Politics
John Kerry
US Secretary of State 2013–2017 and climate envoy
Born 1943
Photo: United States Congress · Public domain
John Kerry served in Vietnam, then returned to campaign against the war, and spent nearly three decades in the US Senate before becoming Secretary of State. He signed the Paris climate agreement on behalf of the United States with his granddaughter on his lap.
Key achievements
- United States Secretary of State, 2013–2017
- United States Senator for Massachusetts, 1985–2013
- President of the Yale Political Union as a student
Universities
New Haven, Connecticut
Took a bachelor's degree in political science in 1966 and was president of the Yale Political Union.
Facts
- He learned to fly and to play the bass guitar, and played in a band called the Electras while an undergraduate.
- He negotiated the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran across almost two years of talks, some of them conducted on crutches after a cycling accident.
- He ran for president in 2004 against George W. Bush, another Yale graduate, in a contest between two members of the same secret society.
Photographs
Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences; the author and licence are shown on each image.