John Kerry

John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts. In 2004, he made an unsuccessful bid for the United States presidency as the Democratic Party's nominee. He was defeated by incumbent President George W. Bush.

Home life and interests

Kerry's oldest friends and family call him "Johnny". Kerry is well over six feet tall (6'3" according to his enlistment contract), speaks fluent French, and enjoys surfing and windsurfing, as well as ice hockey, hunting, and playing bass guitar. According to an interview he gave to Rolling Stone magazine in 2004, Kerry's favorite album is Abbey Road and he is a fan of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, as well as of Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Buffett. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6562106?rnd=1106291647897&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.1040 During his 2004 presidential campaign, Kerry used Bruce Springsteen's No Surrender as his campaign theme song.

Related Topics:
French - Surfing - Windsurfing - Ice hockey - Hunting - Bass guitar - Rolling Stone - Abbey Road - The Beatles - The Rolling Stones - Jimi Hendrix - Jimmy Buffett - Bruce Springsteen

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Kerry is also known as an avid cyclist, primarily riding on a road bike. Prior to his Presidential bid, John Kerry was known to have participated in several long-distance rides (centuries). Even during his many campaigns, he was reported to have visited bicycle stores both in his home state and elsewhere.

Related Topics:
Cyclist - Rides

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In 2004, he named his favorite books as Trinity, by Leon Uris; Flags of Our Fathers, by James Bradley and Ron Powers; and Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose. He had recently read Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World, by Margaret MacMillan. http://www.booksense.com/candidatebooks/index2.jsp Previous reading during the campaign included Rogue Nation, by Clyde Prestowitz, and Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich. His favorite movies are Giant and Casablanca.

Related Topics:
''Trinity'' - Leon Uris - Stephen Ambrose - Nickel and Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich - ''Giant'' - ''Casablanca''

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The Kerrys have a German Shepherd Dog named Cym (pronounced "Kim") and a yellow canary named Sunshine. His favorite food is chocolate chip cookies.

Related Topics:
German Shepherd Dog - Canary - Chocolate chip cookies

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In 2003, John Kerry was diagnosed with and successfully treated for prostate cancer.

Related Topics:
2003 - Prostate cancer

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Family

Kerry was married to Julia Thorne in 1970, and they had two children together. Alexandra Kerry was born on September 5, 1973, days before Kerry began law school. She graduated in June 2004 from a film school in the Los Angeles area. Vanessa Kerry was born on December 31, 1976. She is a graduate of Phillips Academy (like her grandfather) and Yale University, and is currently a student at Harvard Medical School. Vanessa has been active in her father's Presidential campaign.

Related Topics:
Married - Julia Thorne - 1970 - Alexandra Kerry - September 5 - 1973 - June 2004 - Film school - Los Angeles - Vanessa Kerry - December 31 - 1976 - Yale University - Harvard Medical School

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In 1982 Thorne, who was suffering from severe depression, asked Kerry for a separation. http://www.washingtonian.com/people/madame_ex.html They were divorced on July 25, 1988. "After 14 years as a political wife, I associated politics only with anger, fear and loneliness" she wrote in A Change of Heart, her book about depression. The marriage was formally annulled by the Roman Catholic Church in 1997. Thorne later married Richard Charlesworth, an architect, and moved to Bozeman, Montana, where she became active in local environmental groups such as the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. During the 2004 campaign she announced that she was "100% behind" Kerry's candidacy for President.

Related Topics:
1982 - Depression - Divorce - July 25 - 1988 - Annulled - Roman Catholic Church - 1997 - Richard Charlesworth - Architect - Bozeman, Montana

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Between his first and second marriages, Kerry dated actresses Morgan Fairchild and Catherine Oxenberg.

Related Topics:
Morgan Fairchild - Catherine Oxenberg

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Kerry and his second wife, Teresa Simões-Ferreira Heinz, the widow of Pennsylvania Senator H. John Heinz III, a Republican, and former United Nations translator, were introduced to each other by John Heinz at an Earth Day rally in 1990. They did not meet again until after John Heinz's death, at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. They married on May 26, 1995, in Nantucket. Teresa's three sons from her previous marriage—John Kerry's stepsons—are H. John Heinz IV, André Heinz, and Christopher Heinz.

Related Topics:
Teresa Simões-Ferreira Heinz - Pennsylvania - H. John Heinz III - United Nations - Earth Day - 1990 - 1992 - Earth Summit - Rio de Janeiro - May 26 - 1995 - Nantucket - H. John Heinz IV - André Heinz - Christopher Heinz

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The Forbes 400 survey estimated in 2004 that Teresa Heinz Kerry had a net worth of $750 million. However, estimates have frequently varied, ranging from around $165 million to as high as $3.2 billion, according to a study in the Los Angeles Times. Regardless of which figure is given, Kerry is the wealthiest U.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. Forbes magazine (a major business magazine named for an unrelated Forbes family) estimated that if elected, Kerry would be the third-richest U.S. President in history when adjusted for inflation http://www.forbes.com/2004/02/13/cx_da_0213kerry.html. This assessment was based on the couple's combined assets, but Kerry and Heinz signed a pre-nuptial agreement that keeps their assets separate. http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20040823.html Kerry's financial disclosure form for 2002 put his personal assets in the range of $409,000 to $1.8 million, with additional assets held jointly by Kerry and his wife in the range of $300,000 to $600,000. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/12/19/kerry_mortgage_to_help_fund_race/

Related Topics:
Forbes 400 - 2004 - Net worth - Billion - Los Angeles Times - Forbes family - 2002 - Forbes - Unrelated Forbes family - Inflation - Pre-nuptial agreement

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John Kerry has two sisters, Diana and Peggy, and a brother, Cameron, who is a litigator in Boston. Cameron converted to Judaism in 1983 and recently led a Kerry campaign effort in Israel to reach American expatriate voters.

Related Topics:
Diana - Peggy - Cameron - Litigator - Judaism - Israel - Expatriate

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