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John Kerry

Democratic Party

Prior offices:

U.S. Secretary of State

Years in office: 2013 - 2017

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U.S. Senate Massachusetts

Years in office: 1985 - 2013

Successor:Mo Cowan (D)

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Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts

Years in office: 1982 - 1984

Education

Bachelor's

Yale University

Law

Boston College

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Navy

Years of service

1966 - 1970

Personal

Religion

Christian: Catholic

Profession

Attorney

John Kerry was the special envoy for climate designate for theBiden administration. He resigned from his position in the administration on March 6, 2024.^[1][2]

The Biden Transition said of his appointment, "This marks the first time that the [National Security Council] will include an official dedicated to climate change, reflecting the president-elect’s commitment to addressing climate change as an urgent national security issue."^[3]

Kerry was thesecretary of state under the Obama administration. Kerry wasconfirmed by theSenate on January 29, 2013, by a vote of 94-3.^[4] Kerry previously represented Massachusetts in the Senate from 1985 to 2013. Heresigned from the Senate after being nominated by Obama.^[4][5]

Biography

Kerry was born in Aurora,Colorado, and his family moved to Massachusetts when he was young. He graduated from Yale University before volunteering for the U.S. Navy and serving two tours of duty in Vietnam. He earned a Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts.^[6] After Kerry unsuccessfully ran forU.S. Congress in 1972, he joined the district attorney's office and earned his J.D. from Boston College.^[7] He served as lieutenant governor ofMassachusetts under Gov.Michael Dukakis (D) before winning election to theUnited States Senate in 1984.^[8]

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Kerry's academic, professional, and political career:^[9]

• 2013-2017:U.S. secretary of State
• 2004: Democratic presidential nominee
• 1984-2013:U.S. senator fromMassachusetts
• 1982-1984: Lieutenant governor of Massachusetts
• 1977-1982: Assistant district attorney of Massachusetts
• 1976: Graduated from Boston College Law School
• 1972: Ran unsuccessfully forMassachusetts' 5th Congressional District
• 1966-1970: Served in U.S. Navy, including two tours in Vietnam
• 1966: Graduated from Yale

Confirmation vote

Kerry was confirmed as secretary of state on January 29, 2013, by a vote of 94-3. The three votes against Kerry were cast byTed Cruz (R-Texas),John Cornyn (R-Texas), andJim Inhofe (R-Okla.). Kerry voted present.^[10] Kerry replacedHillary Clinton as secretary of state.

John Kerry confirmation vote, January 29, 2013
Party	Votes fora	Votes againstd	Total votes
Democrats	48	0	48
Republicans	46	3	49
Independents	0	0	0
Total Votes	94	3	97

U.S. Senate

Committee assignments

2013

Kerry served on the following Senate committees^[11]:

• Foreign Relations CommitteeChairman
• Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee
• Finance Committee
• Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee

2011-2012

During the112th Congress, Kerry served on the following committees:

• Foreign Relations CommitteeChairman
• Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee
• Finance Committee
  • Subcommittee Health Care
  • Subcommittee Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee Internal Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
• Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee
  • Subcommittee Communications, Technology, and the InternetChairman
  • Subcommittee Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
  • Subcommittee Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion
  • Subcommittee Science and Space
  • Subcommittee Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard
  • Subcommittee Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security

Elections

2008

On November 4, 2008, John Kerry won re-election to theUnited States Senate. He defeated Jeffrey K. Beatty (R) and Robert J. Underwood (L) in the general election.^[12]

U.S. Senate, Massachusetts General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John Kerryincumbent	63.6%	1,971,974
	Republican	Jeffrey K. Beatty	29.8%	926,044
	Libertarian	Robert J. Underwood	3%	93,716
	N/A	All Others	0.1%	2,516
	N/A	Blank/Scattering	3.5%	108,748
Total Votes				3,102,998

2004 presidential election

In 2004, Kerry was defeated by incumbentGeorge W. Bush for the United States presidency.

U.S. presidential election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes	Electoral votes
	Republican	George W. Bush/Dick CheneyIncumbent	50.8%	62,039,572	286
	Democratic	John Kerry/John Edwards	48.3%	59,027,115	251
	Independent	Ralph Nader/Peter Camejo	0.4%	465,642	0
	Libertarian	Michael Badnarik/Richard Campagna	0.3%	397,265	0
	Constitution	Michael Peroutka/Charles Baldwin	0.1%	144,650	0
	Green	David Cobb/Pat LaMarche	0.1%	119,910	0
Total Votes				122,194,154	537
Election results via:2004 Presidential General Election Results

Other candidates that appeared on the ballot received less than 0.1% of the vote. Those candidates included: Leonard Peltier, Walt Brown, Róger Calero, Thomas Harens, Gene Amondson, Bill Van Auken, John Parker, Charles Jay, Stanford Andress and Earl Dodge.^[13]

Full history

To view the full congressional electoral history for John Kerry, click [show] to expand the section.

2002 On November 5, 2002, John Kerry won re-election to theUnited States Senate. He defeated Michael E. Cloud (L) and Randall Forseberg (Write-in) in the general election.[14] U.S. Senate, Massachusetts General Election, 2002 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic John Kerryincumbent 72.3% 1,605,976      Libertarian Michael E. Cloud 16.7% 369,807      Write-in Randall Forseberg 1.1% 24,898      N/A Other 0.3% 6,077      N/A Blank/Scattering 9.6% 213,543 Total Votes 2,220,301 1996 On November 5, 1996, John Kerry won re-election to theUnited States Senate. He defeated William F. Weld (R), Susan C. Gallagher (Conservative) and Robert C. Stowe (Natural Law) in the general election.[15] U.S. Senate, Massachusetts General Election, 1996 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic John Kerryincumbent 52.2% 1,334,135      Republican William F. Weld 44.7% 1,143,120      Conservative Susan C. Gallagher 2.7% 70,007      Natural Law Robert C. Stowe 0.3% 7,169      N/A Other 0.1% 1,511 Total Votes 2,555,942 1990 On November 6, 1990, John Kerry won re-election to theUnited States Senate. He defeated Jim Rappaport (R) in the general election.[16] U.S. Senate, Massachusetts General Election, 1990 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic John Kerryincumbent 54.5% 1,321,712      Republican Jim Rappaport 41% 992,917      N/A Other 4.5% 109,950 Total Votes 2,424,579 1984 On November 6, 1984, John Kerry won election to theUnited States Senate. He defeated Raymond Shamie (R) in the general election.[17] U.S. Senate, Massachusetts General Election, 1984 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic John Kerry 55% 1,393,150      Republican Raymond 44.9% 1,136,913      N/A Other 0% 843 Total Votes 2,530,906

Campaign donors

2008

Kerry won re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2008. During that re-election cycle, Kerry's campaign committee raised a total of $11,105,663 and spent $17,016,823.^[18]

To view the breakdown of campaign funding by type click [show] to expand the section.
Breakdown of the source of Kerry's campaign funds before the 2008 election.

2002

Kerry won re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2002. During that re-election cycle, Kerry's campaign committee raised a total of $15,468,903 and spent $10,297,909.^[19]

His top five contributors between 2003 and 2008 were:

To view the breakdown of campaign funding by type click [show] to expand the section.
Breakdown of the source of Kerry's campaign funds before the 2002 election.

Analysis

Ideology and leadership

See also:GovTrack's Political Spectrum & Legislative Leadership ranking

2012

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship byGovTrack, Kerry was a "far-left Democratic leader."^[20]

National Journal vote ratings

See also:National Journal vote ratings

National Journal published an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted, as compared to other members, in the previous year. More information about the analysis process can be found on thevote ratings page.

2012

According to the data released in 2013, Kerry was the 24th most liberal senator during 2012.^[21]

2011

According to the data released in 2012, Kerry was the 24th most liberal senator during 2011.^[22]

Voting with party

2011

The websiteOpenCongress tracked how often members of Congress voted with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Kerry voted with the Democratic Party95.8 percent of the time, which ranked seventh among the 51 Senate Democrats in November 2012.^[23]

Congressional staff salaries

See also:Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The websiteLegistorm compiled staff salary information for members of Congress. Kerry paid his congressional staff a total of $2,828,790 in 2011. He ranked 15th on the list of the highest paid Democratic senatorial staff salaries and ranked 20th overall of the highest paid senatorial staff salaries in 2011. Overall,Massachusetts ranked 12th in average salary for senatorial staff. The averageU.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.^[24]

Net worth

See also:Changes in Net Worth of U.S. Senators and Representatives (Personal Gain Index) andNet worth of United States Senators and Representatives

2011

Based oncongressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available byOpenSecrets.org, Kerry's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $184,268,546 and $287,685,063.00. That averages to $235,976,804.00, which is significantly higher than the average net worth of Democratic senators in 2011 of $20,795,449.53. His average calculated net worth^[25] increased by 1.84 percent from 2010.^[26]

2010

Based oncongressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available byOpenSecrets.org, Kerry's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $181,469,521 and $281,976,067. That averages to $231,722,794, which is higher than the average net worth of Democratic senators in 2010 of $19,383,524 .^[27]

Notable endorsements

See also:Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia'scoverage scope.

Personal

Note: Pleasecontact us if the personal information below requires an update.

Kerry is married to Theresa Heinz. He and his first wife, Julia Thorne, divorced in 1988. Kerry has two children from his first marriage, Alexandra and Vanessa. He also has three stepsons, H. John Heinz IV, Andre Heinz, and Christopher Heinz.

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the termJohn + Kerry + Secretary + State

See also

• Joe Biden presidential transition
• U.S. Department of State
• Massachusetts
• United States Senate
• Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor
• Crisis in Gaza, 2014
• ISIS insurgency in Iraq and Syria
• George W. Bush
• Hillary Clinton

External links

• John Kerry on Facebook
• John Kerry on Twitter

Footnotes

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