John Kerry

Date of Birth: 12.11.1943

John Forbes Kerry - an American politician. Since January 20, 2021, he has been the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate of the USA. US Secretary of State (2013-2017). From 1985 he was the junior senator and from 2009 to 2013 the senior senator from the state of Massachusetts, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Place of Birth. Education. John Kerry was born into the family of American diplomat Richard John Kerry and Rosemary Isabel Kerry (nee Forbes). Due to his connection with the wealthy American dynasty of the Forbes, Kerry received an elite education in Europe and the USA and lived as a child in France. He graduated from the private school Institut Montana Zugerberg in Switzerland, St. Paul's School in New Hampshire, and then enrolled at Yale University (USA) in 1966.

Career. Kerry's political career began with his participation in the campaign of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, in 1962. At that time, Kerry met the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, for the first time and became friends with his family. After John F. Kennedy's assassination, Kerry actively criticized President Lyndon B. Johnson's (1963-1968) foreign policy and strongly opposed the Vietnam War.

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After graduating from university, Kerry was ordered to Vietnam for military service, where he took command of a river patrol boat. For his service, he was awarded several medals, wounded several times, and rose to the rank of lieutenant.

After returning from Vietnam in 1970, Kerry became an activist in the organization 'Vietnam Veterans Against the War', giving speeches at numerous anti-war events and testifying about war crimes committed by the American army.

In 1972, John Kerry unsuccessfully participated in a Democratic Party campaign for Congress and then continued his legal education at Boston College. Kerry then worked in the district attorney's office and founded his own law firm.

In 1982, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts and in January 1985 as a senator from this state in the US Congress as a Democratic Party candidate. He was repeatedly re-elected to the Senate until 2012. In 2004, the Democratic Party nominated John Kerry as its presidential candidate. On November 3, 2004, Kerry, who received 59.03 million votes (48%), lost to George W. Bush, who received 62.04 million votes (51%).

In 2008, Kerry withdrew his candidacy for the presidency and supported Barack Obama's candidacy. It was predicted that he would hold positions as vice president and secretary of state in Obama's administration, but he was only confirmed as US Secretary of State on February 1, 2013, after Obama's re-election for a second term.

As Secretary of State, he focused particularly on efforts to end the war in Syria, the political crisis in Ukraine, and relations with Latin American countries.

On November 23, 2020, US President Joe Biden announced that John Kerry would work in his cabinet as Special Envoy for Climate and become a member of the National Security Council.

Views. Kerry describes himself as a supporter of liberal views, although he is a devout Catholic. The politician opposes the privatization of social security programs, supports the right to abortion, the concept of civil marriage for same-sex couples, advocates for the abolition of the death penalty (except for terrorists), and fights against climate change.

He has repeatedly called for a change in US policy towards Latin America. Together with Senator McCain, another Vietnam veteran, he contributed to the resumption of diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1995.

On February 5, 2015, Kerry stated during a visit to Kyiv that the USA would be a guarantor of peace in Ukraine. In his speech, Kerry began with the words: 'The American people demonstrate their resolute support for the Ukrainian people.'

On February 8, Kerry warned in Munich during talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Russia would have to pay a high price if the conflict in Ukraine escalated.

Family. In his second marriage, he is married to Teresa Simoe-Ferreira Heinz, the widow of a senator from Pennsylvania. From his first marriage to Julia Stimson Thorne (1944-2006), Kerry has two daughters: Alexandra Forbes Kerry (born 1973), a documentary filmmaker, and Vanessa Bradford Kerry (born 1976), a physician.

01.12.2023