Divyanshu67/squad_v2 huggingface dataset:
John_Kerry

James Rassmann, a Green Beret advisor who was aboard Kerry's PCF-94, was knocked overboard when, according to witnesses and the documentation of the event, a mine or rocket exploded close to the boat. According to the documentation for the event, Kerry's arm was injured when he was thrown against a bulkhead during the explosion. PCF 94 returned to the scene and Kerry rescued Rassmann who was receiving sniper fire from the water. Kerry received the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" for "heroic achievement", for his actions during this incident; he also received his third Purple Heart.

Question: What boat was Rassmann on?
Answer: PCF-94

Question: Who fell overboard from Kerry's boat?
Answer: James Rassmann

Question: What was Rassmann's job?
Answer: a Green Beret advisor

Question: What medal did Kerry earn for rescuing Rassmann?
Answer: the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V"

Question: What does the Combat V mean?
Answer: heroic achievement
John_Kerry

After Kerry's third qualifying wound, he was entitled per Navy regulations to reassignment away from combat duties. Kerry's preferred choice for reassignment was as a military aide in Boston, New York or Washington, D.C. On April 11, 1969, he reported to the Brooklyn-based Atlantic Military Sea Transportation Service, where he would remain on active duty for the following year as a personal aide to an officer, Rear Admiral Walter Schlech. On January 1, 1970 Kerry was temporarily promoted to full Lieutenant. Kerry had agreed to an extension of his active duty obligation from December 1969 to August 1970 in order to perform Swift Boat duty. John Kerry was on active duty in the United States Navy from August 1966 until January 1970. He continued to serve in the Naval Reserve until February 1978.

Question: Which wound allowed Kerry to leave combat duty?
Answer: third

Question: Where was Kerry reassigned in April 1969?
Answer: the Brooklyn-based Atlantic Military Sea Transportation Service

Question: When did Kerry become a lieutenant?
Answer: January 1, 1970

Question: Who was Kerry a personal aide for?
Answer: Rear Admiral Walter Schlech

Question: When did Kerry leave the Naval Reserve?
Answer: February 1978
John_Kerry

After returning to the United States, Kerry joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). Then numbering about 20,000, VVAW was considered by some (including the administration of President Richard Nixon) to be an effective, if controversial, component of the antiwar movement. Kerry participated in the "Winter Soldier Investigation" conducted by VVAW of U.S. atrocities in Vietnam, and he appears in a film by that name that documents the investigation. According to Nixon Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, "I didn't approve of what he did, but I understood the protesters quite well", and he declined two requests from the Navy to court martial Reserve Lieutenant Kerry over his antiwar activity.

Question: How many members did VVAW have when Kerry joined it?
Answer: about 20,000

Question: What VVAW investigation was Kerry involved in?
Answer: the "Winter Soldier Investigation"

Question: Who was Melvin Laird?
Answer: Nixon Secretary of Defense

Question: What did Laird refuse to court-martial Kerry for?
Answer: his antiwar activity
John_Kerry

On April 22, 1971, Kerry appeared before a U.S. Senate committee hearing on proposals relating to ending the war. The day after this testimony, Kerry participated in a demonstration with thousands of other veterans in which he and other Vietnam War veterans threw their medals and service ribbons over a fence erected at the front steps of the United States Capitol building to dramatize their opposition to the war. Jack Smith, a Marine, read a statement explaining why the veterans were returning their military awards to the government. For more than two hours, almost 1000 angry veterans tossed their medals, ribbons, hats, jackets, and military papers over the fence. Each veteran gave his or her name, hometown, branch of service and a statement. Kerry threw some of his own decorations and awards as well as some given to him by other veterans to throw. As Kerry threw his decorations over the fence, his statement was: "I'm not doing this for any violent reasons, but for peace and justice, and to try and make this country wake up once and for all."

Question: What did Kerry do on Apr 22, 1971?
Answer: appeared before a U.S. Senate committee hearing

Question: What was the topic of the hearing Kerry testified on?
Answer: ending the war

Question: What did Kerry throw over a fence?
Answer: some of his own decorations and awards as well as some given to him by other veterans to throw

Question: Why did Kerry participate in the protest?
Answer: for peace and justice, and to try and make this country wake up once and for all

Question: How many vets participated in the protest?
Answer: almost 1000
John_Kerry

Kerry was arrested on May 30, 1971, during a VVAW march to honor American POWs held captive by North Vietnam. The march was planned as a multi-day event from Concord to Boston, and while in Lexington, participants tried to camp on the village green. At 2:30 a.m., local and state police arrested 441 demonstrators, including Kerry, for trespassing. All were given the Miranda Warning and were hauled away on school buses to spend the night at the Lexington Public Works Garage. Kerry and the other protesters later paid a $5 fine, and were released. The mass arrests caused a community backlash and ended up giving positive coverage to the VVAW.

Question: When was Kerry arrested for protesting?
Answer: May 30, 1971

Question: Who was being honored on May 30, 1971?
Answer: American POWs held captive by North Vietnam

Question: How many people were arrested with Kerry?
Answer: 441

Question: At what time was Kerry arrested?
Answer: 2:30 a.m.

Question: Why were the protesters arrested?
Answer: tried to camp on the village green
John_Kerry

In 1970, Kerry had considered running for Congress in the Democratic primary against hawkish Democrat Philip J. Philbin of Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district, but deferred in favour of Robert Drinan, a Jesuit priest and anti-war activist, who went on to defeat Philbin. In February 1972, Kerry's wife bought a house in Worcester, with Kerry intending to run against the 4th district's ageing thirteen-term incumbent Democrat, Harold Donohue. The couple never moved in. After Republican Congressman F. Bradford Morse of the neighbouring 5th district announced his retirement and then resignation to become Under-Secretary-General for Political and General Assembly Affairs at the United Nations. The couple instead rented an apartment in Lowell, so that Kerry could run to succeed him.

Question: Who had Kerry considered running against in 1970?
Answer: Democrat Philip J. Philbin

Question: In which district had Kerry considered running in 1970?
Answer: Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district

Question: Who ran against Philbin instead of Kerry?
Answer: Robert Drinan

Question: Why did Morse retire?
Answer: to become Under-Secretary-General for Political and General Assembly Affairs at the United Nations

Question: What political party was Morse in?
Answer: Republican
John_Kerry

Including Kerry, the Democratic primary race had 10 candidates, including attorney Paul J. Sheehy, State Representative Anthony R. DiFruscia, John J. Desmond and Robert B. Kennedy. Kerry ran a "very expensive, sophisticated campaign", financed by out-of-state backers and supported by many young volunteers. DiFruscia's campaign headquarters shared the same building as Kerry's. On the eve of the September 19 primary, police found Kerry's younger brother Cameron and campaign field director Thomas J. Vallely, breaking into where the building's telephone lines were located. They were arrested and charged with "breaking and entering with the intent to commit grand larceny", but the charges were dropped a year later. At the time of the incident, DiFruscia alleged that the two were trying to disrupt his get-out-the vote efforts. Vallely and Cameron Kerry maintained that they were only checking their own telephone lines because they had received an anonymous call warning that the Kerry lines would be cut.

Question: What was Paul Sheehy's job?
Answer: attorney

Question: What was DiFruscia's position?
Answer: State Representative

Question: Who did Kerry share a campaign headquarters with?
Answer: Anthony R. DiFruscia

Question: Why was Kerry's brother messing with phone lines?
Answer: they had received an anonymous call warning that the Kerry lines would be cut

Question: What is Kerry's younger brother's name?
Answer: Cameron
John_Kerry

In the general election, Kerry was initially favored to defeat the Republican candidate, former State Representative Paul W. Cronin, and conservative Democrat Roger P. Durkin, who ran as an Independent. A week after the primary, one poll put Kerry 26-points ahead of Cronin. His campaign called for a national health insurance system, discounted prescription drugs for the unemployed, a jobs programme to clean up the Merrimack River and rent controls in Lowell and Lawrence. A major obstacle, however, was the district's leading newspaper, the conservative The Sun. The paper editorialized against him. It also ran critical news stories about his out-of-state contributions and his "carpetbagging", because he had only moved into the district in April. Subsequently released "Watergate" Oval Office tape recordings of the Nixon White House showed that defeating Kerry's candidacy had attracted the personal attention of President Nixon. Kerry himself asserts that Nixon sent operatives to Lowell to help derail his campaign.

Question: What party did Durkin run as?
Answer: Independent

Question: How far ahead of Cronin did Kerry poll?
Answer: 26-points

Question: What slant did The Sun have?
Answer: conservative

Question: Who did Kerry say tried to stop his campaign?
Answer: President Nixon

Question: How did Kerry want to create jobs?
Answer: a jobs programme to clean up the Merrimack River
John_Kerry

The race was the most expensive for Congress in the country that year and four days before the general election, Durkin withdrew and endorsed Cronin, hoping to see Kerry defeated. The week before, a poll had put Kerry 10 points ahead of Cronin, with Dukin on 13%. In the final days of the campaign, Kerry sensed that it was "slipping away" and Cronin emerged victorious by 110,970 votes (53.45%) to Kerry's 92,847 (44.72%). After his defeat, Kerry lamented in a letter to supporters that "for two solid weeks, [The Sun] called me un-American, New Left antiwar agitator, unpatriotic, and labeled me every other 'un-' and 'anti-' that they could find. It's hard to believe that one newspaper could be so powerful, but they were." He later felt that his failure to respond directly to The Sun's attacks cost him the race.

Question: How many votes did Cronin get against Kerry?
Answer: 110,970

Question: What percent of votes did Cronin get against Kerry?
Answer: 53.45%

Question: How many votes did Kerry get against Cronin?
Answer: 92,847

Question: What percent of votes did Kerry get against Cronin?
Answer: 44.72%

Question: What did Kerry think cost him the race against Cronin?
Answer: his failure to respond directly to The Sun's attacks
John_Kerry

After Kerry's 1972 defeat, he and his wife bought a house in Belvidere, Lowell, entering a decade which his brother Cameron later called "the years in exile". He spent some time working as a fundraiser for the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), an international humanitarian organization. In September 1973, he entered Boston College Law School. While studying, Kerry worked as a talk radio host on WBZ and, in July 1974, was named executive director of Mass Action, a Massachusetts advocacy association.

Question: Where did Kerry move after the 1972 election?
Answer: Belvidere, Lowell

Question: What did Kerry's brother call the decade after 1972?
Answer: "the years in exile"

Question: What did Kerry fundraise for?
Answer: the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere

Question: When did Kerry enter law school?
Answer: September 1973

Question: Where was Kerry a talk radio host?
Answer: WBZ
John_Kerry

In January 1977, Droney promoted him to First Assistant District Attorney, essentially making Kerry his campaign and media surrogate because Droney was afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease). As First Assistant, Kerry tried cases, which included winning convictions in a high-profile rape case and a murder. He also played a role in administering the office, including initiating the creation of special white-collar and organized crime units, creating programs to address the problems of rape and other crime victims and witnesses, and managing trial calendars to reflect case priorities. It was in this role in 1978 that Kerry announced an investigation into possible criminal charges against then Senator Edward Brooke, regarding "misstatements" in his first divorce trial. The inquiry ended with no charges being brought after investigators and prosecutors determined that Brooke's misstatements were pertinent to the case, but were not material enough to have affected the outcome.

Question: When did Kerry become an ADA?
Answer: January 1977

Question: What condition did Droney have?
Answer: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Question: What is ALS's nickname?
Answer: Lou Gehrig's Disease

Question: What senator did Kerry investigate in 1978?
Answer: Edward Brooke

Question: Why was Brooke being investigated?
Answer: "misstatements" in his first divorce trial
John_Kerry

Droney's health was poor and Kerry had decided to run for his position in the 1978 election should Droney drop out. However, Droney was re-elected and his health improved; he went on to re-assume many of the duties that he had delegated to Kerry. Kerry thus decided to leave, departing in 1979 with assistant DA Roanne Sragow to set up their own law firm. Kerry also worked as a commentator for WCVB-TV and co-founded a bakery, Kilvert & Forbes Ltd., with businessman and former Kennedy aide K. Dun Gifford.

Question: When did Kerry consider running for president if Droney didn't?
Answer: 1978

Question: When did Kerry leave the DA's office?
Answer: 1979

Question: Who left the DA's office with Kerry?
Answer: Roanne Sragow

Question: What bakery did Kerry co-found?
Answer: Kilvert & Forbes Ltd.

Question: Who did Kerry start a bakery with?
Answer: K. Dun Gifford
John_Kerry

The junior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, Paul Tsongas, announced in 1984 that he would be stepping down for health reasons. Kerry ran, and as in his 1982 race for Lieutenant Governor, he did not receive the endorsement of the party regulars at the state Democratic convention. Congressman James Shannon, a favorite of House Speaker Tip O'Neill, was the early favorite to win the nomination, and he "won broad establishment support and led in early polling." Again as in 1982, however, Kerry prevailed in a close primary.

Question: What was Paul Tsongas's job in 1984?
Answer: junior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts

Question: When did Kerry run for Senate?
Answer: 1984

Question: When did Kerry run for Lt Governor?
Answer: 1982

Question: What was James Shannon's job?
Answer: Congressman

Question: What was Tip O'Neill's job?
Answer: House Speaker
John_Kerry

On April 18, 1985, a few months after taking his Senate seat, Kerry and Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa traveled to Nicaragua and met the country's president, Daniel Ortega. Though Ortega had won internationally certified elections, the trip was criticized because Ortega and his leftist Sandinista government had strong ties to Cuba and the USSR and were accused of human rights abuses. The Sandinista government was opposed by the right-wing CIA-backed rebels known as the Contras. While in Nicaragua, Kerry and Harkin talked to people on both sides of the conflict. Through the senators, Ortega offered a cease-fire agreement in exchange for the U.S. dropping support of the Contras. The offer was denounced by the Reagan administration as a "propaganda initiative" designed to influence a House vote on a $14 million Contra aid package, but Kerry said "I am willing..... to take the risk in the effort to put to test the good faith of the Sandinistas." The House voted down the Contra aid, but Ortega flew to Moscow to accept a $200 million loan the next day, which in part prompted the House to pass a larger $27 million aid package six weeks later.

Question: When did Kerry visit Nicaragua?
Answer: April 18, 1985

Question: Who did Kerry visit Nicaragua with?
Answer: Senator Tom Harkin

Question: Where was Tom Harkin from?
Answer: Iowa

Question: Who did Kerry visit in Nicaragua?
Answer: Daniel Ortega

Question: What was criticized about Ortega's administration?
Answer: strong ties to Cuba and the USSR and were accused of human rights abuses
John_Kerry

Meanwhile, Kerry's staff began their own investigations and, on October 14, issued a report that exposed illegal activities on the part of Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, who had set up a private network involving the National Security Council and the CIA to deliver military equipment to right-wing Nicaraguan rebels (Contras). In effect, North and certain members of the President's administration were accused by Kerry's report of illegally funding and supplying armed militants without the authorization of Congress. Kerry's staff investigation, based on a year-long inquiry and interviews with fifty unnamed sources, is said to raise "serious questions about whether the United States has abided by the law in its handling of the contras over the past three years."

Question: Who did Kerry's staff expose in an Oct 14 report?
Answer: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North

Question: Who had Oliver North been supporting?
Answer: right-wing Nicaraguan rebels (Contras)

Question: Who were the Contras?
Answer: right-wing Nicaraguan rebels

Question: What government agencies worked with North?
Answer: the National Security Council and the CIA

Question: What crime had Kerry said North committed?
Answer: illegally funding and supplying armed militants without the authorization of Congress
John_Kerry

The Kerry Committee report found that "the Contra drug links included..... payments to drug traffickers by the U.S. State Department of funds authorized by the Congress for humanitarian assistance to the Contras, in some cases after the traffickers had been indicted by federal law enforcement agencies on drug charges, in others while traffickers were under active investigation by these same agencies." The U.S. State Department paid over $806,000 to known drug traffickers to carry humanitarian assistance to the Contras. Kerry's findings provoked little reaction in the media and official Washington.

Question: Who was the State Department giving money to?
Answer: drug traffickers

Question: Where had the money given to drug traffickers come from?
Answer: funds authorized by the Congress for humanitarian assistance to the Contras

Question: How much money did the State Department give the traffickers?
Answer: over $806,000

Question: What was the response to Kerry's accusation of funding traffickers?
Answer: little reaction in the media and official Washington
John_Kerry

During their investigation of Noriega, Kerry's staff found reason to believe that the Pakistan-based Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) had facilitated Noriega's drug trafficking and money laundering. This led to a separate inquiry into BCCI, and as a result, banking regulators shut down BCCI in 1991. In December 1992, Kerry and Senator Hank Brown, a Republican from Colorado, released The BCCI Affair, a report on the BCCI scandal. The report showed that the bank was crooked and was working with terrorists, including Abu Nidal. It blasted the Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury, the Customs Service, the Federal Reserve Bank, as well as influential lobbyists and the CIA.

Question: Where is the BCCI based?
Answer: Pakistan

Question: What bank helped Noriega?
Answer: Bank of Credit and Commerce International

Question: When was BCCI shut down?
Answer: 1991

Question: Who collaborated in the report about BCCI?
Answer: Kerry and Senator Hank Brown

Question: What was the BCCI report called?
Answer: The BCCI Affair
John_Kerry

In 1996, Kerry faced a difficult re-election fight against Governor William Weld, a popular Republican incumbent who had been re-elected in 1994 with 71% of the vote. The race was covered nationwide as one of the most closely watched Senate races that year. Kerry and Weld held several debates and negotiated a campaign spending cap of $6.9 million at Kerry's Beacon Hill townhouse. Both candidates spent more than the cap, with each camp accusing the other of being first to break the agreement. During the campaign, Kerry spoke briefly at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. Kerry won re-election with 53 percent to Weld's 45 percent.

Question: Who ran against Kerry in 1996?
Answer: William Weld

Question: When Weld was re-elected governor, how much of the vote did he get?
Answer: 71%

Question: When was Weld re-elected governor?
Answer: 1994

Question: What did Kerry and Weld agree to limit their campaign spending to?
Answer: $6.9 million

Question: Who broke the agreed-upon spending cap?
Answer: Both candidates
John_Kerry

Kerry said that he had intended the remark as a jab at President Bush, and described the remarks as a "botched joke", having inadvertently left out the key word "us" (which would have been, "If you don't, you get us stuck in Iraq"), as well as leaving the phrase "just ask President Bush" off of the end of the sentence. In Kerry's prepared remarks, which he released during the ensuing media frenzy, the corresponding line was "... you end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush." He also said that from the context of the speech which, prior to the "stuck in Iraq" line, made several specific references to Bush and elements of his biography, that Kerry was referring to President Bush and not American troops in general.

Question: What was Kerry supposed to say when he 'botched a joke'?
Answer: "... you end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush."

Question: Who was Kerry saying was stuck in Iraq?
Answer: President Bush and not American troops in general

Question: What mistake did Kerry make in the joke?
Answer: inadvertently left out the key word "us"
John_Kerry

Kerry "has emerged in the past few years as an important envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan during times of crisis," a Washington Post report stated in May 2011, as Kerry undertook another trip to the two countries. The killing of Osama bin Laden "has generated perhaps the most important crossroads yet," the report continued, as the senator spoke at a press conference and prepared to fly from Kabul to Pakistan. Among matters discussed during the May visit to Pakistan, under the general rubric of "recalibrating" the bilateral relationship, Kerry sought and retrieved from the Pakistanis the tail-section of the U.S. helicopter which had had to be abandoned at Abbottabad during the bin Laden strike. In 2013, Kerry met with Pakistan's army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to discuss the peace process with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Question: Who did the Washington Post say Kerry was an envoy for?
Answer: Afghanistan and Pakistan

Question: When did the Washington Post say Kerry was important envoy?
Answer: May 2011

Question: How, in May 2011, did the WaPo describe Bin Laden's killing?
Answer: perhaps the most important crossroads yet

Question: What did Kerry get from the Pakistanis?
Answer: the tail-section of the U.S. helicopter which had had to be abandoned at Abbottabad during the bin Laden strike

Question: Who was Pakistan's army chief in 2013?
Answer: Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
John_Kerry

Most analyses place Kerry's voting record on the left within the Senate Democratic caucus. During the 2004 presidential election he was portrayed as a staunch liberal by conservative groups and the Bush campaign, who often noted that in 2003 Kerry was rated the National Journal's top Senate liberal. However, that rating was based only upon voting on legislation within that past year. In fact, in terms of career voting records, the National Journal found that Kerry is the 11th most liberal member of the Senate. Most analyses find that Kerry is at least slightly more liberal than the typical Democratic Senator. Kerry has stated that he opposes privatizing Social Security, supports abortion rights for adult women and minors, supports same-sex marriage, opposes capital punishment except for terrorists, supports most gun control laws, and is generally a supporter of trade agreements. Kerry supported the North American Free Trade Agreement and Most Favored Nation status for China, but opposed the Central American Free Trade Agreement.[citation needed]

Question: Who said Kerry was the 'top Senate liberal'?
Answer: the National Journal

Question: When was Kerry called the 'top Senate liberal'?
Answer: 2003

Question: What was Kerry's actual career voting rank for 'liberalness'?
Answer: 11th most liberal

Question: What trade agreement did Kerry support?
Answer: North American Free Trade Agreement

Question: What trade agreement did Kerry oppose?
Answer: Central American Free Trade Agreement
John_Kerry

In the lead up to the Iraq War, Kerry said on October 9, 2002; "I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." Bush relied on that resolution in ordering the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Kerry also gave a January 23, 2003 speech to Georgetown University saying "Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator; leading an oppressive regime he presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation. So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real." Kerry did, however, warn that the administration should exhaust its diplomatic avenues before launching war: "Mr. President, do not rush to war, take the time to build the coalition, because it's not winning the war that's hard, it's winning the peace that's hard."

Question: When did Kerry say he intended to support the Iraq War?
Answer: October 9, 2002

Question: When did Bush declare the Iraq war?
Answer: 2003

Question: Who did Kerry say we should disarm?
Answer: Saddam Hussein

Question: When did Kerry speak at Georgetown University?
Answer: January 23, 2003
John_Kerry

Kerry chaired the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs from 1991 to 1993. The committee's report, which Kerry endorsed, stated there was "no compelling evidence that proves that any American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia." In 1994 the Senate passed a resolution, sponsored by Kerry and fellow Vietnam veteran John McCain, that called for an end to the existing trade embargo against Vietnam; it was intended to pave the way for normalization. In 1995, President Bill Clinton normalized diplomatic relations with the country of Vietnam.

Question: What committee did Kerry chair in 1991-1993?
Answer: the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs

Question: What did the POW/MIA committee conclude about Vietnam POWs?
Answer: there was "no compelling evidence that proves that any American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia."

Question: When did Kerry sponsor a resolution to reopen trade with Vietnam?
Answer: 1994

Question: Who sponsored the resolution to reopen trade with Vietnam, along with Kerry?
Answer: John McCain

Question: When did Bill Clinton normalize relations with Vietnam?
Answer: 1995
John_Kerry

In the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries, John Kerry defeated several Democratic rivals, including Sen. John Edwards (D-North Carolina.), former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and retired Army General Wesley Clark. His victory in the Iowa caucuses is widely believed to be the tipping point where Kerry revived his sagging campaign in New Hampshire and the February 3, 2004, primary states like Arizona, South Carolina and New Mexico. Kerry then went on to win landslide victories in Nevada and Wisconsin. Kerry thus won the Democratic nomination to run for President of the United States against incumbent George W. Bush. On July 6, 2004, he announced his selection of John Edwards as his running mate. Democratic strategist Bob Shrum, who was Kerry's 2004 campaign adviser, wrote an article in Time magazine claiming that after the election, Kerry had said that he wished he'd never picked Edwards, and that the two have since stopped speaking to each other. In a subsequent appearance on ABC's This Week, Kerry refused to respond to Shrum's allegation, calling it a "ridiculous waste of time."

Question: Where was John Edwards a senator?
Answer: North Carolina

Question: Where was Howard Dean a governor?
Answer: Vermont

Question: What was Wesley Clark's former job?
Answer: Army General

Question: Who won the 2004 Iowa Democratic Caucus?
Answer: John Kerry

Question: When did Kerry choose John Edwards to be his VP?
Answer: July 6, 2004
John_Kerry

During his bid to be elected president in 2004, Kerry frequently criticized President George W. Bush for the Iraq War. While Kerry had initially voted in support of authorizing President Bush to use force in dealing with Saddam Hussein, he voted against an $87 billion supplemental appropriations bill to pay for the subsequent war. His statement on March 16, 2004, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it," helped the Bush campaign to paint him as a flip-flopper and has been cited as contributing to Kerry's defeat.

Question: Who did Kerry criticize during the 2004 campaign?
Answer: President George W. Bush

Question: Why did Kerry criticize Bush during the 2004 campaign?
Answer: for the Iraq War

Question: What had Kerry voted against after supporting the initial Iraq authorization?
Answer: an $87 billion supplemental appropriations bill to pay for the subsequent war

Question: What did Bush's campaign call Kerry for changing his mind about Iraq?
Answer: a flip-flopper
John_Kerry

Kerry established a separate political action committee, Keeping America's Promise, which declared as its mandate "A Democratic Congress will restore accountability to Washington and help change a disastrous course in Iraq", and raised money and channeled contributions to Democratic candidates in state and federal races. Through Keeping America's Promise in 2005, Kerry raised over $5.5 million for other Democrats up and down the ballot. Through his campaign account and his political action committee, the Kerry campaign operation generated more than $10 million for various party committees and 179 candidates for the U.S. House, Senate, state and local offices in 42 states focusing on the midterm elections during the 2006 election cycle. "Cumulatively, John Kerry has done as much if not more than any other individual senator", Hassan Nemazee, the national finance chairman of the DSCC said.

Question: What was Kerry's PAC?
Answer: Keeping America's Promise

Question: What was the mission of Keeping America's Promise?
Answer: "A Democratic Congress will restore accountability to Washington and help change a disastrous course in Iraq"

Question: How many down-ballot candidates did Kerry help support?
Answer: 179

Question: How many states' down-ballot candidates did Kerry help support?
Answer: 42

Question: Which election did Kerry's PAC focus on?
Answer: the midterm elections during the 2006 election cycle
John_Kerry

On December 15, 2012, several news outlets reported that President Barack Obama would nominate Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, after Susan Rice, widely seen as Obama's preferred choice, withdrew her name from consideration citing a politicized confirmation process following criticism of her response to the 2012 Benghazi attack. On December 21, Obama proposed the nomination which received positive commentary. His confirmation hearing took place on January 24, 2013, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the same panel where he first testified in 1971. The committee unanimously voted to approve him on January 29, 2013, and the same day the full Senate confirmed him on a vote of 94–3. In a letter to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Kerry announced his resignation from the Senate effective February 1.

Question: When was it reported that Kerry would become SoS?
Answer: December 15, 2012

Question: Who was Secretary of State before Kerry?
Answer: Hillary Clinton

Question: Who backed out of becoming SoS after Hillary?
Answer: Susan Rice

Question: Why did Rice withdraw?
Answer: a politicized confirmation process following criticism of her response to the 2012 Benghazi attack

Question: When was Kerry's appointment confirmed?
Answer: January 29, 2013
John_Kerry

In the State Department, Kerry quickly earned a reputation "for being aloof, keeping to himself, and not bothering to read staff memos." Career State Department officials have complained that power has become too centralized under Kerry's leadership, which slows department operations when Kerry is on one of his frequent overseas trips. Others in State describe Kerry as having "a kind of diplomatic attention deficit disorder" as he shifts from topic to topic instead of focusing on long-term strategy. When asked whether he was traveling too much, he responded, "Hell no. I'm not slowing down." Despite Kerry's early achievements, morale at State is lower than under Hillary Clinton according to department employees. However, after Kerry's first six months in the State Department, a Gallup poll found he had high approval ratings among Americans as Secretary of State. After a year, another poll showed Kerry's favorability continued to rise. Less than two years into Kerry's term, the Foreign Policy Magazine's 2014 Ivory Tower survey of international relations scholars asked, "Who was the most effective U.S. Secretary of State in the past 50 years?"; John Kerry and Lawrence Eagleburger tied for 11th place out of the 15 confirmed Secretaries of State in that period.

Question: Who complained about how Kerry ran the State Dept?
Answer: Career State Department officials

Question: What was the complaint about how Kerry ran the State Dept?
Answer: power has become too centralized under Kerry's leadership, which slows department operations when Kerry is on one of his frequent overseas trips

Question: How had some State employees described Kerry?
Answer: having "a kind of diplomatic attention deficit disorder"

Question: Who published the Ivory Tower Survey?
Answer: Foreign Policy Magazine

Question: What was Kerry's ranking in the Ivory Tower Survey for effectiveness as SoS?
Answer: tied for 11th place out of the 15
John_Kerry

In January 2014, having met with Secretary of State, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, Kerry said "We touched on just about every major issue that we are both working on, that are issues of concern to all of us. First of all, we talked at great length about Syria, and I was particularly appreciative for the Archbishop’s raising this issue, and equally grateful for the Holy Father’s comments – the Pope's comments yesterday regarding his support for the Geneva II process. We welcome that support. It is very important to have broad support, and I know that the Pope is particularly concerned about the massive numbers of displaced human beings and the violence that has taken over 130,000 lives".

Question: Who met Kerry in Jan 2014?
Answer: Archbishop Pietro Parolin

Question: What country did Kerry discuss with Parolin?
Answer: Syria

Question: What did the Pope express support for in Jan 2014?
Answer: the Geneva II process

Question: How many people did Kerry say had died in Syria as of Jan 2014?
Answer: over 130,000
John_Kerry

Kerry said on September 9 in response to a reporter's question about whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could avert a military strike: "He could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week. Turn it over, all of it, without delay, and allow a full and total accounting for that. But he isn't about to do it, and it can't be done, obviously." This unscripted remark initiated a process that would lead to Syria agreeing to relinquish and destroy its chemical weapons arsenal, as Russia treated Kerry's statement as a serious proposal. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia would work "immediately" to convince Syria relinquish and destroy its large chemical weapons arsenal. Syria quickly welcomed this proposal and on September 14, the UN formally accepted Syria's application to join the convention banning chemical weapons, and separately, the U.S. and Russia agreed on a plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons by the middle of 2014. On September 28, the UN Security Council passed a resolution ordering the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons and condemning the August 21 Ghouta attack.

Question: Who was Syria's president in 2014?
Answer: Bashar al-Assad

Question: What did Kerry say Syria could do to avoid a military strike?
Answer: turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week

Question: Which country convinced Syria to actually give up its chemical weapons?
Answer: Russia

Question: What was Sergey Lavrov's position?
Answer: Russian Foreign Minister

Question: When did the UN Security Council order Syria's chemical weapons be destroyed?
Answer: September 28
John_Kerry

Kerry's paternal grandparents, shoe businessman Frederick A. "Fred" Kerry and musician Ida Lowe, were immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Fred was born as "Fritz Kohn" before he and Ida took on the "Kerry" name and moved to the United States. Fred and Ida were born Jewish, and converted to Catholicism together in Austria. His maternal ancestors were of Scottish and English descent, and his maternal grandfather James Grant Forbes II was a member of the Forbes family, while his maternal grandmother Margaret Tyndal Winthrop was a member of the Dudley–Winthrop family. Margaret's paternal grandfather Robert Charles Winthrop served as the 22nd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Robert's father was Governor Thomas Lindall Winthrop. Thomas' father John Still Winthrop was a great-great-grandson of Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop and great-grandson of Governor Thomas Dudley. Through his mother, John is a first cousin once removed of French politician Brice Lalonde.

Question: Who was Kerry's paternal grandmother?
Answer: Ida Lowe

Question: Who was Kerry's paternal grandfather?
Answer: Frederick A. "Fred" Kerry

Question: What was Kerry's paternal grandmother's career?
Answer: musician

Question: What was Kerry's paternal grandfather's career?
Answer: shoe businessman

Question: Where did Kerry's paternal grandparents immigrate from?
Answer: the Austro-Hungarian Empire
John_Kerry

Alexandra was born days before Kerry began law school. In 1982, Julia asked Kerry for a separation while she was suffering from severe depression. They were divorced on July 25, 1988, and the marriage was formally annulled in 1997. "After 14 years as a political wife, I associated politics only with anger, fear and loneliness" she wrote in A Change of Heart, her book about depression. Thorne later married Richard Charlesworth, an architect, and moved to Bozeman, Montana, where she became active in local environmental groups such as the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Thorne supported Kerry's 2004 presidential run. She died of cancer on April 27, 2006.

Question: When did Kerry and his wife separate?
Answer: 1982

Question: When did Kerry and his wife divorce?
Answer: July 25, 1988

Question: When did Kerry and his wife get an annullment?
Answer: 1997

Question: What book did Kerry's ex-wife write?
Answer: A Change of Heart

Question: Who did Kerry's ex-wife remarry?
Answer: Richard Charlesworth
John_Kerry

Kerry and his second wife, Mozambican-born businesswoman and philanthropist Maria Teresa Thierstein Simões Ferreira (known as Teresa), the widow of Kerry's late Pennsylvania Republican Senate colleague Henry John Heinz III, were introduced to each other by Heinz at an Earth Day rally in 1990. Early the following year, Senator Heinz was killed in a plane crash near Lower Merion. Teresa has three sons from her previous marriage to Heinz, Henry John Heinz IV, André Thierstein Heinz, and Christopher Drake Heinz. Heinz and Kerry were married on May 26, 1995, in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Question: Who is Kerry's 2nd wife?
Answer: Maria Teresa Thierstein Simões Ferreira

Question: What is Kerry's 2nd wife's nationality?
Answer: Mozambican

Question: Who was Kerry's 2nd wife's previous husband?
Answer: Henry John Heinz III

Question: When did Kerry and Teresa meet?
Answer: 1990

Question: Where did Kerry and Teresa meet?
Answer: at an Earth Day rally
John_Kerry

The Forbes 400 survey estimated in 2004 that Teresa Heinz Kerry had a net worth of $750 million. However, estimates have frequently varied, ranging from around $165 million to as high as $3.2 billion, according to a study in the Los Angeles Times. Regardless of which figure is correct, Kerry was the wealthiest U.S. Senator while serving in the Senate. Independent of Heinz, Kerry is wealthy in his own right, and is the beneficiary of at least four trusts inherited from Forbes family relatives, including his mother, Rosemary Forbes Kerry, who died in 2002. Forbes magazine (named for the Forbes family of publishers, unrelated to Kerry) estimated that if elected, and if Heinz family assets were included, Kerry would have been the third-richest U.S. President in history, when adjusted for inflation. This assessment was based on Heinz and Kerry's combined assets, but the couple signed a prenuptial agreement that keeps their assets separate. Kerry's financial disclosure form for 2011 put his personal assets in the range of $230,000,000 to $320,000,000, including the assets of his spouse and any dependent children. This included slightly more than three million dollars worth of H. J. Heinz Company assets, which increased in value by over six hundred thousand dollars in 2013 when Berkshire Hathaway announced their intention to purchase the company.

Question: What was Teresa Heinz Kerry's net worth in 2004 according to Forbes?
Answer: $750 million

Question: What range of estimates have been given for Teresa Heinz Kerry's net worth?
Answer: from around $165 million to as high as $3.2 billion

Question: What was Kerry's mother's name?
Answer: Rosemary Forbes Kerry

Question: When did Kerry's mother pass away?
Answer: 2002

Question: Where would Kerry have ranked among richest US presidents, adjusted for inflation?
Answer: third-richest
John_Kerry

Kerry is a Roman Catholic, and is said to carry a religious rosary, a prayer book, and a St. Christopher medal (the patron saint of travelers) when he campaigned. While Kerry is personally against abortion, he supports a woman's legal right to have one. Discussing his faith, Kerry said, "I thought of being a priest. I was very religious while at school in Switzerland. I was an altar boy and prayed all the time. I was very centered around the Mass and the church." He also said that the Letters of Paul (Apostle Paul) moved him the most, stating that they taught him to "not feel sorry for myself."

Question: What religion is Kerry?
Answer: Roman Catholic

Question: What religious items did Kerry bring with him while campaigning?
Answer: a religious rosary, a prayer book, and a St. Christopher medal

Question: What is St. Christopher the patron saint of?
Answer: travelers

Question: What did Kerry do in the church while living in Switzerland?
Answer: was an altar boy and prayed all the time

Question: Which part of the Bible did Kerry find the most moving?
Answer: the Letters of Paul
John_Kerry

Kerry told Christianity Today in October 2004 "I'm a Catholic and I practice, but at the same time I have an open-mindedness to many other expressions of spirituality that come through different religions... I've spent some time reading and thinking about religion and trying to study it, and I've arrived at not so much a sense of the differences, but a sense of the similarities in so many ways." He said that he believed that the Torah, the Qur'an, and the Bible all share a fundamental story which connects with readers.

Question: Who interviewed Kerry in Oct 2004 about his religion?
Answer: Christianity Today

Question: What did Kerry tell Christianity Today that he is open-minded to?
Answer: many other expressions of spirituality that come through different religions

Question: What did Kerry say about major religious texts?
Answer: he believed that the Torah, the Qur'an, and the Bible all share a fundamental story
John_Kerry

In addition to the sports he played at Yale, Kerry is described by Sports Illustrated, among others, as an "avid cyclist", primarily riding on a road bike. Prior to his presidential bid, Kerry was known to have participated in several long-distance rides (centuries). Even during his many campaigns, he was reported to have visited bicycle stores in both his home state and elsewhere. His staff requested recumbent stationary bikes for his hotel rooms. He has also been a snowboarder, windsurfer, and sailor.

Question: Who said Kerry is an 'avid cyclist'?
Answer: Sports Illustrated

Question: What type of bicycle does Kerry prefer?
Answer: a road bike

Question: What are 'centuries' in bicycling?
Answer: long-distance rides

Question: What bicycles did Kerry use while campaigning?
Answer: recumbent stationary bikes for his hotel rooms

Question: What other sports does Kerry participate in?
Answer: snowboarder, windsurfer, and sailor
John_Kerry

According to the Boston Herald, dated July 23, 2010, Kerry commissioned construction on a new $7 million yacht (a Friendship 75) in New Zealand and moored it in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where the Friendship yacht company is based. The article claimed this allowed him to avoid paying Massachusetts taxes on the property including approximately $437,500 in sales tax and an annual excise tax of about $500. However, on July 27, 2010, Kerry stated he had yet to take legal possession of the boat, had not intended to avoid the taxes, and that when he took possession, he would pay the taxes whether he owed them or not.

Question: What type of yacht did Kerry buy?
Answer: a Friendship 75

Question: How expensive was Kerry's yacht?
Answer: $7 million

Question: Where was Kerry's yacht built?
Answer: New Zealand

Question: How much sales tax did Kerry owe on the yacht?
Answer: $437,500

Question: Which state received Kerry's yacht's sales tax?
Answer: Massachusetts