored EarthSummit at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 . They married on May 26 , 1995 , in Nantucket, Mass . Teresa has three sons from herprevious marriage: John Heinz Jr., André Heinz, and Christopher Heinz (b. ~ 1973 ).

Today, the combined net worth of the Kerry-Heinz fortune is estimated to be around $1 billion, making Kerry the wealthiestU.S. senator. Kerry is wealthy in his own name, and is the beneficiary of at least four trusts inherited from Forbes family members, including his mother, who died in 2002.

Kerry has an older brother, Cameron Kerry, who is a litigator in Boston, and two sisters, Diane and Peggy.

External links and references

Official

Print media

Klein, Joe, " The Long War of John Kerry: Can a Massachusetts Brahmin becomePresident? ," The New Yorker , December2 , 2002 .
Kranish, Michael, " John Kerry: Candidate in the making ," Boston Globe , June 15 , 2003 .
Gibbs, Nancy and Douglas Waller, " What Kind of President Would Kerry Be? ," TIME Magazine , February 9 , 2004 .

Online media

" Profile: JohnKerry ". BBC News. January 20 , 2004 .
" Senator John Forbes Kerry ". Project Vote Smart. 2002-2004.
" Senate Elections, John Kerry (1997-2002) ". OpenSecrets.org.
John Kerry's "Winter Soldier" testimony to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in1971. (PDF file)
TheBCCI Affair, A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate , by Senator John Kerry and Senator Hank Brown, December1992
Kaplan, Fred, " JohnKerry's Defense Defense - Setting his voting record straight. " Slate, MSN. February 25 , 2004 .