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About John F. KerryA timeline of events1943December 11: John Forbes Kerry is born at the Fitzsimmons Military Hospital in Denver to Rosemary (Forbes) and Richard Kerry. His family moves back to Massachusetts shortly after his birth. 1950 Kerry's family moves to Washington. 1953 Kerry is 10 years old. 1957 While his father is stationed at the US Embassy in Norway, Kerry is sent to Massachusetts for schooling. He attends Fessenden School in West Newton, where he meets friend Richard Pershing. 1958 Kerry enrolls at St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H. 1959 At 16, Kerry founds the John Winant Society at St. Paul's, a group that still exists and which debates major issues of the day. 1960 November 8: On Election Day, Kerry sees candidate John F. Kennedy speak for the first time. 1962 Kerry volunteers in the senatorial campaign of Edward M. Kennedy. Enters Yale, and meets President Kennedy twice while dating Jacqueline Kennedy's half-sister, Janet Auchincloss. 1966 Graduates from Yale. February 18: Kerry enlists in the US Navy. October 19: Kerry is ordered into active duty. December 16: Kerry receives his Navy commission, a few days after his 23rd birthday. 1967 Kerry spends the year in military training. December: Kerry begins his first tour of duty, serving on the guided-missile frigate USS Gridley. 1968 February: With Kerry aboard, the Gridley sails into war to patrol the coast of Vietnam. He never came into contact with the enemy during this time. June 6: Kerry's first tour ends as the Gridley returns home. December: Begins second tour of duty as the skipper of swift boat No. 44, patrolling the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam. 1969 February 28: Kerry shoots and kills a Viet Cong guerilla who was threatening the lives of Kerry's crew. He received the Silver Star for his action. April: Kerry ends his second and final tour in Vietnam. 1970 January 3: Discharged from the Navy. February: Kerry gives up on his first bid for office as a protest candidate in the race for the Third Congressional district. May 23: Kerry marries Julia Thorne, his best friend's sister. 1971 January: Attends ''Winter Soldier'' hearings in Detroit, but does not speak. April 22: Kerry testifies before Senate Foreign Relations Committee. April 23: Kerry and other veterans throw medals and ribbons over a fence at the Capitol to protest the war. June 20: Debates John O'Neill on ''The Dick Cavett Show.'' 1972 September: Kerry wins the Democratic primary in the race for the Fifth Congressional District. November: Loses his bid for Congress to Republican Paul W. Cronin in the general election. 1973 September: Within a matter of days, Kerry's first daughter, Alexandra, is born and he enrolls in Boston College Law School. 1974 August 9: President Nixon resigns. 1976 May: Kerry earns his law degree from Boston College and later joins the Middlesex County district attorney's office. 1977 January: Kerry is promoted to first assistant district attorney in Middlesex County 1978 Feb. 16: Discharged from the US Navy Reserves. 1979 May: Leaves the Middlesex County district attorney's office and opens a private law practice. 1981 Fall: Kerry begins planning to run for lieutenant governor. 1982 May: Delegates at the Democratic convention place Kerry on the ballot for lieutenant governor. Summer: Kerry separates from his wife, Julia. November 7: Kerry is elected lieutenant governor. Michael S. Dukakis is elected governor. 1983 September 28: Kerry endorses Raymond Flynn for mayor of Boston. December 11: Kerry turns 40. 1984 January 12: Senator Paul Tsongas says he won't seek reelection. January 26: Kerry announces he is running for Tsongas's seat in the Senate. June 30: Freeze Voter '84 group backs Kerry and US Rep. James M. Shannon. September 18: Wins the Democratic nomination for Senate. November 6: Kerry elected to the US Senate. 1985 February 8: Appointed to a coveted seat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. April 18: After taking his first trip as a senator to the Philippines, Kerry makes a controversial trip to Nicaragua. October 11: Kerry denounces the Palestine Liberation Organization for its alleged role in the Achille Lauro hijacking. 1986 April: A Senate subcommittee chaired by Kerry opens an investigations into suspected US involvement in illegal gun-running and narcotics trafficking in the contra insurgency in Nicaragua. November: News breaks that the US sold arms to Iran to fund the contras, but Kerry is denied a seat on the congressional Iran-contra investigation panel 1987 April 6: In a victory for Kerry and US Senator Edward Kennedy, the Senate overrides a presidential veto and guarantees federal funding for Boston's Big Dig. July 7: Former White House military aide Oliver North testifies at the Iran-contra hearings. 1988 May: Commencement speaker at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. July 25: After years of being separated, Kerry divorces Julia Thorne. November 8: George Bush beats Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis in the presidential election. 1989 April 13: Kerry's subcommittee releases it long awaited report on the US government's alleged tolerance of drug smuggling under the guise of national security. September 25: Real Estate developer James Rappaport says he will challenge Kerry's reelection. 1990 November 6: Kerry wins reelection to the Senate, beating challenger James Rappaport. 1991 July 21: The Senate votes to open a new investigation into Vietnam soldiers still missing in action, and establishes a select committee to be chaired by Kerry. The first hearing is held November 5. 1995 May 26: Kerry marries Teresa Heinz in a civil ceremony on Nantucket. July 11: With Kerry at his side, President Bill Clinton announces the US will normalize relations with Vietnam. 1996 November 5: Kerry beats William Weld for reelection. 1997 May 7: Kerry confirms publicly that he requested an annulment of his marriage. to Julia Thorne. 1999 February 26: Ending more than a year of speculation, Kerry announces he will not run for president in 2000. 2000 August 7: Presidential candidate Al Gore chooses Senator Joseph Lieberman over Kerry as his running mate. 2002 November 14: Kerry's mother, Rosemary Forbes Kerry, dies. 2003 January 12: Kerry announces he will run for president in 2004. |
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