Early Years Belie Kerry's Patrician Image - WSJ

May 27, 2004

By JEANNE CUMMINGS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
May 27, 2004; Page A4

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Indeed, from about 1984 through 1995, in between his marriages to two wealthy women and during his first years in the Senate, the father of two stretched dollars from paycheck to paycheck and borrowed money to cover tuition payments. He made financial decisions that indicate he was more willing to take financial hits than potentially career-damaging political ones.

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Many assume that Mr. Kerry comes from a wealthy family. In fact, his father was a career government diplomat. While his mother had an aristocratic bloodline, she didn't have the bank account to match. A wealthy aunt paid for Mr. Kerry's boarding-school education. During his years in the military, he lived on his Navy salary.

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When he was elected to the Senate in 1984, Mr. Kerry, who was lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, already had separated from his first wife, Julia Thorne, whose family wealth has been reported at about $300 million.

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In 1990, the Senate barred senators from accepting outside speaking fees. Mr. Kerry had often earned an extra $25,000 to $30,000 annually from speeches. He opened several lines of personal credit, some as large as $100,000, at Boston banks. His parents also provided a financial "safety valve" when times got tight, he says.

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Write to Jeanne Cummings at jeanne.cummings@wsj.com

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108561209630622373,00.html

Look up boot licking repug rag in the dictionary and you'll find the cover spread for the WSJ. It amazes me that so "illustrious" a publication still actively supports a loser like gee-dubya. Get a clue. Hell, even asswipes like george will are deserting the ship.