Sen. John Kerry

Photos | Senate Office | Legislation | Vote Smart | February 26 Statement

Announced he would not make a 2000 presidential bid on February 26, 1999 at a news conference in his Boston office.

PROFILE

**John F. Kerry, Democrat, of Boston, Massachusetts**.
Current	U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. Elected in 1984, re-elected in 1990 and 1996. Serves on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Technology; Foreign Relations; and Small Business Committees, and on the Select Committee on Intelligence. Chairman of the Senate Democratic Steering and Coordination Committee.
Career	Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984. Elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1982. Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County, 1977-82. Democratic nominee for U.S. House in 1972. A leader of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and a co-founder of Vietnam Veterans of America.
Military	U.S. Navy, 1966-69. Served as an office on a gunboat in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Decorations include a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts.
Education	Yale University, B.A. 1966. Boston College Law School, J.D. 1976.
Family	Married to Teresa Heinz. Two daughters from a previous marriage; three stepchildren.
Religion	Roman Catholic.
Age	54 years old. Born on December 11, 1943 in Denver, CO.

Readings
Dana Milbank. "Schoolyard Tussle." New Republic, December 14, 1998. >

John Chao. "A Windsurfer in the White House?" American Windsurfer, Vol. 5, Issue 5 (July 1998). >

by John Kerry
The New War: The Web of Crime That Threatens America's Security--Simon & Schuster, 1997.

Speech
Democratic Leadership Council 1998 Annual Conference, Washington, DC--December 2, 1998. >

Kerry spoke on education reform, calling for "a new dialogue to talk about the entire structure of the public school system." He is proposing, with Sen. Gorton (R-WA), legislation to make every public school essentially a charter school. Kerry wants to "end tenure as we know it" and change the certification process. He also addressed these education reform proposals in speeches earlier in the year, at Northeastern University in June and at the Center for National Policy in October.