| John Kerry |
 |
| 68th United States Secretary of State |
| Incumbent |
Assumed office
February 1, 2013 |
| President |
Barack Obama |
| Deputy |
William Joseph Burns |
| Preceded by |
Hillary Rodham Clinton |
United States Senator
from Massachusetts |
In office
January 3, 1985 – February 1, 2013 |
| Preceded by |
Paul Tsongas |
| Succeeded by |
Mo Cowan |
| Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations |
In office
January 6, 2009 – February 1, 2013 |
| Preceded by |
Joe Biden |
| Succeeded by |
Bob Menendez |
| Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship |
In office
January 4, 2007 – January 3, 2009 |
| Preceded by |
Olympia Snowe |
| Succeeded by |
Mary Landrieu |
In office
June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003 |
| Preceded by |
Kit Bond |
| Succeeded by |
Olympia Snowe |
In office
January 3, 2001 – January 20, 2001 |
| Preceded by |
Kit Bond |
| Succeeded by |
Kit Bond |
| 66th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts |
In office
March 6, 1983 – January 2, 1985 |
| Governor |
Michael Dukakis |
| Preceded by |
Thomas O’Neill |
| Succeeded by |
Evelyn Murphy |
| Personal details |
| Born |
John Forbes Kerry
December 11, 1943 (age 69)
Aurora, Colorado, U.S. |
| Political party |
Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
Julia Thorne (1970–1988)
Teresa Heinz (1995–present) |
| Children |
Alexandra
Vanessa
John (Stepson)
André (Stepson)
Christopher (Stepson) |
| Alma mater |
Yale University
Boston College |
| Religion |
Roman Catholicism |
| Signature |
 |
| Website |
http://state.gov/secretary |
| Military service |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America |
| Service/branch |
 United States Navy |
| Years of service |
1966–1978 |
| Rank |
 Lieutenant |
| Unit |
USS Gridley (DLG-21)
Coastal Squadron 1 |
| Commands |
PCF-44
PCF-94 |
| Battles/wars |
Vietnam War |
| Awards |
 Silver Star
 Bronze Star Medal
 Purple Heart (3) |
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American politician who is the 68th and current United States Secretary of State. He served as a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1985 to 2013, and was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kerry was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election but lost to incumbent George W. Bush.
The son of an Army Air Corps veteran, Kerry was born in Aurora, Colorado. He attended boarding school inMassachusetts and New Hampshire and went on to graduate from Yale University class of 1966, where he majored inpolitical science and became a member of the Skull and Bones secret society. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1966, and during 1968–1969 served an abbreviated four-month tour of duty in South Vietnam as officer-in-charge (OIC) of aSwift Boat. For that service, he was awarded combat medals that include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. Securing an early return to the United States, Kerry joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War in which he served as a nationally recognized spokesman and as an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War. He appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs where he deemed United States war policy in Vietnam to be the cause of “war crimes.”
After receiving his J.D. from Boston College Law School, Kerry worked as an Assistant District Attorney and co-founded a private firm. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts under Michael Dukakis from 1983 to 1985, where he worked on an early forerunner to the national Clean Air Act. He won a tight Democratic primary in 1984 for the U.S. Senate and was sworn in the following January. On the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he led a series of hearingsfrom 1987 to 1989 which were a precursor to the Iran–Contra affair.
In 2002, Kerry voted to authorize the President “to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein“, but warned that the administration should exhaust its diplomatic avenues before launching war. Kerry based his 2004 presidential campaign on opposition to the Iraq War. He and his running mate Senator John Edwards lost the race, finishing 35electoral votes behind the Republican ticket headed by President George W. Bush (just 19 short of the 270 required for election). Subsequently, he established the Keeping America’s Promise PAC.
Kerry became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2009, and in 2011 he was appointed to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Having been nominated by President Barack Obama to succeed outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and then confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 94–3 on January 29, 2013, Kerry assumed the office on February 1, 2013
