Bob Kerrey
Joseph Robert Kerrey is an American politician who served as the 35th governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1989 to 2001.
Before entering politics, he served in the Vietnam War, as a United States Navy SEAL officer and was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery in combat. During the action for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor, he was severely wounded, precluding further naval service. He later faced controversy for being the commanding officer during the Thanh Phong raid, where numerous civilians were killed.
Kerrey was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992. He retired from the Senate in 2000 and was replaced by former governor and fellow Democrat Ben Nelson. From 2001 to 2010, he served as president of The New School, a university in New York City. In May 2010, he was selected to become the head of the Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAA, however, could not reach an agreement with him and chose former Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd instead. In 2012, Kerrey sought election to his old Senate seat to succeed his successor, the retiring Democratic incumbent Ben Nelson. He lost to Republican nominee Deb Fischer.
In 2013, Kerrey joined the Carmen Group lobbying firm. Kerrey is a former co-chair of the advisory board of Issue One, an organization that describes its mission as "fighting for real solutions to the problem of money in politics". In 1987, Kerrey was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board.
Early life and education
Kerrey was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on August 27, 1943, the son of Elinor Fern, a University of Nebraska instructor, and James Henry Kerrey, a builder and businessman. He attended the public schools of Lincoln and graduated from Lincoln Northeast High School in 1961. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from the University of Nebraska in 1966. Kerrey pledged Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and during his senior year he was admitted into the Society of Innocents, the chancellor's senior honorary society of spirit boosters.Military service
Kerrey served in the United States Navy as a SEAL officer during the Vietnam War. He completed Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1967. He then received assignment to Naval Amphibious Base Coronado and subsequently completed Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training with class 42 in December 1967. He received direct assignment to SEAL Team ONE, a separate organization from the Underwater Demolition Teams to which new personnel were normally assigned. After extensive pre-deployment training, Kerrey deployed to the Republic of Vietnam as assistant platoon commander with Delta Platoon, SEAL Team ONE in January 1969.Kerrey was seriously wounded and lost the lower part of his right leg in combat on Hon Tre island near Nha Trang Bay on March 14, 1969. While suffering shrapnel wounds and blood loss, Kerrey organized his squad in a counterattack that killed or captured enemy Viet Cong. He was later medically discharged from the US Navy due to his wounds. On May 14, 1970, President Richard Nixon awarded Kerrey the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions.
Medal of Honor citation
His Medal of Honor citation reads:Thanh Phong raid
In 2001, The New York Times Magazine and 60 Minutes II carried reports on an incident that occurred during Kerrey's Vietnam War service. On February 25, 1969, he and his squad, known as Kerrey's Raiders, led a Swift Boat raid on the isolated peasant village of Thanh Phong, Vietnam, targeting a Viet Cong leader who intelligence suggested would be present. The village was considered part of a free-fire zone by the U.S. military.Kerrey's SEAL team first encountered a villager's hut. Later, according to Kerrey, the team was "shot at" from the village and returned fire, only to find after the battle that some of the killed appeared to be children. "The thing that I will remember until the day I die, is walking in and finding, I don't know, 14 or so, I don't even know what the number was, women and children who were dead", Kerrey said in 1998. "I was expecting to find Viet Cong soldiers with weapons, dead. Instead I found women and children." Kerrey denied personally participating in the operation, but admitted to his own complicity.
Gerhard Klann, a member of Kerrey's SEAL team, gave a different version. According to Klann, the team rounded up civilians and decided to "kill them and get out of there", for fear that they would alert enemy soldiers. He said that Kerrey gave the order. Kerrey responded to Klann's account by stating "it's not my memory of it". Another witness, Pham Tri Lanh, said she hid in a banana grove as the soldiers entered the village. She says she witnessed the soldiers kill five civilians. Another survivor, Bui Thi Luom, was twelve at the time of the attack. She says seven men entered their hut of sixteen civilians, including five of her relatives, and killed the occupants with gunfire and an explosive device. She was the only survivor.
Kerrey expressed anguish and guilt over the events of that night, saying: "You can never, can never get away from it. It darkens your day. I thought dying for your country was the worst thing that could happen to you, and I don't think it is. I think killing for your country can be a lot worse. Because that's the memory that haunts."
In a speech to ROTC candidates at Virginia Military Institute in 2001, Kerrey acknowledged using "lethal procedures when there was doubt." And admitted "It was a tragedy, and I had ordered it," he said. "Though it could be justified militarily, I could never make my own peace with what happened that night. I have been haunted by it for 32 years."
He was awarded a Bronze Star for the raid on Thanh Phong, after his unit had falsely reported all the dead civilians as enemy guerrillas. The citation for the medal reads, "The net result of his patrol was 21 Viet Cong killed, two hooches destroyed and two enemy weapons captured."
A display at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City is based on the incident. It includes several photos and a drain pipe, which it describes as the place where three children hid before they were found and killed.
Business career
After his military service, Kerrey pursued a business career. From 1972 to 1982, he owned and operated Grandmother's Inc. a chain of restaurants known as Grandmother's Skillet. Another company, Kerrey Holdings, included several fitness centers and a bowling alley. After he ceded active management to his brother-in-law in 1983, the businesses grew to include 10 restaurants, three fitness centers, a bowling alley, and other enterprises. Kerrey's other ventures included trading in cattle futures and a partnership that invested in commercial real estate including shopping centers.While engaged in his business career, Kerrey gained his initial political experience. These activities included working on a 1971 voter registration drive with anti-war activist Allard K. Lowenstein. Kerrey also managed a friend's successful campaign for a seat in the state legislature. In addition, he served as a member of the city of Lincoln's Human Rights Commission.
Governor of Nebraska (1983–1987)
In 1982, Kerrey ran for Governor of Nebraska; he easily won the Democratic nomination 71% to 29% over state senator George "Bill" Burrows, then achieved a narrow victory over incumbent Republican Charles Thone, 51% to 49%. He served as one term, 1983 to 1987, and did not run for reelection. During his governorship, Kerrey pursued policies including welfare reform, education reform, job training, and environmental conservation. Several of these programs became models for other states and the federal government.In 1986, Kerrey served as chair of the Midwestern Governors Association. As governor, he was known for his transparency and criticism of "politics as usual" obfuscating and clichés. He was the subject of nationwide news coverage in July 1986, when he ordered the Nebraska State Patrol to halt a train after the federal government failed to notify him of a rail shipment of nuclear waste that would pass through Nebraska, and directed the Nebraska Army National Guard to park a tank on the tracks at the Kansas-Nebraska border to ensure that the train did not proceed. After Kerrey's chief of staff and the head of the state patrol met with federal authorities in Kansas, the train was allowed to proceed, with representatives of the federal government agreeing to notify state officials of the dates, times and routes for similar trains in the future.
U.S. Senate (1989–2001)
Elections
1988
In 1988, Kerrey ran for the U.S. Senate seat held by recently appointed incumbent Republican David Karnes. He won the Democratic primary with 92% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated Karnes 57% to 42%.1994
Kerrey won re-election to a second term defeating businesswoman Jan Stoney 55% to 45%2012
Kerrey ran again for his old Senate seat after the retirement of Incumbent Democratic Senator Ben Nelson in 2012, but was defeated by Republican candidate State Senator Deb Fischer.Tenure
Senator Kerrey was a member of the Agriculture Committee and the Finance Committee, and was a member of the Appropriations Committee from 1989 to 1996. He also served as vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee from 1995 to 1999. He was the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the 104th Congress before retiring in 2001.Kerrey voted for the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act which repealed the Glass–Steagall Act in 1999, defending his position against opposition by stating, "The concerns that we will have a meltdown like 1929 are dramatically overblown". Most famously, Kerrey cast the deciding vote in favor of President Bill Clinton's 1993 budget plan.