The president who never was
It seemed every move he made as a Vietnam war hero, a star lawyer, a state politician and US senator was setting the stage for his presidential bid.
But yesterday, after defeat at the hands of George Bush, John Forbes Kerry's dream of becoming the next JFK are in tatters.
Mr Kerry was born to run for the presidency. The 60-year-old 6ft 4in Massachusetts senator had all the credentials. He was born into money, a war hero educated at Yale, but his years as a Democratic politician did not make him decisive.
Sometimes he appeared to ponder too long on a question. Sometimes his decisions appeared to contradict each other.
In the face of an ongoing terrorist threat, and with tens of thousands of troops still at war in Iraq, the people of the US were not willing to take the chance.
Mr Kerry hoped that his own experiences of war would convince Americans that he was ideal for the job as commander in chief.
His Vietnam heroics became a central part of his campaign.
During a battle in Vietnam he turned the Swift Boat he commanded directly into a hail of enemy bullets, charged at the shore, beached his craft and shot dead a Viet Cong armed with a rocket launcher.
But despite winning a Silver Star and Bronze Star for bravery, and three Purple Hearts for his battle wounds, Mr Kerry returned from the Mekong Delta to America to lead the campaign against the war.
These are the two different sides of Mr Kerry. He is thoughtful, an idealist but, when the pressure is on, he will come out fighting.
Born in a military hospital on December 11, 1943, in Colorado, John Forbes Kerry has two children from his first marriage to Julia Thorne, and three stepchildren with his current wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.
He was one of four children born to Richard Kerry, an American diplomat, and Rosemary Forbes Kerry, part of the wealthy Forbes shipping dynasty.
Mr Kerry's first foray into politics was unsuccessful. He lost a 1972 bid for Congress. So he went to law school, and in 1976 began a career as a prosecutor in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, where he targeted organised crime.
In 1982, he was elected as Massachusetts lieutenant governor. And in 1984 he entered the US Senate. He won three more terms.
Mr Kerry's political background has not led to exclusively positive headlines.
Rivals exploited his tag as a long-standing Washington insider in a country where the seat of power, and the people who make their living there, are regarded with suspicion by many.
Mr Kerry is a thoughtful man, sometimes too thoughtful for a politician in an era of soundbites.
He supported authorising the use of force against Iraq in the second Gulf War, but has since spoken out against it. Such moves led opponents to brand him a mind-changing "flip-flopper".
Whether Mr Kerry will make another run for the White House in 2008 remains to be seen. But the field of Democrats expected to bid is already crowded.
And whether, at 64, Mr Kerry could face the financial, emotional and physical upheaval of another campaign must be in doubt.
To him and those who know him well, John Kerry is the president who never was.
