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'''John Forbes Kerry''', born December 11, 1943 (age {{age|1943|12|11}}), was the 68th [[United States Secretary of State]] and formerly served as a U.S. Senator from [[Massachusetts]] since 1984; he was considered one of the more [[liberal]] senators.<ref>http://nationaljournal.c om/voteratings/sen/lib.htm</ref><ref>http://nationaljournal.com/voteratings/sen/cons.htm</ref> In the [[United States presidential election, 2004|2004 Presidential election]], he ran an unsuccessful bid for the [[President of the United States of America|presidency]] as the [[Democratic Democrat Party]]'s nominee, losing to [[Republican Party|Republican]] incumbent president [[George W. Bush]]. Kerry was a former Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He became extremely wealthy through his second marriage, and was spotted cruising on his luxury boat near [[Nantucket]] during the [[Egypt]]ian crisis the summer of 2013, which the [[Obama Administration]] initially denied even after being shown a picture that proved it.

During his 2004 campaign for President, several groups were formed, most notably the [[Swift Boat Veterans for Truth|Swift Vets and POWs for Truth]],<ref>[http://www.swiftvets.com/index.php Swift Vets and POWs for Truth]</ref> to counter the charges of "[[war crimes]]" Kerry repeatedly made against Vietnam veterans (see below) and to call Kerry's military record into question, accusing him of inflicting his own wounds,<ref>[http://www.learnedhand.com/kerryunfitepilogue.htm John Kerry - Unfit For Command]</ref> going to unusual lengths to obtain his Purple Hearts,<ref>[http://www.archive-news.net/Articles/FD040830.html ''Forging a Paper Hero: The Mystery of Kerry’s Medals]</ref> and attacking unarmed civilians. Swift Boat Veterans for Truth had been criticized, firstly because no member of the group served on the actual boat that Kerry commanded and secondly for perceived contradiction. As an example, Kerry's commanding officer, George Elliott, signed an affidavit for the Swift Boat veterans claiming that with the information he had now, he would not have recommend Kerry for the military honor, but later repudiated his affidavit, stating that Kerry had deserved the honor.<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/06/veteran_retracts_criticism_of_kerry/</ref> In 2006, after the election bid, he proceeded to appear on ''[[Real Time with Bill Maher]]'', and proceeded to joke about assassinating President Bush where he said, in response to Bill Maher's comment about he could have gone to New Hampshire and killed two birds with one stone, "Or, I [Kerry] could have gone to 1600 Pennsylvania and killed the real bird with one stone.", with him being shameless enough in the joke that he posted it on his own website.<ref>http://maroonedinmarin.blogspot.com/2006/10/john-kerry-jokes-about-assassinating.html</ref>

In 2007 the [[Federal Election Commission]] fined the Kerry campign $1.3 million for spending more than federal rules allow during his 2004 Presidential bid. In order to receive public funds, Kerry, a former Democratic Democrat senator from Massachusetts, and his running mate, former North Carolina Sen. [[John Edwards]], agreed to spend $74.6 million or less on their general election campaign against President Bush.<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0507/4269.html</ref><ref>[http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2007/mtgdoc07-37.pdf Agenda Document No. 07-37], Federal Election Commission, Washignton, D.C., May 21, 2007.</ref> In 2009 the FEC fined a [[George Soros]]-backed group $775,000 for its unregulated spending during the 2004 election on behalf of [[Democrat]]s, including Democratic Presidential candidate John F. Kerry.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-501563_162-3222390.html</ref>

On October 30, 2006, eight days before the 2006 elections, Kerry was a headline speaker at a campaign rally being held for unsuccessful Democratic Democrat [[California]] gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California. Speaking to an audience composed mainly of college students, Kerry said, "