John Kerry

John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W. Bush. Senator Kerry is a decorated Vietnam veteran, and was a spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War when he returned home from service. Before entering the Senate, he served as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.

The son of an Army Air Corpsman, Kerry was born in Aurora, Colorado. He attended boarding school in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and went on to attend Yale University, where he majored in political science. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1966, and spent four months as officer in charge of a Swift Boat in 1969. Kerry received several combat medals during this tour, including the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. After returning to the United States, Kerry joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. He became an outspoken opponent of the war, appearing before a Senate committee and deeming his superiors "war criminals".

After graduating from Boston College Law School, Kerry worked as an Assistant District Attorney and co-founded a private firm. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts under Michael Dukakis from 1983 to 1985, where he worked on an early forerunner to the national Clean Air Act. He won a tight Democratic primary in 1984...
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