Originally posted by: PELarson
He has been a private lawyer, and small business owner(Kilvert & Forbes).
In both cases succesful.
In 1979 he opened a private law practice, and in the fall of 1981 began his campaign for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. Not much of a stint as a private lawyer. He's basically spent his career in the public sector.
His small busness was a small cookie and muffin shop.
Before going to law school he ran for congress and lost.
The Boston Globe wrote of Kerry's early political career:
"By 1972, John F. Kerry was a national figure, but without roots in one place he could call home. For a young man with congressional ambitions, that was a handicap, one he would quickly compound.
"The 28-year-old activist believed Congress was the logical extension of his activism to end the Vietnam War. He was ready to leave the streets to work within what some fellow protesters scorned as "the system."
"His ambition tempered only by political naivete, Kerry tried on congressional districts like suits off the rack. In less than two months in early 1972, the antiwar leader called three different districts in Massachusetts home. To this day, he bears the brand of opportunist from that brazen district-hopping, which he acknowledges as part of his political 'baggage.' "
http://www.boston.com/globe/na...ges/kerry/061803.shtml
In April, Kerry moved to Lowell to run for congress in the general election. During this campaign, Kerry's younger brother Cameron and campaign field director Thomas J. Vallely were arrested in connection with a break-in at their opponents' headquarters, which was in the same building as Kerry's own headquarters. The duo was arrested at 1:40 a.m. on September 18, the night before the primary, after having been found in a basement where telephone lines were located. They were charged with "breaking and entering with the intent to commit grand larceny," but the case was dismissed about a year later by superior court.
Kerry's opponent at the time, state Rep. Anthony R. DiFruscia of Lawrence, claims that the break-in was a deliberate attempt to disrupt his get-out-the vote efforts. The Kerry campaigned maintained that they were only checking their own telephone lines because they had received an anonymous call warning they would be cut. The Boston Globe reported:
To this day Kerry becomes animated talking about the episode, convinced it was part of a conspiracy against his insurgency. He said he does not know who was involved. He dismissed as ridiculous the charge that DiFruscia was a target. "He didn't figure in the race," said Kerry. (...)
"It was an impulsive, rash thing that we did and that John Kerry ended up having to deal with," said Cam Kerry, now a partner at the Boston law firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo. "That's all we're going to say on that one."
Vallely, a former Marine who served in Vietnam and later became a state representative in Boston, had more to say.
"I kicked in the door," he said, and then, police swarmed the area. Vallely said DiFruscia's office was of no interest; the Kerry phone lines were. In hindsight, he said, "We probably were overreacting to someone who was joking."
In the September primary, Kerry carried 18 of 22 towns, offsetting his fourth-place finish in Lowell and second-place finish in Lawrence, which together delivered half the Democratic vote. He buried the huge field with astounding tallies in outlying towns, where antiwar sentiment was strongest. In Carlisle he bagged 82 percent of the vote, in Lexington and Concord 72 percent and 78 percent, respectively.
Overall, Kerry drew 20,771 votes, or 28 percent, 5,130 votes more than runner-up Paul J. Sheehy, a state representative from Lowell. DiFruscia ran a distant third.
http://www.boston.com/globe/na...ges/kerry/061803.shtml
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