John Kerry’s Red Roots: Richard Kerry’s Left-Wing Legacy

*NOTE: The term “fellow traveller” as used in this article series refers to someone who is not a member of the Communist Party (CP) but regularly engages in actions which advance the Party’s program. Some apparent fellow travellers may actually be “concealed party members”: members of the CP who conceal their membership. Which of these classifications is applicable to the Kerrys is a question this series leaves unresolved. This series does not argue for any direct evidence of Richard or John Kerry or other members of the Kerry family belonging to the CP. What this series does argue for is a consistent pattern of the Kerry family working with Communists and Communist fellow travellers in a way that advances the Communist program.

Previous articles have drawn attention to the liberal foreign policy orientation of John Kerry’s father Richard Kerry. This article digs deeper into Richard Kerry’s background, exploring how his foreign policy views were influenced by Communist fellow travellers from Harvard Law School and the State Department, and how this influence was in turn passed on from Richard Kerry to his children.

Richard Kerry was educated during the 1930s at Andover, Yale, and Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1940. He specialized in international law and embraced the legal teachings of former Harvard Law School professors Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis. After his graduation from law school, he served in the Army Air Corps in World War II and taught at Groton School from 1944-1945 before taking a job with the Massachusetts law firm of Palmer, Dodge, Chase & Davis. In 1949 he moved to Washington to work for the Office of General Counsel for the Navy, in the hope that this would help him land a job in the State Department. From 1951 to 1954 he worked for the State Department as an attorney for the Bureau of United Nations Affairs, where he subscribed to a firm belief in the UN vision of a postwar global government. In late 1954 he accepted a post in Germany as a legal advisor to the U.S. Mission to Berlin and U.S. Attorney for Berlin, working under German High Commissioner James Conant. While working under Conant in Berlin he became involved in NATO diplomacy and European unification issues, and he established relationships with prominent European politicians involved in these issues, notably French politician Jean Monnet. In 1956 he was transferred to serve as special assistant to President Eisenhower’s special ambassador to NATO, Walter F. George. Then from 1958 to 1962 he served as the chief of the political section of the American embassy in Norway. After retiring from the State Department in 1962 he spent five years working as the law partner of Ernest Sheldon in the Pepperell, Massachusetts law firm of Sheldon & Kerry.

*Summary of Richard Kerry’s Career*
		Notes:
1915	Born
c.1930-1940	Educated at Andover, Yale, and Harvard Law School	Embraced legal teachings of Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis
c.1941-c.1943	Served in Army Air Corps
1944-1945	Taught at Groton School
1945-1949	Law partner at Palmer, Dodge, Chase & Davis
1949-1951	Office of General Counsel for the Navy
1951-1954	State Department: Bureau of United Nations Affairs	Worked under Dean Acheson
1954-1956	State Department: Legal advisor to U.S. Mission to Berlin and U.S. Attorney for Berlin	Worked for James Conant, met Jean Monnet
1956-1958	State Department: Special assistant to Walter F. George, special ambassador to NATO
1958-1962	State Department: Chief of political section of American embassy in Norway
1962-2000	Retired from State Department, worked 5 years as law partner of Ernest Sheldon at Sheldon & Kerry
2000	Died

During his career with the State Department, Kerry adopted the view of diplomats in the Truman administration who saw the Soviet threat as primarily a political threat to Europe rather than a military or ideological threat to global capitalism and democracy. Accordingly, he advocated that NATO and European unification should be higher priorities for US foreign policy than containing or rolling back Communism. This position put him increasingly at odds with Eisenhower’s Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and later with the Kennedy administration. In 1962 he retired from diplomatic service because he felt that no one was listening to his views, and he became a disgruntled critic of US foreign policy. From 1965 on he opposed American involvement in Vietnam. In 1990, he wrote a book which attacked the premises of US foreign policy during the Cold War, particularly during the Eisenhower and Reagan administrations. Echoing Kennedy-Johnson administration advisor McGeorge Bundy, he characterized Dulles’ ideological opposition to the Soviet Union as an oversimplified “either/or” dualism, and advocated instead what in his eyes was a more sophisticated relativism. As he put it, “Casting issues in the form of polar choices (for example: isolationism vs. interventionism) readily leads to the conclusion that if one is wrong, the other must be right. In a more relative view of the issue, both are likely to be wrong.”¹

To set Richard Kerry’s career in context, it is informative to begin with his law school career and his enthusiasm for the teachings of former Harvard Law School professor Louis Brandeis. Prior to Kerry’s entrance into law school, Brandeis and his associate Felix Frankfurter were two of the most prominent Communist fellow travellers in the United States, and had used Harvard Law School as a base to place political allies in the US government.

*The Brandeis-Frankfurter Apparatus (some select members)*
Louis Brandeis	Supreme Court Justice 1916-1939	Covertly engaged in activism from the bench via Frankfurter	Influenced Richard Kerry’s legal philosophy
Felix Frankfurter	Harvard Law School professor 1914-1939; Supreme Court Justice 1939-1962	Staffed Judicial Branch and Franklin Roosevelt administration with Brandeis’ agents	Taught at Harvard Law School while Richard Kerry was a student
Jerome Frank	General Counsel to Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), 1933-1935	Hired Brandeis’ and Frankfurter’s recommendations to Roosevelt administration
Alger Hiss, Lee Pressman, Nathan Witt, and others	Hired to AAA starting in 1933, went on to other government agencies	Recommended by Frankfurter and hired by Frank to AAA	In 1945 Hiss cofounded what would become the State Department’s Bureau of UN Affairs, where Richard Kerry began working in 1951
Benjamin Cohen and Thomas Corcoran	Key Roosevelt administration advisors, 1933-1941	Hosted nightly meetings of Frankfurter’s associates to promote pro-Communist legislation, pushed for Frankfurter’s appointment to the Supreme Court
Joseph Rauh, Edward Prichard, and Philip Graham	Worked with Office of Emergency Management, 1941-1942	Former law clerks for Frankfurter, spied on Roosevelt administration for Frankfurter
Niels Bohr	Physicist; consultant to Manhattan Project, 1943-1945	Traded classified information on the Manhattan Project with Frankfurter, joined Frankfurter in trying to persuade the Allies to share atomic secrets with the Soviets

Brandeis had been a political activist before President Wilson appointed him to the Supreme Court in 1916. After his appointment he continued his political activity by covertly using Frankfurter as his chief agent, setting up what may be called “the Brandeis-Frankfurter apparatus”. Among other functions Frankfurter performed for Brandeis’ apparatus, a key one was recommending Harvard Law graduates to work for Brandeis, his fellow Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the Executive Branch of the federal government. Frankfurter continued to perform this and other functions on Brandeis’ behalf until 1937, after which he branched off to form his own apparatus in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations and the Supreme Court. ²

The Brandeis-Frankfurter apparatus engaged in various covert activities supportive of domestic subversives and Soviet agents. These included advising the Wilson administration to aid the Bolshevik government,³ using Harvard Law Review to oppose anti-espionage laws, organizing Harvard Law professors to petition clemency for convicted subversives, ,⁴ and recommending Harvard Law graduates who were later exposed as Soviet agents for government jobs in the Roosevelt administration. Among the Harvard Law graduates recommended to the Roosevelt administration by Frankfurter and hired by his agent Jerome Frank were Soviet spies Alger Hiss, Lee Pressman, and Nathan Witt. Hiss went on to become prominent in the State Department, cofounding the State Department’s UN branch before he was exposed as a spy in 1948.⁵

Through agents such as Hiss, the Brandeis-Frankfurter apparatus branched out into all departments of the Roosevelt administration. In 1934 Congressman Frederick Britten observed that a group of 10 to 18 Frankfurter associates met nightly in the home of Benjamin Cohen and Thomas Corcoran to "promote Communistic legislation".⁶ During World War II, Frankfurter used his former law clerks Joseph Rauh, Edward Prichard, and Philip Graham to coordinate spying on various agencies of the Roosevelt administration through what Rauh and Prichard called “the Goon Squad”: a group of 15 to 20 second-line bureaucrats which included White House aide Laughlin Currie, a Soviet spy.⁷ Meanwhile Frankfurter and physicist Niels Bohr conspired in trading top-secret information with each other about the Manhattan Project, as part of an effort to try to persuade the Allies to share the secrets of the atomic bomb with the Soviet Union. Some top-secret Manhattan Project papers that passed between Frankfurter and the military supervisor of the Manhattan Project, General Leslie Groves, were later found in the private papers of Manhattan Project consultant Robert Oppenheimer, whose security clearance was later revoked after he was charged with being a security risk.⁸

US intelligence regarded Brandeis and Frankfurter’s political activity as suspicious. Several Army intelligence informants and analysts identified Brandeis and Frankfurter as key leaders of US Communism. 1920 Army intelligence reports described Brandeis and Frankfurter as Soviet propagandists, noting that Brandeis had been in contact with Soviet agent Santeri Nuorteva.⁹ In 1921 future FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover noted Frankfurter’s links to the radical labor group Amalgamated Clothing Workers and described Frankfurter as engaging in "communistic propaganda activities".¹⁰ A 1945 FBI wiretap investigation of leaks from the Soviet ambassador to journalist Drew Pearson revealed that Frankfurter was colluding with Pearson. Follow-up wiretaps on Pearson and Brandeis-Frankfurter apparatus member Thomas Corcoran revealed that Corcoran and Rauh-Prichard-Graham Goon Squad member Laughlin Currie had conspired to protect State Department official John Stewart Service from being prosecuted in connection with the leaking of classified government documents to the pro-Communist publication Amerasia.¹¹

Richard Kerry entered Harvard Law School in 1937, two years before Frankfurter left Harvard Law for the Supreme Court. When Kerry arrived at Harvard he was “enamored of the legal teachings of Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis”¹², who had looked to Frankfurter to recommend Harvard Law School graduates to be their law clerks.¹³ After Kerry graduated from Harvard Law, he went on to the State Department, where he worked under one of Frankfurter’s most prominent political allies.

*Frankfurter’s Apparatus in the Truman State Department and the Eisenhower and Kennedy Eras (select members)*
Dean Acheson	State Department, 1941-1953; Secretary of State, 1949-1953; Democratic Party senior statesman on foreign policy issues, 1953-1971	Recommended by Frankfurter to Roosevelt administration; defended Frankfurter from charges of Communism during Supreme Court confirmation hearings; advised Frankfurter of daily developments in Truman administration; recommended appointments to Kennedy cabinet and advised Kennedy administration	Secretary of State when Richard Kerry joined State Department in 1951; influenced Kerry’s views on NATO and European unification
Paul Nitze	Director of Acheson State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, 1950-1953; Acheson’s chief political ally, 1953-1960; recommended by Acheson to Kennedy State Department for possible promotion to Secretary of State	Joined Acheson in forming Democratic government-in-exile during Eisenhower administration and developing foreign policy platform for Kennedy administration	Influenced Richard Kerry’s foreign policy views
John McCloy	High Commissioner for Occupied Germany, 1949-1952; Chairman of Council on Foreign Relations, 1953-1970	Acheson and Nitze’s favored alternative to Eisenhower’s Secretary of State John Foster Dulles	Recommended next High Commisioner for Occupied Germany to be James Conant, for whom Richard Kerry would work
William Bundy	Acheson’s son-in-law; law partner at Acheson’s law firm, Covington & Burling, c.1947-1951; CIA agent, 1951-1960	Career promoted by Frankfurter and Acheson; contributed to Alger Hiss’ defense fund	Influenced Richard Kerry’s foreign policy views; uncle of John Kerry’s college roommate; influenced John Kerry’s decision to enlist in officer corps
McGeorge Bundy	William Bundy’s brother; recommended by Frankfurter for job at Harvard University; Dean of Faculty of Arts & Sciences at Harvard University, 1953-1960	Career promoted by Frankfurter	Influenced Richard Kerry’s foreign policy views; uncle of John Kerry’s college roommate

By the time Richard Kerry began his career at the State Department in 1951, Frankfurter’s apparatus in the Executive Branch had become centered around Dean Acheson, who was then the Truman administration’s Secretary of State. Acheson’s relationship to the Brandeis-Frankfurter apparatus dated back to 1920, when Frankfurter had sent Acheson from Harvard to clerk for Brandeis in Washington.¹⁴ Acheson originally entered government service in 1933 as part of the same pool of Frankfurter recommendations as Jerome Frank, the Brandeis-Frankfurter agent who hired Alger Hiss to the Roosevelt administration.¹⁵ After a temporary return to a civilian legal career, he made a favorable impression on President Roosevelt by helping Frankfurter defend himself during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings from questions about his Communist associations, and he was recruited back to government service.¹⁶ Joining Roosevelt's State Department in 1941, Acheson was assigned projects where he worked closely with Soviet spy Harold Glasser, who was the Treasury Department's representative to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA),¹⁷ and Soviet spy Harry Dexter White, who was the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.¹⁸ After Roosevelt's death in 1945, he was promoted to serve as Undersecretary of State under Truman’s new Secretary of State James Byrnes,¹⁹ another of Frankfurter's associates. ²⁰ While serving under Byrnes and his successor George Marshall, and later while serving as Secretary of State himself, Acheson maintained an intimate relationship with Frankfurter, strolling with him on a daily basis to discuss developments in the Executive Branch.²¹

Acheson's promotion to Undersecretary of State had been part of a reorganization of the State Department which removed an anti-Communist faction led by Adolf Berle and Joseph Grew and installed a new hierarchy under Byrnes. This new hierarchy included Alger Hiss and others who were later accused of Soviet espionage, which later raised suspicions of Acheson.²² Acheson initially shared the Roosevelt administration's optimistic attitude towards US-Soviet cooperation. He was described as "friendly to the Soviet Union" in a 1945 endorsement for his appointment as Under Secretary of State written by pro-Communist journalist I.F. Stone,²³ who was recently accused of having been an undercover KGB agent. ²⁴ From late 1945 through early 1946, Acheson and another Brandeis-Frankfurter apparatus member, David Lilienthal,²⁵ drafted a proposal for sharing nuclear technology with the Soviet Union, working with input from Stimson, Frankfurter’s associate John McCloy,²⁶ and Soviet spy Robert Oppenheimer.²⁷ During this period, in May 1946, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover warned President Truman that Acheson, Acheson’s assistant Herbert Marks, and McCloy were members of a Soviet atomic spy ring.²⁸

Acheson seems to have gradually and reluctantly changed his optimistic attitude towards US-Soviet cooperation over the course of November 1945 to August 1946, as Stalin's imperialistic intentions became increasingly evident even to most of his former supporters.²⁹ However, Acheson joined the growing opposition to the Soviet Union with the qualification that he was endorsing limited intervention against Stalin in certain strategic areas, not global containment of the Soviets and not an ideological war against Communism.³⁰ Ideologically he remained a committed liberal and political partisan, and he took a leading role in the defense of accused spies Alger Hiss,³¹ Laughlin Currie, ³² John Stewart Service,³³ and John Carter Vincent. ³⁴ His defense of Hiss prompted Senator Joseph McCarthy to scrutinize his background.³⁵ When McCarthy fell out of favor he was preparing an investigation of Acheson’s son-in-law William Bundy for Bundy’s contribution to Alger Hiss’ defense.³⁶

The victory of Dwight Eisenhower in the 1952 Presidential election repudiated Acheson’s foreign policy, and Acheson resigned in disgrace from his position as Secretary of State, to be replaced by a man he despised, John Foster Dulles. Out of power, Acheson and his former assistant Paul Nitze sought to regain influence by forming a Democratic government-in-exile aligned with Dulles’ critics. Dulles’ critics spent much of the Eisenhower administration trying to get Dulles replaced by John McCloy and otherwise attempting to influence Eisenhower through McCloy and the Council on Foreign Relations, an influential foreign policy think tank which McCloy then chaired. Acheson’s critique of Dulles included an argument against Dulles’ emphasis on nuclear deterrence and in favor of strengthening NATO’s conventional capability as a non-nuclear deterrent. Acheson and Nitze’s foreign policy ideas were adopted into Adlai Stevenson’s 1956 Presidential campaign and John Kennedy’s 1960 Presidential campaign. With Kennedy’s election Acheson regained his former influence for the course of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. He recommended several of Kennedy’s cabinet appointments, and attempted unsuccessfully to convince Kennedy to appoint Nitze Undersecretary of State to groom him for eventual promotion to Secretary of State.³⁷

Richard Kerry joined the State Department in 1951 while Acheson was still Secretary of State. He began his State Department career as attorney for the Bureau of United Nations Affairs, an area of the State Department where Acheson and Hiss had previously worked.³⁸ The foreign policy views he developed while working in the State Department, as expressed in his later book, reflect the influence of Acheson and such associates of Acheson as Paul Nitze, William Bundy, and William’s brother McGeorge Bundy.³⁹ William and McGeorge’s nephew Harvey H. Bundy III later became John Kerry’s roommate. Harvey introduced John to William, who discussed the Vietnam War with John and influenced his decision to enlist in the officer corps.⁴⁰ In 2004 Harvey’s son Hollister Bundy, who is Kerry’s godson, helped raise funds for Kerry’s campaign by emailing out an endorsement titled “’Uncle Johnny’ Kerry for President”.⁴¹

*Richard Kerry’s Atlantic partners*

James Conant	Chemist; President of Harvard University, 1933-1953; consultant to Manhattan Project and Atomic Energy Commission, 1942-1953; High Commissioner for Occupied Germany, 1953-1955; US Ambassador to West Germany, 1955-1957	Political ally of Frankfurter, Acheson, Harvey Bundy, and Robert Oppenheimer; recommended by McCloy to be High Commissioner for Occupied Germany	Served by Richard Kerry as legal counsel
Jean Monnet	Businessman representing French interests in US; financial advisor to Allies on war mobilization, 1940-1945; promoted European unification after 1945 through means such as the European Coal and Steel Community, European Defense Community, and Bilderberg Group	Worked with Frankfurter, McCloy, and Acheson during World War II; joined Acheson and George Ball in promoting “Atlantic Partnership” model of US-European relations after war	Met Richard Kerry and influenced his foreign policy views on NATO and European unification

After the State Department transferred Kerry to Europe, he went on to work with other associates of Frankfurter and Acheson there. In 1954 the State Department sent Richard Kerry to Germany to serve as legal advisor to German High Commissioner James Conant. Conant, a former chemist, had previously served as Dean of Harvard, where he had developed a relationship with Felix Frankfurter and close Frankfurter associates such as Dean Acheson and Harvey Bundy (father of William and McGeorge).⁴² While at Harvard he had also served as a consultant to the Manhattan Project and later, at Acheson’s invitation,⁴³ to the nascent Atomic Energy Commission, where he worked with Robert Oppenheimer to encourage sharing of US nuclear technology with the Soviet Union.⁴⁴ Conant was later recommended to Acheson for the post of German High Commissioner by his predecessor in that position, John McCloy.⁴⁵ When Conant left Harvard for Germany to replace McCloy, McGeorge Bundy became Dean of Faculty of Arts & Sciences at Harvard.⁴⁶

Conant’s activity at Harvard had come under FBI surveillance for his protection of Communist professors, leading J. Edgar Hoover to complain that Conant “had more or less condoned the employment of professors who might have communist backgrounds.”⁴⁷ The FBI also monitored Conant’s relationship with Robert Oppenheimer, whom Conant had approved for the Manhattan Project even after being warned that Oppenheimer was a security risk due to his Communist background. In February 1947 an FBI wiretap picked up a call where Oppenheimer urged Conant to influence Congress in the Atomic Energy Commission nomination of David Lilienthal,⁴⁸, a Frankfurter apparatus member.⁴⁹ Several of Conant’s scientific colleagues informed the FBI that they viewed Conant as a political ally of a pro-Oppenheimer clique at Los Alamos which opposed US atomic weapons programs such as the H-bomb program.⁵⁰ Conant’s appointment as German High Commissioner in February 1953 was opposed by conservative politicians, including Joseph McCarthy.⁵¹ During 1953 McCarthy’s investigations led the State Department to request the resignation of five members of Conant’s staff, which Conant resisted, appealing for help to McCloy.⁵² Then from March through June 1954, Conant became involved in the defense of Oppenheimer when Oppenheimer’s security clearance was under review for revocation.⁵³

It was shortly after this in late 1954 that Richard Kerry became Conant’s legal counsel. Conant proved unsupportive of CIA operations in Germany and uncooperative with German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. Adenauer and the CIA came to distrust him, and John Foster Dulles eventually had him replaced in 1957.⁵⁴ Meanwhile in 1956, Kerry was transferred to a new post as special assistant to President Eisenhower’s special ambassador to NATO, Walter F. George, a conservative Southern Democrat, who soon died in August 1957.⁵⁵

While working for Conant, Kerry’s interest in NATO diplomacy and European unification issues led him to develop a relationship with French politician Jean Monnet, a European associate of Frankfurter, Acheson, and McCloy. Monnet had become friends with McCloy while working on Wall Street with him in the 1930s.⁵⁶ He became friends with Frankfurter while taking refuge in the United States after France fell in 1940, and Frankfurter introduced him to Washington political circles.⁵⁷ Monnet relied on Frankfurter and McCloy to rally US support for Charles de Gaulle’s French Resistance movement,⁵⁸ and he joined Frankfurter, Acheson, and McCloy in promoting the Lend-Lease program.⁵⁹ After the war Monnet and Acheson promoted an “Atlantic Partnership” policy of US-European relations centered around NATO and a unified Europe, and opposed to the nationalistic vision of postwar Europe promoted by de Gaulle.⁶⁰

Richard Kerry shared Monnet and Acheson’s enthusiasm for NATO and European unification. While attending conferences on European unification issues Kerry met Monnet, and he later introduced his son John to Monnet. In his book he developed a view of US-European relations echoing Monnet and Acheson’s view, and he chided fellow diplomat George Ball for not learning from his relationship with Monnet, writing, “It is particularly difficult to account for Ball’s delusion in the perspective of his accomplishments and his exposure to French politics from his years of collaboration with Jean Monnet . . .”⁶¹

Through his echoing of Acheson and Monnet’s foreign policy views, Richard Kerry represented the legacy of the Acheson State Department within the Eisenhower administration.. Kerry in turn passed this legacy on to his children. His daughter Peggy as well as his son John adopted his liberal foreign policy views, including his opposition to the Vietnam War.

*The Kerry family’s foreign policy views*

Richard Kerry	Advocated UN global government; regarded NATO and European unification as higher priorities than containing Communism	Opposed Vietnam War 1965+	Opposed aid to Contras in 1980s
Peggy Kerry	Worked at UN	Opposed Vietnam War 1967+
John Kerry	Described Western colonialism as bigger threat to Third World than Communism	Opposed Vietnam War 1965+	Opposed aid to Contras 1984+

Peggy was John’s older sister and political mentor. In 1952 when she was in fifth grade and John was in third grade, she joined a club at school supporting Democratic Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson, and John helped her sell Stevenson campaign buttons. Later in 1968, after graduating from Smith College and moving to Greenwich Village, she joined the Village Independent Democrats (VID),⁶² an activist group which had been formed by Stevenson’s supporters following his unsuccessful 1956 Presidential campaign and came to be known as “the most liberal Democratic club in the state”.⁶³ While working with VID, Peggy became involved in the antiwar movement, which led antiwar feminist Bella Abzug to introduce her to Sheldon Ramsdell of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) in order to recruit her help in organizing 1969 antiwar rallies for the Vietnam Moratorium Committee (VMC). Peggy in turn recruited her brother John to help fly antiwar speaker Adam Walinsky to VMC rallies, introducing John to the antiwar movement.⁶⁴ Peggy went on to work for the ACLU, the New York Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, and the State Department’s UN mission. She currently works as the nongovernmental organization (NGO) liaison at the State Department’s UN mission, as meanwhile she works for her brother’s campaign.⁶⁵

Like Peggy, John also adopted Richard’s foreign policy views and opposition to the Vietnam War. During the 1950s John argued during a debate that the United States should open relations with Communist China,⁶⁶ a foreign policy position Acheson had originally introduced to the State Department in 1949 following the advice of John Stewart Service and John Carter Vincent.⁶⁷, two political allies of Soviet spy Laughlin Currie.⁶⁸ In 1965, John echoed his father’s opposition to John Foster Dulles’ anti-Communism by arguing, “It is the specter of Western Imperialism that causes more fear among Africans and Asians than communism, and thus it is self-defeating.” In 1966 John gave a speech opposing the Vietnam War in words which echoed his father’s criticism of the “polar choices” of “isolationism vs. interventionism”, saying, “What was an excess of isolationism has become an excess of interventionism.” After John returned from Vietnam in 1969, his father challenged him to become more outspoken in his opposition to the war.⁶⁹ Richard would also advise John during his Senate career as he opposed the Reagan administration’s support of the Contras.⁷⁰

The influence of Felix Frankfurter’s apparatus in the Acheson State Department was reflected in Richard Kerry’s enthusiasm for the UN, his relationship with Jean Monnet, his advocacy of European unification, and his opposition to John Foster Dulles’ Cold War policies, which underlaid his opposition to the Vietnam War and the Contras. From these roots sprang John Kerry’s foreign policy views, which would lead him to fake his way out of Vietnam and join Communist front groups in opposing the Vietnam War.

²For details on Brandeis and Frankfurter’s relationship, see Bruce Allen Murphy, The Brandeis/Frankfurter Connection: The Secret Political Activities of Two Supreme Court Justices, Oxford University Press, 1982; Garden City: Anchor Books, 1983.

⁴ Murphy, 54; James Chace, Acheson: The Secretary of State Who Created the American World, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998, 45, 48-49; Kai Bird, The Chairman: John J. McCloy and the Making of the American Establishment, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992, 53; Athan Theoharis and John Stuart Cox, The Boss: J. Edgar Hoover and the Great American Inquisition, Temple University, 1988; New York: Bantam Books, 1990, 72.

⁵On the role of Brandeis, Frankfurter, and Frank in the appointments of Hiss, Pressman, and Witt, see Murphy, 33, 113-116 (cf. Roosevelt and Frankfurter: Their Correspondence, 1928-1945, annotator Max Freedman, Little, Brown and Company, 1967, 7-9); John Chabot Smith, Alger Hiss: The True Story, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976, 10-12; Joseph P. Lash, Dealers and Dreamers: A New Look at the New Deal, New York: Doubleday, 1985, 111, 217-218; Kenneth S. Davis, FDR: The New Deal Years, 1933-1937, A History,, New York: Random House, 1986, 275-281.

⁷Murphy, 204-245, esp. 224. On Currie’s espionage activity, see John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999; New Haven: Yale Nota Bene, 2000, 145-150.

⁸ Murphy, 296-302; James G. Hershberg, James B. Conant: Harvard to Hiroshima and the Making of the Nuclear Age, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993, 195-200, 812n16; Haynes and Klehr, 327-330; Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors, Washington: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2000, 203, 264-277. Cf. Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB, New York: Basic Books, 1999, 116-118; Bird, The Chairman, 417, 422-426; Chace, 125. Cf. “SPY CASES—UNITED STATES: Atomic Bomb Spies: Pavel Sudoplatov”, The Literature of Intelligence: A Bibliography of Materials, with Essays, Reviews, and Comments, http://intellit.muskingum.edu/spycases_folder/bomb_folder/bombsudoplatov.html (cached at http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:6FwW_NohBFIJ:intellit.muskingum.edu/spycases_folder/bomb_folder/bombsudoplatov.html+niels+bohr+spy&hl=en) (August 23, 2004).

⁹B-1, Report 5, November 25, 27, 1918, U.S. National Archives, College Park, MD (hereafter NACP), RG 165, Military Intelligence Division (hereafter MID) 10110-920; B-1, Report 11, December 17, 1918, NACP, RG 165, MID 10110-920; Captain John B. Trevor to MID Director, February 19, 1919, NACP, RG 165, MID 10110-920, 245-18 (6); “Judaism and the Present World Movement—A Study,” September 29, 1919, NACP, RG 165, MID 10110-920, 245-15 (1), 6, 15-16; Captain W.L. Moffat to MID Director, March 8, 1920, NACP, RG 165, MID 10565-115; August 19, 1919, NACP, RG 165, MID 10110-1194 (157-159); Captain W.L. Moffat to Captain Robert Snow, March 1920, NACP, RG 165, MID 10565-115; Major H.A Strauss, September 13, 1919, NACP, RG 165, MID 245-18 (3-8); Captain Henry Frothingham to MID Director, February 19, 1920, NACP, RG 165, MID 10110-1727; “Bolshevik Activities”, February 5, 1920, U.S. NACP, RG 165, MID 10110-1194 (300).

¹⁰L. Lanier Winslow to William L. Hurley, March 7, 1921 and Hurley to J. Edgar Hoover, March 15, 1921, NACP, RG 59, 000-1612; Department of Justice, General Intelligence Bulletin 44, April 2, 1921, 6, NACP, RG 165, MID 10110-4283; Colonel Gordon Johnston to MID Director, April 17, 1920, MID 10110-1534; J. Edgar Hoover to William L. Hurley, June 10, 1920, NACP, RG 59, 800.11-97; J. Edgar Hoover to Marlborough Churchill, June 15, 1922 and Colonel Sherman Miles to military attaché London, June 22, 1922, NACP, RG 165, MID 245-26 (1-2); J. Edgar Hoover to General Dennis E. Nolan, November 18, 1920, NACP, RG 165, MID 245-18; Theoharis and Cox, 76n-77n (cf. 166n).

¹¹Theoharis and Cox, 258-269, esp. 266; John Earl Haynes, Red Scare or Red Menace? American Communism and Anticommunism in the Cold War Era, Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1996, 52-55; Romerstein and Breindel, 168.

¹⁴ Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas, The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, 87-90, 125-126; Chace, 38-52, 59-61.

²² Chace, 130-131; Robert P. Newman, Owen Lattimore and the "Loss" of China, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992, 139-140; William F. Buckley, Jr. and L. Brent Bozell, McCarthy and His Enemies: The Record and Its Meaning, Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 1995 (1954), 9-17; Arthur Herman, Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator, New York: The Free Press, 2000, 94.

²⁶On Frankfurter and McCloy, see Bird, The Chairman, 47-50, 53-56, 121, 125, 130-131, 170, 425, 482-483.

²⁷ Chace, 117-129; Bird, The Chairman, 237-238, 260-264, 275-282; Isaacson and Thomas, 314-346, 350-351, 356-362; Hershberg, 258-278.

²⁸J. Edgar Hoover to George E. Allen (to be passed to HST), May 29, 1946, President’s Secretary Files—Subject File, Box 167, “Subject File—FBI—Atomic Bomb” folder, Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, Mo.; Hershberg, 394, 856n10; Bird, The Chairman, 280-281, 412; Peter Grose, Operation Rollback: America's Secret War Behind the Iron Curtain, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000, 82.

²⁹ Chace, 135-136, 151-155, 180, 439-440; Isaacson and Thomas, 321-323, 338-340, 350-351, 362-369.

³²Acheson represented Currie when he was accused of beng a Communist in 1948: Newman, 74. On Currie's espionage activity, see Haynes and Klehr, 145-150.

³⁶ Herman, 228; Kai Bird, The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy and William Bundy: Brothers in Arms: A Biography, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998, 106-107, 155-157, 163-169; Bird, The Chairman, 413. On Frankfurter and the Bundy family, see Murphy, 201-202; Bird, The Color of Truth, 30-32, 66, 73, 99-101, 104, 188. Cf. Godfrey Hodgson, The Colonel: The Life and Wars of Henry Stimson, 1867-1950, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990, 246-247; Bird, The Chairman, 121, 182.

³⁷On Acheson political activity during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations and its relation to Nitze and McCloy’s activity, see Douglas Brinkley, Dean Acheson: The Cold War Years, 1953-1971, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992, 6-202; Isaacson and Thomas, 563-564, 570-572, 580-583; 589-641; Paul H. Nitze, Tension Between Opposites: Reflections on the Practice and Theory of Politics, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1993, 144-148; Strobe Talbott, The Master of the Game: Paul Nitze and the Nuclear Peace, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988, 59-88; Bird, The Chairman, 389-544, esp. 386-388, 446-447, 450, 473-475.

³⁸See Note 17; Sam Tanenhaus, Whittaker Chambers: A Biography, New York: Random House, 1997, 225-226; Herman, 110; Romerstein and Breindel, 48-50.

³⁹Cf. Kerry, 17-19, 25, 46-48, 52, 55n, 125, 161, and esp. Kerry’s critique of US “bad manners” towards Europe on 73-85 (cf. Acheson’s similar critique of Dulles recorded in Brinkley, Dean Acheson, 23, 31-32, 45-46, 67).

⁴¹Email from Hollister Bundy, “From Hollister: ‘Uncle Johnny” Kerry for President”, January 30, 2004, forwarded by Alexander Wood to NY4Kerry – New Yorkers for John Kerry, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NY4Kerry/message/840, January 30, 2004 (August 18, 2004).

⁴²On Conant and Frankfurter, see Hershberg, 72-73, 78, 87-88, 90, 99, 107, 196-198. On Conant and Acheson, see Hershberg, 264. On Conant and the Bundy family, see Hershberg, 127-128, 294-304.

⁴⁴Hershberg, 165-168, 194-207, 306, 308, 313-319, 322-348, 357-358, 470-478, 487-490, 599, 601-605, 676-682.

⁴⁷Personal Letter, J. Edgar Hoover to Francis Walter, February 16, 1959, FBI 61-7582-4053; Theoharis and Cox, 356-357; Hershberg, 392, 416, 623, 625.

⁴⁸J. Robert Oppenheimer to James B. Conant telephone conversation, February 17, 1947, FBI JRO File Serial 100-17828-148; Hershberg, 313-319.

⁵⁹Murphy, 214-215; Brinkley, Dean Acheson, 1-2; Bird, The Chairman, 120-125; Isaacson and Thomas, 195. Cf. Thomas E. Mahl, Desperate Deception: British Covert Operations in the United States, 1939-1944, Washington: Brassey’s, 1998, 166 on Frankfurter and Acheson’s role in the Destroyer Deal.

⁶⁴Gerald Nicosia, Home to War: A History of the Vietnam Veterans’ Movement, New York: Crown Publishers, 2001, 49; Brinkley, 337; Gold; ”Kerry’s Elder Sister is New York Delegate”.

⁶⁸Cf. Theoharis and Cox, 258-269; John Earl Haynes, Red Scare or Red Menace? American Communism and Anticommunism in the Cold War Era, Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1996, 52-55; Romerstein and Breindel, 168; Newman, 89-90.

⁶⁹ Brinkley, Tour of Duty, 61-62; Jacob Leibenluft, “Kerry '66: 'He was going to be president': In JFK's shadow, a headstrong Kerry makes his run for the White House”, YaleDailyNews.com, http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=21803, February 14, 2003 (June 18, 2004); Foer; Kerry, xii-xiii.

John Kerry on Abortion

Click here for OR .

Kerry staunchly resists restrictions on abortions. (Apr 2004)
Partial-birth abortion ban undermine women's right to choose. (Nov 2003)
No criminalization of a woman's right to choose. (Jun 2003)
Voted NO on criminal penalty for harming unborn fetus during other crime. (Mar 2004)
Voted NO on maintaining ban on Military Base Abortions. (Jun 2000)
Voted NO on banning partial birth abortions. (Oct 1999)
Voted NO on disallowing overseas military abortions. (May 1999)
Expand embryonic stem cell research. (Jun 2004)

John Kerry on Budget & Economy

Click here for OR .

Incentives to create jobs at home and end corporate welfare. (Jul 2004)
We can do better on economy--lift people out of poverty. (Jul 2004)
Economy is recovering for corporations to some degree. (Jan 2004)
Will follow Clinton's plan to halve deficit in four years. (Oct 2003)
Base policy on broad growth and progressive taxation. (Oct 2003)
Bush policy kept economy afloat in recession-keep some of it. (Sep 2003)
No excuse for special tax cuts for the rich. (Jun 2003)
Voted NO on prioritizing national debt reduction below tax cuts. (Apr 2000)
Voted NO on 1998 GOP budget. (May 1997)
Voted NO on Balanced-budget constitutional amendment. (Mar 1997)

John Kerry on Civil Rights

Click here for OR .

Defense of Marriage Act is fundamentally ugly. (Apr 2004)
Questions the ultimate practicality of affirmative action. (Apr 2004)
Supports federal DOMA, but not Massachusetts DOMA. (Feb 2004)
Support "mend it, don't end it" for affirmative action. (Jan 2004)
Flag burning is displeasing, but it's free expression. (Jan 2004)
For partnership rights and civil union. (Nov 2003)
Include a sunset provision in the Patriot Act. (Jun 2003)
Voted YES on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002)
Voted YES on loosening restrictions on cell phone wiretapping. (Oct 2001)
Voted YES on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation. (Jun 2000)
Voted YES on setting aside 10% of highway funds for minorities & women. (Mar 1998)
Voted NO on ending special funding for minority & women-owned business. (Oct 1997)
Voted NO on prohibiting same-sex marriage. (Sep 1996)
Voted YES on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)
Voted NO on Amendment to prohibit flag burning. (Dec 1995)
Voted NO on banning affirmative action hiring with federal funds. (Jul 1995)
Shift from group preferences to economic empowerment of all. (Aug 2000)

John Kerry on Corporations

Click here for OR .

Kerry owned a small business: they're engine of economy. (Mar 2004)
Close the loopholes that reward corps taking jobs overseas. (Jan 2004)
Regulate on side of citizens, not on side of corporations. (Oct 2003)
Democratize the process of corporate boards. (Sep 2003)
End "Get Mine and Get Out" ethic at White House. (Jun 2003)
Voted NO on restricting rules on personal bankruptcy. (Jul 2001)

John Kerry on Crime

Click here for OR .

Opposes death penalty except for post 9-11 terrorists. (Jul 2004)
States should not engage in killing-too many mistakes. (Feb 2004)
Moratorium on federal executions-only exception is terrorism. (Jan 2004)
Death penalty for Osama bin Laden. (Dec 2003)
Voted YES on $1.15 billion per year to continue the COPS program. (May 1999)
Voted NO on limiting death penalty appeals. (Apr 1996)
Voted NO on limiting product liability punitive damage awards. (Mar 1996)
Voted YES on restricting class-action lawsuits. (Dec 1995)
Voted YES on repealing federal speed limits. (Jun 1995)
Voted NO on mandatory prison terms for crimes involving firearms. (May 1994)
Voted NO on rejecting racial statistics in death penalty appeals. (May 1994)
More funding and stricter sentencing for hate crimes. (Apr 2001)
Require DNA testing for all federal executions. (Mar 2001)

John Kerry on Drugs

Click here for OR .

Target traffickers as well as reducing demand. (Mar 2004)
Admits having smoked marijuana. (Nov 2003)
Voted NO on increasing penalties for drug offenses. (Nov 1999)
Voted NO on spending international development funds on drug control. (Jul 1996)

John Kerry on Education

Click here for OR .

Invest in the children, not the prison system. (Jul 2004)
National Education Trust Fund: fully fund mandated standards. (Mar 2004)
Measure learning, but with flexible standards. (Feb 2004)
Vouchers drain resources from public schools. (Jan 2004)
Supported "No Child Left Behind," but Bush reneged. (Oct 2003)
Stop viewing charter schools as threatening innovation. (Oct 2003)
Nothing good about vouchers can't be done in public schools. (Oct 2003)
Voted YES on funding smaller classes instead of private tutors. (May 2001)
Voted YES on funding student testing instead of private tutors. (May 2001)
Voted YES on spending $448B of tax cut on education & debt reduction. (Apr 2001)
Voted NO on Educational Savings Accounts. (Mar 2000)
Voted NO on allowing more flexibility in federal school rules. (Mar 1999)
Voted NO on education savings accounts. (Jun 1998)
Voted NO on school vouchers in DC. (Sep 1997)
Voted NO on $75M for abstinence education. (Jul 1996)
Voted NO on requiring schools to allow voluntary prayer. (Jul 1994)
Voted YES on national education standards. (Feb 1994)
Offer every parent Charter Schools and public school choice. (Aug 2000)
Three R’s: $35B for Reinvestment,Reinvention,Responsibility. (Jan 2001)

John Kerry on Energy & Oil

Click here for OR .

No American should be held hostage to our oil dependence. (Jul 2004)
No nuclear waste dump in Nevada's Yucca Mountain. (Feb 2004)
Raise CAFE standard to 36 mpg by 2015. (Jan 2004)
Ban MBTE and sue companies who make it. (Jan 2004)
20% renewable energy by 2020. (Nov 2003)
ANWR won't provide any oil for 20 years. (Sep 2003)
Invent our way out of oil dependency-don't drill our way out. (Sep 2003)
Invest in advancing secure forms of energy instead of oil. (Jun 2003)
Led effort to try to raise fuel efficiency standards. (May 2003)
Create new energy sources to end Mideast dependency. (May 2002)
Voted NO on Bush Administration Energy Policy. (Jul 2003)
Voted YES on targeting 100,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2010. (Jun 2003)
Voted YES on removing consideration of drilling ANWR from budget bill. (Mar 2003)
Voted NO on drilling ANWR on national security grounds. (Apr 2002)
Voted NO on replacing CAFE standards within 15 months. (Mar 2002)
Voted NO on preserving budget for ANWR oil drilling. (Apr 2000)
Voted YES on keeping CAFE fuel efficiency standards. (Sep 1999)
Voted NO on defunding renewable and solar energy. (Jun 1999)
Voted NO on approving a nuclear waste repository. (Apr 1997)
Voted NO on do not require ethanol in gasoline. (Aug 1994)
Supports tradable emissions permits for greenhouse gases. (Aug 2000)
Keep climate change in EPA "State of the Environment" report. (Jun 2003)
Keep efficient air conditioner rule to conserve energy. (Mar 2004)

John Kerry on Environment

Click here for OR .

Fact Check: Contaminated home uses city water, not bottled. (Dec 2003)
Make environmental justice an EPA priority. (Oct 2003)
Safeguard the environment and grow the economy. (Jun 2003)
Voted NO on confirming Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior. (Jan 2001)
Voted NO on more funding for forest roads and fish habitat. (Sep 1999)
Voted NO on transportation demo projects. (Mar 1998)
Voted YES on reducing funds for road-building in National Forests. (Sep 1997)
Voted YES on continuing desert protection in California. (Oct 1994)
Voted YES on requiring EPA risk assessments. (May 1994)
Reduce liability for hazardous waste cleanup. (May 2001)
EPA must do better on mercury clean-up. (Apr 2004)

John Kerry on Families & Children

Click here for OR .

Care for our children and protect the neighborhoods. (Jul 2004)
Fighting for America's Children: insurance & care for all. (Mar 2004)
Fully fund Head Start for all 3- and 4-year-olds. (Mar 2004)
Supports Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act. (Mar 2004)
New "Kids Safety Effort" at the FDA. (Mar 2004)
Fund Head Start to leave no child behind. (Sep 2003)
Voted YES on restricting violent videos to minors. (May 1999)
Give parents tools to balance work and family. (Aug 2000)

John Kerry on Foreign Policy

Click here for OR .

American power comes from respect, not weapons. (May 2004)
Bush undermines generations of American leadership. (May 2004)
Haiti is in crisis because Bush hates Aristide. (Feb 2004)
Excluding other nations in rebuilding Iraq is dumb. (Dec 2003)
Supports multilateral cooperative internationalism. (Oct 2003)
Voted YES on enlarging NATO to include Eastern Europe. (May 2002)
Voted YES on killing a bill for trade sanctions if China sells weapons. (Sep 2000)
Voted NO on cap foreign aid at only $12.7 billion. (Oct 1999)
Voted YES on limiting the President's power to impose economic sanctions. (Jul 1998)
Voted NO on limiting NATO expansion to only Poland, Hungary & Czech. (Apr 1998)
Voted YES on $17.9 billion to IMF. (Mar 1998)
Voted NO on Strengthening of the trade embargo against Cuba. (Mar 1996)
Voted YES on ending Vietnam embargo. (Jan 1994)
Progressive Internationalism: globalize with US pre-eminence. (Aug 2000)
Multi-year commitment to Africa for food & medicine. (Apr 2001)

John Kerry on Free Trade

Click here for OR .

All new trade must include labor and environmental standards. (Jan 2004)
Veto FTAA and CAFTA until they have stronger standards. (Jan 2004)
Dean's trade policy is protectionist. (Sep 2003)
FTAA needs more labor and environmental standards. (Sep 2003)
Fix NAFTA-canceling it would be disastrous. (Sep 2003)
Capitalism and democracy go hand in hand. (May 2003)
Voted YES on extending free trade to Andean nations. (May 2002)
Voted YES on granting normal trade relations status to Vietnam. (Oct 2001)
Voted YES on removing common goods from national security export rules. (Sep 2001)
Voted YES on permanent normal trade relations with China. (Sep 2000)
Voted YES on expanding trade to the third world. (May 2000)
Voted YES on renewing 'fast track' presidential trade authority. (Nov 1997)
Voted YES on imposing trade sanctions on Japan for closed market. (May 1995)
Build a rule-based global trading system. (Aug 2000)

John Kerry on Government Reform

Click here for OR .

Every vote must be counted. (Jan 2004)
Flag and patriotism belong to all Americans. (Jun 2003)
Only Senator elected 4 times without a dime of PAC money. (Jun 2003)
Voted YES on banning "soft money" contributions and restricting issue ads. (Mar 2002)
Voted NO on require photo ID (not just signature) for voter registration. (Feb 2002)
Voted YES on banning campaign donations from unions and corporations. (Apr 2001)
Voted YES on continuing funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. (Aug 1999)
Voted YES on favoring 1997 McCain-Feingold overhaul of campaign finance. (Oct 1997)
Voted YES on Approving the presidential line-item veto. (Mar 1996)
Voted NO on banning more types of Congressional gifts. (Jul 1995)
Voluntary public financing for all general elections. (Aug 2000)

John Kerry on Gun Control

Click here for OR .

Gun owner & hunter, but rights come with responsibility. (Mar 2004)
Democratic Party shouldn't be for the NRA. (Nov 2003)
Supports assault weapons ban & Brady Bill. (Oct 2003)
Voted NO on banning lawsuits against gun manufacturers for gun violence. (Mar 2004)
Voted YES on background checks at gun shows. (May 1999)
Voted NO on more penalties for gun & drug violations. (May 1999)
Voted NO on loosening license & background checks at gun shows. (May 1999)
Voted NO on maintaining current law: guns sold without trigger locks. (Jul 1998)
Prevent unauthorized firearm use with "smart gun" technology. (Aug 2000)

John Kerry on Health Care

Click here for OR .

Save families up to $1,000 a year on their premiums. (Jul 2004)
Health care is not a privilege but a right for all. (Jul 2004)
Key issue: Does government control reduce cost? (Apr 2004)
Catastrophic health coverage for all costs over $50,000. (Feb 2004)
Research, prevention, and wellness can reduce Medicare costs. (Jan 2004)
Day 1: Make health care a right, not a privilege. (Jan 2004)
Don't push seniors into HMOs; change Bush Rx plan. (Jan 2004)
Cut $350B of bureaucracy and cover 90% of Americans. (Oct 2003)
Cover more citizens with health plan like Congress gets. (May 2003)
Lack of accessible health care is a disgrace. (May 2002)
Voted YES on allowing importation of Rx drugs from Canada. (Jul 2002)
Voted YES on allowing patients to sue HMOs & collect punitive damages. (Jun 2001)
Voted NO on funding GOP version of Medicare prescription drug benefit. (Apr 2001)
Voted YES on including prescription drugs under Medicare. (Jun 2000)
Voted NO on limiting self-employment health deduction. (Jul 1999)
Voted YES on increasing tobacco restrictions. (Jun 1998)
Voted NO on banning human cloning. (Feb 1998)
Voted YES on Medicare means-testing. (Jun 1997)
Voted YES on medical savings acounts. (Apr 1996)
Establish "report cards" on HMO quality of care. (Aug 2000)
Let states make bulk Rx purchases, and other innovations. (May 2003)

John Kerry on Homeland Security

Click here for OR .

Add 40,000 troops and double anti-terrorism special forces. (Jul 2004)
End the backdoor draft of reservists, help is on the way. (Jul 2004)
Will lead a global effort against nuclear proliferation. (Jul 2004)
Quickly implement the recommendations of the 9-11 commission. (Jul 2004)
Bush's foreign policy has not made American safer. (Jul 2004)
Four new imperatives: alliances, modernize, end Mideast oil. (May 2004)
Exaggeration by the Bush administration should be questioned. (Jan 2004)
Bush administration is misleading America in a profound way. (Jan 2004)
Increase military by 40,000 troops-but no draft. (Jan 2004)
Bush misused the authority Congress gave him. (Jan 2004)
Color-coded warning system needs to be changed. (Jan 2004)
Focus more on human intelligence gathering. (Nov 2003)
Make certain the veterans have benefits. (Nov 2003)
Focus on first responders instead of duct tape. (Oct 2003)
No new generation of nuclear weapons. (Sep 2003)
Automatic citizenship to immigrants who serves in army. (Sep 2003)
Voted YES on adopting the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. (Oct 1999)
Voted YES on allowing another round of military base closures. (May 1999)
Voted NO on cutting nuclear weapons below START levels. (May 1999)
Voted YES on deploying National Missile Defense ASAP. (Mar 1999)
Voted YES on military pay raise of 4.8%. (Feb 1999)
Voted NO on deploying missile defense as soon as possible. (Sep 1998)
Voted NO on prohibiting same-sex basic training. (Jun 1998)
Voted NO on favoring 36 vetoed military projects. (Oct 1997)
Voted YES on banning chemical weapons. (Apr 1997)
Voted NO on considering deploying NMD, and amending ABM Treaty. (Jun 1996)
Voted NO on 1996 Defense Appropriations. (Sep 1995)

John Kerry on Immigration

Click here for OR .

Restore immigrant benefits lost in 1996 welfare reform. (Mar 2004)
Expedited citizenship for members of the Armed Forces. (Mar 2004)
Earned legalization for immigrants to keep families together. (Feb 2004)
Earned legalization for undocumented immigrants. (Jan 2004)
Amnesty to anyone here over 5 or 6 years. (Sep 2003)
Voted NO on allowing more foreign workers into the U.S. for farm work. (Jul 1998)
Voted NO on visas for skilled workers. (May 1998)
Voted NO on limit welfare for immigrants. (Jun 1997)

John Kerry on Jobs

Click here for OR .

2.7M manufacturing jobs lost under Bush. (Aug 2004)
Raise minimum wage to $6.65 by next year, then higher. (Jan 2004)
Provide employment opportunities to minorities. (Jan 2004)
Trade grows jobs. (Sep 2003)
Jump start jobs at home via energy independence. (Sep 2003)
We need job opportunities, not photo opportunities. (Jun 2003)
Voted NO on repealing Clinton's ergonomic rules on repetitive stress. (Mar 2001)
Voted NO on killing an increase in the minimum wage. (Nov 1999)
Voted NO on allowing workers to choose between overtime & comp-time. (May 1997)
Voted NO on replacing farm price supports. (Feb 1996)
Protect overtime pay protections. (Jun 2003)

John Kerry on Principles & Values

Click here for OR .

Bigotry and hatred should never steal our hope and future. (Jul 2004)
The flag represents who we are and what we believe in. (Jul 2004)
Reject politics that divide people. (Jul 2004)
Pray humbly that we are on God's side. (Jul 2004)
Will lead an America where all are in the same boat. (Jul 2004)
Clear separation of church and state. (Apr 2004)
Revoke every Bush order that favors special interests. (Mar 2004)
Honors the separation of church and state. (Dec 2003)
Despite Zell Miller, Dem Party does speak to southerners. (Nov 2003)
Bush broke his three biggest campaign promises. (Oct 2003)
Need a president who won't write laws only for contributors. (Sep 2003)
Contest between common sense values and extreme ideologues. (Jun 2003)
I'm talking about things that matter to people. (May 2003)
Service is what brought America peace and prosperity. (Jul 2004)
Restore trust and credibility to the White House. (Jul 2004)
Seeing complexities of complex issues is not flip-flopping. (Jul 2004)
Shutting one's eyes and ears to the truth is not patriotism. (Jul 2004)
America can do better and help is on the way. (Jul 2004)
Ready to lead America: I was there and I led the fight. (Dec 2003)
Campaign built around a call to service. (Oct 2003)
Redeem promise for a better America for our children. (Oct 2003)
It is time for this country to ask again, why not? (May 2003)
My mother was the rock of our family. (Jul 2004)
Saw the fear in the eyes of people who were not free. (Jul 2004)
Grandfather committed suicide; John never told he was Jewish. (Jul 2004)
Spent summers on Cape Cod and hometown in Millis MA. (Jul 2004)
Attended boarding school in Europe; fluent in French. (Jul 2004)
Despite aristocratic roots, a Catholic outsider at schools. (Jul 2004)
Political heroes: Max Cleland, FDR, JFK, Lincoln. (Nov 2003)
Favorite song: Bruce Springsteen, "No Surrender.". (Sep 2003)
Religious affiliation: Catholic. (Nov 2000)
Supports Hyde Park Declaration of "Third Way" centrism. (Aug 2000)
Member of Democratic Leadership Council. (Nov 2000)
New Democrat: "Third Way" instead of left-right debate. (Nov 2000)
Member of the Senate New Democrat Coalition. (Jan 2001)

John Kerry on Social Security

Click here for OR .

Will not privatize Social Security nor cut benefits. (Jul 2004)
I will never privatize, extend retirement age, nor cut SS. (Jan 2004)
Guarantee Social Security soundness, even if unpopular. (Sep 2003)
Don't threaten Social Security on Wall Street trading block. (May 2002)
Voted NO on Social Security Lockbox & limiting national debt. (Apr 1999)
Voted NO on allowing Roth IRAs for retirees. (May 1998)
Voted NO on allowing personal retirement accounts. (Apr 1998)
Voted NO on deducting Social Security payments on income taxes. (May 1996)
Create Retirement Savings Accounts. (Aug 2000)

John Kerry on Tax Reform

Click here for OR .

More tax cuts for people who make less than $200,000. (Jul 2004)
Keep child tax credit, and new 10% tax bracket. (Jan 2004)
Kerry vs. Bush on taxes is a fight we deserve to have. (Jan 2004)
They're not Bush tax cuts, they're Democrat tax cuts. (Oct 2003)
GOP tax policy comforts the comfortable. (Oct 2003)
10% bracket in Bush tax cuts was Democrats' idea. (Sep 2003)
Bush tax cuts reach 32 million in middle class. (Sep 2003)
We're tired of being trickled on--Middle class tax cuts now. (Jun 2003)
Voted NO on $350 billion in tax breaks over 11 years. (May 2003)
Voted NO on cutting taxes by $1.35 trillion over 11 years. (May 2001)
Voted YES on reducing marriage penalty instead of cutting top tax rates. (May 2001)
Voted YES on increasing tax deductions for college tuition. (May 2001)
Voted NO on eliminating the 'marriage penalty'. (Jul 2000)
Voted NO on across-the-board spending cut. (Oct 1999)
Voted NO on $792B tax cuts. (Jul 1999)
Voted NO on requiring super-majority for raising taxes. (Apr 1998)
Voted NO on FY99 tax cuts. (Apr 1998)

John Kerry on Technology

Click here for OR .

Reallocate spectrum for wireless phone networks. (Mar 2004)
Empower Americans by making Internet access universal. (Mar 2004)
Invest in high-speed commuter rail & double-dip benefits. (Oct 2003)
Voted YES on Internet sales tax moratorium. (Oct 1998)
Voted YES on telecomm deregulation. (Feb 1996)
Chief information officer to digitize federal government. (Aug 2000)
Promote internet via Congressional Internet Caucus. (Jan 2001)

John Kerry on War & Peace

Click here for OR .

I'd vote to authorize war, but with allies. (Aug 2004)
Swift Boat Vets attack Kerry's medals. (Aug 2004)
Need two army divisions for now-but no draft. (Feb 2004)
Pre-emptive strike ok only when US survival at stake. (Jan 2004)
Get US more deeply involved in Arab-Israeli peace process. (Nov 2003)
Leadership comes from experience: share the war burden. (Oct 2003)
Bush has broken his promises & is mismanaging war. (Oct 2003)
Against a misapplied blanket pre-emptive doctrine. (Jun 2003)
Afghanistan incursion justified and not the same as Vietnam. (Apr 2004)
Supported 1998 missile attacks against Afghanistan & Sudan. (Apr 2004)
War decisions guided by facts not distorted by politics. (Jul 2004)
Bring allies to share our burden in fighting terrorism. (Jul 2004)
Only go to war if we have to, not because we want to. (Jan 2004)
De-Americanize Iraq: the exit strategy is victory. (Sep 2003)
$87B for Iraq only when internationalization is addressed. (Sep 2003)
Don't miss 3rd opportunity in Iraq to bring in UN. (Sep 2003)
Don't send more US troops to Iraq-share power & share burden. (Sep 2003)
Intelligence information should not be manipulated. (Jun 2003)
Disarm Saddam, but war should be a last resort. (May 2003)
Preferred diplomacy, but supported invading Iraq. (May 2003)
Kerry's C.O. says Kerry deserved his Silver Star. (Aug 2004)
Man Kerry rescued says Kerry deserved his Bronze Star. (Aug 2004)
Condemned early Vietnam protests as "irresponsible". (Jul 2004)
Anti-Vietnam but not left-wing anti-war. (Apr 2004)
Kerry saves life under fire, awarded Bronze Star. (Apr 2004)
Vietnam was genocide, but no point calling it "war crimes". (May 2001)
Vietnam didn't threaten US; US war crimes did. (Apr 1971)
Vietnam war was criminal hypocrisy and tore apart US. (Apr 1971)
How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake. (Apr 1971)
US soldiers committed atrocities in Vietnam, including me. (Apr 1971)
Karl Rove: "Kerry gave green light to Bush on Iraq". (Apr 2004)
No regrets on war vote-but regrets on Bush breaking promises. (Feb 2004)
Bush went to war the wrong way-I voted for the right way. (Jan 2004)
Maybe on $87B for Iraq-repeal Bush tax cut to pay it, if yes. (Sep 2003)
Vote for war was needed to push Saddam on inspectors. (Sep 2003)
Voted NO on $86.5 billion for military operations in Iraq & Afghanistan. (Oct 2003)
Voted YES on authorizing use of military force against Iraq. (Oct 2002)
Voted NO on allowing all necessary forces and other means in Kosovo. (May 1999)
Voted YES on authorizing air strikes in Kosovo. (Mar 1999)
Voted NO on ending the Bosnian arms embargo. (Jul 1995)
Condemns anti-Muslim bigotry in name of anti-terrorism. (Oct 2001)

John Kerry on Welfare & Poverty

Click here for OR .

Desperate need to build more affordable housing. (Nov 2003)
Ok for government to partner with non-profits & for-profits. (Oct 2003)
Voted YES on welfare block grants. (Aug 1996)
Voted YES on eliminating block grants for food stamps. (Jul 1996)
Voted NO on allowing state welfare waivers. (Jul 1996)
Voted YES on welfare overhaul. (Sep 1995)
Finish welfare reform by moving able recipients into jobs. (Aug 2000)
Fully fund AmeriCorps. (Jun 2003)

VoteMatch Responses (Click here for VoteMatch quiz)
VoteMatch Question & Answer (Click on question for explanation and background)	Based on these stances: (Click on topic for excerpt & citation)
Strongly Favors topic 1:Abortion is a woman's right (10 points on Social scale)	Kerry staunchly resists restrictions on abortions: Strongly Favors topic 1 Partial-birth abortion ban undermine women's right to choose: Strongly Favors topic 1 No criminalization of a woman's right to choose: Strongly Favors topic 1 Expand embryonic stem cell research.: Favors topic 1 NO on disallowing overseas military abortions: Favors topic 1 NO on banning partial birth abortions: Strongly Favors topic 1 NO on maintaining ban on Military Base Abortions: Favors topic 1 NO on criminal penalty for harming unborn fetus during other crime: Favors topic 1
Favors topic 2:Require companies to hire more women & minorities (2 points on Economic scale)	Questions the ultimate practicality of affirmative action: Opposes topic 2 Shift from group preferences to economic empowerment of all.: Neutral on topic 2 NO on banning affirmative action hiring with federal funds: Strongly Favors topic 2 YES on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation: Strongly Favors topic 2 NO on ending special funding for minority & women-owned business: Strongly Favors topic 2 NO on prohibiting same-sex basic training: Favors topic 2 YES on setting aside 10% of highway funds for minorities & women: Favors topic 2
Strongly Favors topic 3:Sexual orientation protected by civil rights laws (10 points on Social scale)	Defense of Marriage Act is fundamentally ugly: Strongly Favors topic 3 Supports federal DOMA, but not Massachusetts DOMA: Opposes topic 3 For partnership rights and civil union: Strongly Favors topic 3 More funding and stricter sentencing for hate crimes.: Strongly Favors topic 3 NO on prohibiting same-sex marriage: Strongly Favors topic 3 YES on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation: Strongly Favors topic 3 YES on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation: Favors topic 3 YES on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes: Strongly Favors topic 3
Opposes topic 4:Permit prayer in public schools (7 points on Social scale)	NO on requiring schools to allow voluntary prayer: Opposes topic 4 NO on $75M for abstinence education: Strongly Opposes topic 4 YES on restricting violent videos to minors: Neutral topic 4
Favors topic 5:More federal funding for health coverage (2 points on Economic scale)	Health care is not a privilege but a right for all: Favors topic 5 Catastrophic health coverage for all costs over $50,000: Strongly Favors topic 5 Cut $350B of bureaucracy and cover 90% of Americans: Strongly Favors topic 5 Cover more citizens with health plan like Congress gets: Strongly Favors topic 5 Lack of accessible health care is a disgrace: Favors topic 5 Establish "report cards" on HMO quality of care.: Favors topic 5 Let states make bulk Rx purchases, and other innovations.: Opposes topic 5 YES on medical savings acounts: Favors topic 5 YES on Medicare means-testing: Opposes topic 5 NO on limiting self-employment health deduction: Favors topic 5 YES on Unknown roll call for 1999-76: Favors topic 5 YES on including prescription drugs under Medicare: Favors topic 5 NO on funding GOP version of Medicare prescription drug benefit: Favors topic 5
Opposes topic 6:Privatize Social Security (2 points on Economic scale)	Will not privatize Social Security nor cut benefits: Strongly Opposes topic 6 I will never privatize, extend retirement age, nor cut SS: Strongly Opposes topic 6 Don't threaten Social Security on Wall Street trading block: Opposes topic 6 Create Retirement Savings Accounts.: Favors topic 6 NO on deducting Social Security payments on income taxes: Opposes topic 6 NO on allowing Roth IRAs for retirees: Opposes topic 6 NO on allowing personal retirement accounts: Opposes topic 6
Strongly Opposes topic 7:Parents choose schools via vouchers (0 points on Social scale)	Vouchers drain resources from public schools: Opposes topic 7 Stop viewing charter schools as threatening innovation: Favors topic 7 Nothing good about vouchers can't be done in public schools: Strongly Opposes topic 7 Offer every parent Charter Schools and public school choice.: Opposes topic 7 NO on school vouchers in DC: Strongly Opposes topic 7 NO on education savings accounts: Opposes topic 7 NO on allowing more flexibility in federal school rules: Strongly Opposes topic 7 NO on Educational Savings Accounts: Opposes topic 7 YES on funding smaller classes instead of private tutors: Opposes topic 7 YES on funding student testing instead of private tutors: Opposes topic 7
Opposes topic 8:Death Penalty (7 points on Social scale)	Opposes death penalty except for post 9-11 terrorists: Favors topic 8 States should not engage in killing-too many mistakes: Strongly Opposes topic 8 Moratorium on federal executions-only exception is terrorism: Opposes topic 8 Require DNA testing for all federal executions.: Strongly Opposes topic 8 NO on rejecting racial statistics in death penalty appeals: Opposes topic 8 NO on limiting death penalty appeals: Opposes topic 8
Strongly Opposes topic 9:Mandatory Three Strikes sentencing laws (10 points on Social scale)	NO on mandatory prison terms for crimes involving firearms: Strongly Opposes topic 9 NO on more penalties for gun & drug violations: Opposes topic 9 YES on $1.15 billion per year to continue the COPS program: Opposes topic 9
Strongly Opposes topic 10:Absolute right to gun ownership (0 points on Social scale)	Gun owner & hunter, but rights come with responsibility: Favors topic 10 Democratic Party shouldn't be for the NRA: Strongly Opposes topic 10 Supports assault weapons ban & Brady Bill: Opposes topic 10 Prevent unauthorized firearm use with "smart gun" technology.: Opposes topic 10 NO on maintaining current law: guns sold without trigger locks: Strongly Opposes topic 10 NO on loosening license & background checks at gun shows: Opposes topic 10 YES on background checks at gun shows: Strongly Opposes topic 10 NO on banning lawsuits against gun manufacturers for gun violence: Strongly Opposes topic 10
Opposes topic 11:Decrease overall taxation of the wealthy (2 points on Economic scale)	More tax cuts for people who make less than $200,000: Opposes topic 11 They're not Bush tax cuts, they're Democrat tax cuts: Favors topic 11 Base policy on broad growth and progressive taxation: Strongly Opposes topic 11 GOP tax policy comforts the comfortable: Opposes topic 11 Bush tax cuts reach 32 million in middle class: Favors topic 11 No excuse for special tax cuts for the rich: Strongly Opposes topic 11 We're tired of being trickled on--Middle class tax cuts now: Strongly Opposes topic 11 YES on Internet sales tax moratorium: Favors topic 11 NO on FY99 tax cuts: Strongly Opposes topic 11 NO on requiring super-majority for raising taxes: Opposes topic 11 NO on $792B tax cuts: Opposes topic 11 NO on eliminating the 'marriage penalty': Opposes topic 11 NO on prioritizing national debt reduction below tax cuts: Opposes topic 11 YES on reducing marriage penalty instead of cutting top tax rates: Opposes topic 11 NO on cutting taxes by $1.35 trillion over 11 years: Strongly Opposes topic 11 YES on spending $448B of tax cut on education & debt reduction: Opposes topic 11 NO on $350 billion in tax breaks over 11 years: Strongly Opposes topic 11
Favors topic 12:Immigration helps our economy-encourage it (7 points on Economic scale)	Restore immigrant benefits lost in 1996 welfare reform: Strongly Favors topic 12 Earned legalization for undocumented immigrants: Favors topic 12 Amnesty to anyone here over 5 or 6 years: Strongly Favors topic 12 NO on limit welfare for immigrants: Strongly Favors topic 12 NO on visas for skilled workers: Opposes topic 12 NO on allowing more foreign workers into the U.S. for farm work: Opposes topic 12
Favors topic 13:Support & expand free trade (7 points on Economic scale)	Veto FTAA and CAFTA until they have stronger standards: Opposes topic 13 Trade grows jobs: Strongly Favors topic 13 Build a rule-based global trading system.: Favors topic 13 YES on Unknown roll call for 1997-292: Favors topic 13 YES on renewing 'fast track' presidential trade authority: Favors topic 13 YES on expanding trade to the third world: Favors topic 13 YES on removing common goods from national security export rules: Favors topic 13 YES on extending free trade to Andean nations: Strongly Favors topic 13
Strongly Opposes topic 14:Link human rights to trade with China (10 points on Social scale)	YES on killing a bill for trade sanctions if China sells weapons: Opposes topic 14 YES on permanent normal trade relations with China: Strongly Opposes topic 14 YES on granting normal trade relations status to Vietnam: Opposes topic 14
Opposes topic 15:More spending on armed forces (7 points on Economic scale)	$87B for Iraq only when internationalization is addressed: Favors topic 15 NO on 1996 Defense Appropriations: Opposes topic 15 NO on favoring 36 vetoed military projects: Strongly Opposes topic 15 YES on allowing another round of military base closures: Opposes topic 15 YES on military pay raise of 4.8%: Strongly Favors topic 15
Favors topic 16:Reduce spending on missile defense (Star Wars) (2 points on Economic scale)	NO on considering deploying NMD, and amending ABM Treaty: Favors topic 16 NO on deploying missile defense as soon as possible: Favors topic 16 NO on cutting nuclear weapons below START levels: Favors topic 16 YES on adopting the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: Favors topic 16 YES on deploying National Missile Defense ASAP: Strongly Opposes topic 16
Strongly Favors topic 17:Seek UN approval for military action (0 points on Economic scale)	Get US more deeply involved in Arab-Israeli peace process: Strongly Favors topic 17 Supports multilateral cooperative internationalism: Strongly Favors topic 17 Progressive Internationalism: globalize with US pre-eminence.: Favors topic 17 Multi-year commitment to Africa for food & medicine.: Strongly Favors topic 17 NO on limiting NATO expansion to only Poland, Hungary & Czech: Favors topic 17 YES on $17.9 billion to IMF: Favors topic 17 NO on cap foreign aid at only $12.7 billion: Favors topic 17 YES on authorizing air strikes in Kosovo: Neutral topic 17 NO on allowing all necessary forces and other means in Kosovo: Neutral topic 17 YES on enlarging NATO to include Eastern Europe: Strongly Favors topic 17
Strongly Favors topic 18:Reduce use of coal, oil, & nuclear energy (0 points on Economic scale)	20% renewable energy by 2020: Strongly Favors topic 18 Invent our way out of oil dependency-don't drill our way out: Favors topic 18 Invest in advancing secure forms of energy instead of oil: Strongly Favors topic 18 Led effort to try to raise fuel efficiency standards: Strongly Favors topic 18 Supports tradable emissions permits for greenhouse gases.: Favors topic 18 Reduce liability for hazardous waste cleanup.: Opposes topic 18 Keep climate change in EPA "State of the Environment" report.: Favors topic 18 Keep efficient air conditioner rule to conserve energy.: Strongly Favors topic 18 NO on do not require ethanol in gasoline: Favors topic 18 YES on reducing funds for road-building in National Forests: Favors topic 18 NO on defunding renewable and solar energy: Strongly Favors topic 18 YES on keeping CAFE fuel efficiency standards: Favors topic 18 NO on preserving budget for ANWR oil drilling: Favors topic 18 NO on confirming Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior: Favors topic 18 NO on replacing CAFE standards within 15 months: Strongly Favors topic 18 YES on targeting 100,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2010: Strongly Favors topic 18 YES on removing consideration of drilling ANWR from budget bill: Favors topic 18
Strongly Opposes topic 19:Drug use is immoral: enforce laws against it (10 points on Social scale)	NO on spending international development funds on drug control: Strongly Opposes topic 19 NO on more penalties for gun & drug violations: Opposes topic 19 NO on increasing penalties for drug offenses: Opposes topic 19
Favors topic 20:Allow churches to provide welfare services (2 points on Social scale)	Finish welfare reform by moving able recipients into jobs.: Favors topic 20 YES on welfare overhaul: Favors topic 20 NO on allowing state welfare waivers: Opposes topic 20 YES on eliminating block grants for food stamps: Opposes topic 20 YES on welfare block grants: Favors topic 20

John Kerry is an EXTREME Liberal.
But, according to European Standards he is a MODERATE CONSERVATE LIBERAL.
The vote 2000 web site considers Kerry to be a "Moderate Liberal".

Yet their criteria negates the fact that he has the most liberal voting record in the Senate...EVER!
By their standard, the Senate is populated with ultra conservatives and no real liberals. Click here for THEIR explanation (and Justification) for their classification.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.