Robert Kerrey

When a group of GOP consultants sat down for dinner recently, they decided the toughest Democratic opponent for George Bush in 1992 was a man many Americans never heard of--Sen. J. Robert Kerrey of Nebraska. Only two years after he was elected to the Senate, Kerrey, 47, already bears the mantle of great expectations, with Democrats finding the distant reflection of John F. Kennedy's Camelot in his sharp good looks, confident style and record of heroism in combat. Kerrey was born in Lincoln, Neb.

The Hanoi government accused former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) of crimes during the Vietnam War, saying that families of villagers killed by his Navy SEAL team experienced "incomparable suffering and losses." Kerrey said he was disappointed by the government's comments, saying officials there have long blamed Americans for wartime atrocities. "I pointed out then, and I'm pointing out now, both sides did a lot of damage in the Vietnam War," he said.

Gov. Robert Kerrey, who made headlines because of his romance with actress Debra Winger, announced today that he will not seek a second term in 1986. Kerrey, 42, a Democrat, said at a news conference that he enjoys political life, but "I feel it's time to move on." He declined to say what his future plans are. Kerrey, who suffered the loss of his right leg and won a Congressional Medal of Honor in Vietnam, owns several restaurants in Lincoln and Omaha.

Some of Bob Kerrey's former Senate colleagues who served in Vietnam said they have little desire for a Pentagon investigation into his recent admission that civilians were killed during a 1969 mission for which he won the Bronze Star. "To now talk about an investigation, it seems to me, is just the wrong way to go," Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) told ABC's "This Week." "If the Pentagon asked me, I'd say no." Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.

Democratic presidential contender Bob Kerrey apologized profusely Tuesday for privately telling another candidate a dirty joke about two lesbians and a third White House hopeful--former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. "It was an insensitive, stupid joke told by a hopefully temporarily insensitive, stupid politician," the Nebraska senator told reporters here Tuesday. "I apologize." The joke, told by Kerrey to Arkansas Gov.

As the haze of anesthesia receded, Bob Kerrey could make out the anxious faces of his parents against the bleak walls of the Philadelphia Naval Hospital. He summoned Elinor Kerrey to his side, and muttered: "How much is left?" Military doctors had struggled to undo the mess that a crude North Vietnamese grenade had made of his right leg, but a spreading bone infection left no option but to amputate mid-calf.

To hear the admirers of Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey tell it, the 1992 Democratic presidential campaign resembles a tale borrowed from the annals of the Knights of the Round Table. With the party languishing in distress for lack of a suitable champion, they see their hero galloping to the rescue like some latter-day Lancelot. J. Robert Kerrey is brave--his Medal of Honor proves that. He is bold--time and again he has challenged conventional political wisdom.

Shortly after James Buchanan, a courtly bachelor, moved into the White House in 1857, hiscritics began wondering if the treachery in his Administration was caused by his unmarried state. "Cain was a bachelor, and so was Judas Iscariot!" one newspaper warned. Buchanan left office as one of the least popular Presidents in American history, and the "experiment to elect a bachelor" was deemed a failure, with the newspaper noting: "For being freed from the cares of domestic life . . .

Sen. Bob Kerrey entered the Democratic presidential race Monday with a call for the nation to resume its "fearless, restless voyage of generational progress" after a decade of "unchecked selfishness and greed." In an appearance before several thousand hometown supporters in a downtown park, Kerrey said he was seeking the presidency to "lead a process of renewal in America."

Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), a Vietnam War hero once considered a rising political star, announced Thursday that he will not run for reelection this year, dealing a serious blow to Democratic chances of capturing a majority in the chamber.

Bracing for a newspaper account of a mission gone wrong during his service in Vietnam, former Sen. Bob Kerrey gathered five of the members of the Navy commando team he led during the war for an extraordinary five-hour meeting Friday to discuss their actions during the controversial 1969 raid.

Until Saturday, Bui Thi Luom had never heard the name Bob Kerrey. She had no idea that he served as governor of Nebraska and U.S. senator and once ran for president. But she did know that 32 years ago, seven American commandos sneaked into her village in the Mekong Delta and killed 15 members of her family--all women and children. Luom, wounded in the knee, was the only one to escape. She was 12.

The Pentagon Thursday opened the possibility that it might investigate its award of a Bronze Star medal to former Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska for a Vietnam War mission that cost the lives of at least 13 civilians. Amid a widening debate over the February 1969 episode, Defense Department officials said an investigation could be launched if it appeared that a medal was awarded because of a false report on a service member's action.

Former Nebraska senator and governor Bob Kerrey, a potential Democratic presidential contender, has revealed that he commanded a raid on a village during the Vietnam War that killed only women, children and older men. Kerrey stressed that members of his seven-man Navy SEAL team began shooting after they were shot at and assumed they were facing fire from Viet Cong soldiers. He said the secret incident has "haunted" him for 32 years. "Now I can talk about it.

Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), a Vietnam War hero once considered a rising political star, announced Thursday that he will not run for reelection this year, dealing a serious blow to Democratic chances of capturing a majority in the chamber.

Democratic presidential challenger Bill Bradley jabbed at front-runner Al Gore on Friday while one of his few congressional backers, Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, made the harshest attacks yet on the vice president. "I want to contrast [my proposals] with Al Gore," said Bradley, speaking to 600 students and supporters at Johnston High School in this Des Moines suburb.

In what he called "a big boost" to his campaign, former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey collected the endorsement of Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska. Bradley and Kerrey formally announced the endorsement in Nebraska and in Clive, Iowa, where about 100 Bradley supporters gathered for a sweltering backyard barbecue to hear Kerrey's endorsement.

Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) chose the course of prudence Sunday and announced he will run for reelection in 2000, rather than challenge Vice President Al Gore for the Democratic presidential nomination. The decision, disclosed at a news conference here after a weekend of closed-door discussions with supporters from Nebraska and around the nation, disappointed but did not surprise many of the hundreds who met with Kerrey.

In what he called "a big boost" to his campaign, former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey collected the endorsement of Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska. Bradley and Kerrey formally announced the endorsement in Nebraska and in Clive, Iowa, where about 100 Bradley supporters gathered for a sweltering backyard barbecue to hear Kerrey's endorsement.

Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) chose the course of prudence Sunday and announced he will run for reelection in 2000, rather than challenge Vice President Al Gore for the Democratic presidential nomination. The decision, disclosed at a news conference here after a weekend of closed-door discussions with supporters from Nebraska and around the nation, disappointed but did not surprise many of the hundreds who met with Kerrey.