Coordinates: 53°27′55″N 2°10′21″W / 53.465314°N 2.172491°W / 53.465314; -2.172491

Gorton
Gorton Monastery
Gorton  Gorton shown within Greater Manchester
OS grid reference	SJ885965
Metropolitan borough	Manchester
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MANCHESTER
Postcode district	M18
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Manchester Gorton
List of places: UK • England • Greater Manchester

Gorton is an area of the city of Manchester, in North West England. It is located to the southeast of Manchester city centre. Neighbouring areas include Longsight and Levenshulme.

A major landmark in Gorton is Gorton Monastery, a Franciscan 19th-century High Victorian Gothic monastery.

History[link]

According to local folklore, Goreton derives its name "Gore Town" due to a battle between the Saxons and Danes nearby.^[1][2] This has been dismissed by historians as "popular fancy".^[3] The name Gorton means "dirty farmstead",^[4] perhaps taking its name from the Gore Brook, or dirty brook, which still runs through the township to-day. The brook may have acquired that name because of the dirty appearance of its water, perhaps caused by discolouration due to peat or iron deposits.^[5]

In medieval times the district was a township of the ancient parish of Manchester in the Salford Hundred of Lancashire.

Manchester City F.C. was founded as St. Mark's (West Gorton) in 1880. The club was formed with the aim of binding the local community and to combat a form of gang warfare called scuttling that existed during the 1870s.^[6][7] The rector's daughter, Anna Connell, is widely credited as the founder, however churchwarden William Beastow is believed to be the person who played the main part in creating sporting activities for the parish. In 1875 St.Mark's Cricket Club are known to have played and this evolved into the football club later in the decade.^[8] The first recorded football game was played in November 1880.^[9]

A Blackfoot Sioux chief named Charging Thunder who was one of the first Pony Express riders in America came to Salford at age 26 as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1903 . Like many Lakota tribesmen, Charging Thunder was an exceptional horseman and performed thrilling stunts in Buffalo Bill's show in front of huge crowds, on the site of what is now the Lowry in Salford Quays. But when the show rolled out of town, he remained in London. He married Josephine, an American horse trainer who had just given birth to their first child, Bessie and together they settled in Darwen, before moving to Gorton. His name was changed to George Edward Williams, after registering with the British immigration authorities to enable him to find work. He died on July 28, 1929 from pneumonia at age 52. Williams was buried in Gorton's cemetery.

Railways[link]

Beyer, Peacock locomotive plate

Gorton railway station opened in 1842. In 1849 a locomotive works was built for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, later the Great Central Railway. It was known locally as the "Gorton Tank". It carried out repairs and major overhauls, producing new boilers and all LNER castings. There was also a carriage and wagon works which had been built in 1881 which carried out light repairs. Both were closed in 1962.^[10] Gorton was also the home of the Beyer-Peacock locomotive Company at Gorton Foundry, from 1854, until it closed in 1966. One of the company's partners, Richard Peacock subsequently became Liberal M.P for Gorton in the 1885 general election.

20th century[link]

Most of the 19th-century Victorian houses around Gorton were demolished during the 1960s, and many people were moved to new overspill housing estates in other parts of the city. However, some people remained in Gorton and were placed in new council houses and flats.

Myra Hindley grew up in Gorton.^[11] She and Ian Brady lived there at the time of the first three Moors murders, before moving to Hattersley where they committed two further murders and were arrested in October 1965. Their first victim, Pauline Reade (who died in July 1963 aged 16, but whose body was not found for 24 years), was a Gorton resident^[12] as was fourth victim, Keith Bennett; last seen alive on 16 June 1964 aged 12. His body has yet to be found.^[13]

Social problems in Gorton[link]

In 2006 the Motor Insurers' Bureau named West Gorton as the worst place in the UK for uninsured cars, with over six times the national average of drivers living there having no cover.^[14] However the MIB press release of 24 September 2009 stated that Barkerend in Bradford was then the worst place for uninsured drivers with Manchester the second worst city (Liverpool being the worst). The MIB do not reveal checkable details of the methods used to calculate the figures. source www.mib.org.uk

More recently some parts of Gorton have suffered from serious deprivation, which has resulted in high crime levels and burglary. The first four series of popular television series Shameless, which is shown on Channel 4 was mainly filmed in West Gorton. The parade of shops used for filming in the initial series was built on the site of St. Mark's Church, Clowes Street – the birthplace of Manchester City F.C.^[15]

Governance[link]

The municipal borough of Manchester was created in 1838 and elevated to a city in 1853. Part of Gorton township was included in the city in 1890. The remaining part of the township became an Urban District of the administrative county of Lancashire in 1894. A small part of the urban district was transferred to the city of Manchester in 1901 and the remaining area was fully incorporated into Manchester in 1909.

Gorton forms part of the Manchester Gorton parliamentary constituency. The current MP is the Rt Hon Sir Gerald Kaufman. Gorton is split into two electoral wards – Gorton North and Gorton South.

Geography[link]

Belle Vue is a locality within Gorton. West Gorton was included in the City of Manchester in 1890, whereas the remainder of Gorton was included only in 1909, thanks largely to the work of councillor Joseph Henry Williamson, then Chairman of Gorton Urban District Council.

Landmarks[link]

Gorton is home to Gorton Monastery, a Franciscan, 19th-century High Victorian Gothic Monastery. In recent years this has been renovated and has been secularised: it was previously derelict after the friars moved out. The parish left by the Friars came under the care of the Diocese of Salford. St Francis of Assisi RC Church on Textile Street, Gorton and Sacred Heart Church, Levenshulme Road, Gorton now form part of the RC Parish of Sacred Heart and St. Francis see www.catholicgorton.co.uk Also in Gorton is the Brookfield Unitarian Church on Hyde Road, built by Richard Peacock: see "Brookfield Church Memorabilia". http://www.robertsiddall.btinternet.co.uk. 

In 2006, Manchester City Council started a multi-million-pound redevelopment of the Gorton District Shopping Centre. The small market and retail area was demolished and work started in late 2007 to construct a brand new market hall and a new Tesco Extra hypermarket on this site. In July 2008, the new Manchester Gorton Market Hall was opened to the public. The construction of the new hypermarket and neighbouring petrol station continued, and in late October 2008 the new Tesco Extra store opened its doors for trading on 27 October 2008. Further retail outlets are to be developed near this site along Hyde Road, such as a Subway sandwich shop and Coral bookmarkers which opened next to the Tesco Extra in 2009.^{[citation needed]}

Gorton is also home to the Greater Manchester Police, Tactical Firearms Unit based at Openshaw Police Station.

Performing arts and sport[link]

The Gorton Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1854 and is an amateur orchestra.^[16] The folk comedy group Gorton Tank were based in Gorton and were popular in the Manchester area. The actor John Thaw, who is perhaps best known for his role as Inspector Morse, was born in West Gorton.^[17] The painter Michael Gutteridge was also born in Gorton. The Gorton Morris Men were responsible for reviving the rushcart ceremony in Gorton.^[18]

Manchester City F.C. were founded as St. Mark's (West Gorton) in 1880 and many of their footballers, such as Billy Meredith and Tommy Johnson lived in the area.^[19] Meredith was married at St. Mark's Church and lived on Clowes Street itself for a while. The much less notable Abbey Hey F.C. club is in Gorton; Gorton is the birthplace of former England and Manchester United footballer, Nicky Butt. "Bouncing Billy Barker" was a local man who specialised in jumping feats.^[20] The former England and Lancashire cricketer's Bob Berry and Brian Statham were both born in Gorton. Gorton has also been the birthplace of three Olympians, Jeff Williams a cyclist who went to the 1980 Olympics, Thomas Evenson (athletics, silver medallist in the 3000 metres steeplechase at Los Angeles in 1932) and George Wilkinson a former water polo three time Olympic champion.^[21]

References[link]

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

External links[link]

• GENUKI information for Gorton

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2011)

Mark Howard Gorton^[1] (born November 7, 1966^{[2][unreliable source?][citation needed]}) is the creator of LimeWire,^[3] a peer-to-peer file sharing client for the Java Platform, and chief executive of the Lime Group. Lime Group, based in New York, owns LimeWire as well as Lime Brokerage LLC (a stock brokerage), Tower Research Capital LLC^[4] (a hedge fund), and LimeMedical LLC (a medical software company).

Gorton has been a key figure in Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC.^[5]

Gorton is involved in various green lifestyle issues especially those having to do with transportation. At one point, Gorton was the single largest supporter of Transportation Alternatives, the New York City-based advocacy group for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit.^[6] In 1999 he founded OpenPlans, a non-profit organization that developed GeoServer, a collaborative open source project encouraging green urban planning initiatives.^[7] In 2009 Utne Reader named Gorton one of "50 visionaries who are changing your world".^[8]

In 2005 Gorton backed The New York City Streets Renaissance Campaign (NYSCR).^[9] Two of the best known projects of NYSCR are Streetsblog and Streetfilms.

Gorton owns Tower Research Capital LLC, a financial services firm he started in 1998, which trades through its affiliate, Lime Brokerage LLC. Prior to that he spent 4½ years in the proprietary trading department of Credit Suisse First Boston (now Credit Suisse).

Gorton holds a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from Yale University, a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University,^[4] and an MBA from Harvard University. He began his career as an electrical engineer for Martin Marietta (now part of Lockheed Martin), and, following his interests in business, entered the world of fixed-income trading at Credit Suisse First Boston^[4] prior to going out on his own and launching the Lime Group of companies.

Notes[link]

Aaron Payne (born 18 November 1982) is an Australian rugby league player. He has played for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition throughout his professional career. His preferred position is hooker. He can also play at Halfback.^[2]

In 2003 Payne represented the Queensland Residents side in the Queensland Cup which resulted to his rise in the NRL. Payne had come close to representing Queensland at origin level a number of times but Melbourne's Cameron Smith was in his way.

Born in Townsville, Queensland, Payne played as a junior for the Centrals Tigers club and attended Kirwan State High School. His father represented Queensland in 1979.^[2][3][4]

Payne started his first-grade career with the Cowboys in 2002.^[5] During the 2005 North Queensland Cowboys season, he was the only player to have played every game that year. He played at hooker in the 2005 NRL Grand Final, the Cowboys' first, which they lost to the Wests Tigers.

In 2006 and 2008, he was named as the Cowboys' Player of the Year. He joined that award with the Cowboys' players' player of the year and club person of the year in 2008.^[2][6][7] He is also the Cowboys' vice captain.^[8]

Payne is often considered an underrated player, operating in the shadows of high-profile Cowboys players such as Johnathan Thurston and Matt Bowen. Former Australian captain Gorden Tallis has described Payne as the "glue" that holds the Cowboys together.^[9][10]

In 2011 it was announced Aaron Payne had re-signed with the Cowboys until the 2012 season. Payne played his 200th NRL game in North Queensland's Round 6 loss to the Melbourne Storm at home.

In 2012 Payne was called into the NRL All Stars squad—the first representative selection of his career. He was selected as a replacement for the injured Cameron Smith, who for years had kept Payne out of the Queensland State of Origin squad.^[11]

References[link]

Bob Kerrey
Kerrey speaking at a March 2009 event regarding education
United States Senator from Nebraska
In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2001
Preceded by	David K. Karnes
Succeeded by	Ben Nelson
35th Governor of Nebraska
In office January 6, 1983 – January 9, 1987
Lieutenant	Donald McGinley
Preceded by	Charles Thone
Succeeded by	Kay A. Orr
Personal details
Born	Joseph Robert Kerrey (1943-08-27) August 27, 1943 (age 68) Lincoln, Nebraska
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Sarah Paley
Children	Ben Lindsey Henry (b. 2002)
Residence	Omaha, Nebraska
Alma mater	University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Profession	Naval officer, Politician, Restaurateur
Religion	United Church of Christ
Military service
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1966–1969
Rank	Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Unit	SEAL Team 1
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Medal of Honor Bronze Star Purple Heart

Joseph Robert "Bob" Kerrey (born August 27, 1943) was the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1989 to 2001. After serving in the Vietnam War and being awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions, he moved into politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992. From 2001 to 2010, Kerrey served as president of The New School, a university in New York City.^[1] In May 2010, he was selected to become the head of the Motion Picture Association of America.^[2] But in July 2010, both Kerrey and the MPAA could not reach an agreement^[3] and former Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd was selected instead. On February 27, 2012, aides confirmed that Kerrey was filing to seek election to his old Senate seat, to replace the retiring Democratic incumbent Ben Nelson.^[4] He faces Republican nominee Deb Fischer.

Early life and education[link]

Kerrey was born in Lincoln, Nebraska where he attended the public schools, graduating from Lincoln Northeast High School. He credits Bob Reese, his chemistry teacher, for inspiring his pursuit of a career in the sciences.^[5] He went on to earn a degree in pharmacy from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1966. Kerrey pledged Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and during his senior year he was tackled into the Society of Innocents, the chancellor's senior honorary society of spirit boosters.

Military service[link]

Kerrey served in the United States Navy as a SEAL from 1966 to 1969 during the Vietnam War. He lost the lower part of one leg in combat and received the Medal of Honor for action near Nha Trang Bay in South Vietnam on 14 March 1969.

Medal of Honor citation[link]

His Medal of Honor citation reads:^[6]

Medal of Honor

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a SEAL team leader during action against enemy aggressor (Viet Cong) forces. Acting in response to reliable intelligence, Lt. (j.g.) Kerrey led his SEAL team on a mission to capture important members of the enemy's area political cadre known to be located on an island in the bay of Nha Trang. In order to surprise the enemy, he and his team scaled a 350-foot sheer cliff to place themselves above the ledge on which the enemy was located. Splitting his team in 2 elements and coordinating both, Lt. (jg.) Kerrey led his men in the treacherous downward descent to the enemy's camp. Just as they neared the end of their descent, intense enemy fire was directed at them, and Lt. (jg.) Kerrey received massive injuries from a grenade that exploded at his feet and threw him backward onto the jagged rocks. Although bleeding profusely and suffering great pain, he displayed outstanding courage and presence of mind in immediately directing his element's fire into the heart of the enemy camp. Utilizing his radio, Lt. (jg.) Kerrey called in the second element's fire support, which caught the confused Viet Cong in a devastating crossfire. After successfully suppressing the enemy's fire, and although immobilized by his multiple wounds, he continued to maintain calm, superlative control as he ordered his team to secure and defend an extraction site. Lt. (jg.) Kerrey resolutely directed his men, despite his near unconscious state, until he was eventually evacuated by helicopter. The havoc brought to the enemy by this very successful mission cannot be over-estimated. The enemy soldiers who were captured provided critical intelligence to the allied effort. Lt. (jg.) Kerrey's courageous and inspiring leadership, valiant fighting spirit, and tenacious devotion to duty in the face of almost overwhelming opposition sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

Thanh Phong raid[link]

In 2001, the New York Times Magazine and 60 Minutes II carried reports on an incident that occurred during Kerrey's Vietnam War service. On February 25, 1969, he led a Swift Boat raid on the isolated peasant village of Thanh Phong, Vietnam, targeting a Viet Cong leader that intelligence suggested would be present. The village was considered part of a free-fire zone by the U.S. military.

Kerrey's SEAL team first encountered a peasant house, or hooch, and killed the people inside with knives. While Kerrey says he did not go inside the hooch and did not participate in the killings, another member of the team, Gerhard Klann, said that the people killed there were an elderly man and woman and three children under 12, and that Kerrey helped kill the man. Despite the differing recollections about who actually stabbed these people, Kerrey accepts responsibility as the team leader for their deaths: "Standard operating procedure was to dispose of the people we made contact with," he told the New York Times Magazine.^[7] Later, according to Kerrey, the team was shot at from the village and returned fire, only to find after the battle that some of the deceased appeared to be under 18, clustered together in the center of the village. "The thing that I will remember until the day I die is walking in and finding, I don't know, 14 or so, I don't even know what the number was, women and children who were dead," Kerrey said in 1998. "I was expecting to find Vietcong soldiers with weapons, dead. Instead I found women and children."^[7]

Kerrey expressed anguish and guilt over the incident:

You can never, can never get away from it. It darkens your day. I thought dying for your country was the worst thing that could happen to you, and I don't think it is. I think killing for your country can be a lot worse.^[8]

Kerrey was awarded a Bronze Star for the raid on Thanh Phong. The citation for the medal reads, "The net result of his patrol was 21 Viet Cong killed, two hooches destroyed and two enemy weapons captured."

Nebraska Governor[link]

Returning to Nebraska, he operated a chain of restaurants and fitness centers from 1972 to 1982 before narrowly defeating Charles Thone in the 1982 election for Governor of Nebraska. He served in that office from 1983 to 1987. In 1986 Kerrey served as the Chairman of the Midwestern Governors Association.

U.S. Senate[link]

Official Senate portrait of Bob Kerrey

Elections[link]

1988

In 1988, ran for the U.S. Senate seat held by recently appointed incumbent Republican David Karnes. Kerrey won the Democratic primary with 92% of the vote.^[9] In the general election, he defeated Karnes 57%-42%.^[10]

1994

He won re-election to a second term defeating businesswoman Jan Stoney^[11] 55%-45%^[12] even though it was during the Republican Revolution of 1994 and that she was endorsed by several state newspapers including McCook Daily Gazette, North Platte Telegraph, Norfolk Daily News, and Grand Island Independent.^[13]

2000

On January 20, 2000, Kerrey announced that he would not seek re-election for a third term. He stated that felt he could best serve the nation in the future as a private citizen, but left the door open to running for public office again in the future. ^[14]

Tenure[link]

As a U.S. Senator representing one of the more conservative states in the country, Kerrey took arguably liberal positions on some hot-button, conservative issues. For example, he was one of only 14 senators to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996. Kerrey also led the opposition in the Senate to the proposed flag burning amendment, which failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority needed for passage. His record on economic issues was mixed but generally liberal. He voted for the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which repealed the Glass–Steagall Act in 1999, defending his position against opposition by stating, "The concerns that we will have a meltdown like 1929 are dramatically overblown,".^[15] He voted against phasing out many farm subsidy programs, lawsuit reform measures such as the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, and he was one of the twelve senators to vote against the initial version of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, a welfare reform bill vetoed by President Bill Clinton. Kerrey also voted against the revised version of the legislation that was signed into law by Clinton in August 1996. Kerrey's record on environmental issues and taxation was more moderate, and he was a strong supporter of free trade and limiting the size of the federal government. The Senator pushed for a more aggressive foreign policy, helping to author the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. He was a member of the New Democrat Coalition.

Committee assignments[link]

He served as the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the 104th Congress before retiring in 2000. Kerrey served as a member of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (popularly known as the "9/11 Commission"), where he accused Madeleine Albright, William Cohen, and Donald Rumsfeld of pursuing U.S. interests with insufficient aggression.

1992 presidential election[link]

In September 1991, Kerrey announced his candidacy for the 1992 Democratic nomination for president. In a small field of five second tier candidates devoid of an early frontrunner, Kerrey was seen as the early favorite. However, his performance on the campaign trail often seemed lackluster, especially in comparison to the dynamic Arkansas Governor, Bill Clinton. A weak performance at a Chicago Democratic gathering in November 1991, combined with a lesbian joke that he told Clinton that was overheard on an open mike, diminished the initial positive press coverage Kerrey had enjoyed. Most damaging of all, though, was the revelation that few workers at Kerrey's restaurants and fitness clubs received health insurance, this despite the fact that Kerrey emphasized universal health care as one of his primary campaign themes. Kerrey finished a weak third in the New Hampshire primary in February 1992, despite spending heavily on TV advertising. He briefly rebounded after winning the South Dakota primary, but soon dropped out of the race after finishing fourth in the Colorado primary. Kerrey was on Clinton's "short list" for vice presidential candidate, but Tennessee Senator Al Gore received the nod instead.

The New School[link]

In 2001 Kerrey left the Senate to become President of The New School. At the school, Kerrey initially opposed the efforts of the United Auto Workers to unionize the adjunct (part-time) faculty, agreeing to negotiate with them only after several rulings against the administration by the National Labor Relations Board. A threatened strike of adjunct faculty was averted by the approval of a labor contract just before the strike deadline of October 31, 2005.

Kerrey presided over an ambitious program of reorganization at the university. He overhauled several divisions and brought in the respected Arjun Appadurai as Provost in 2005. Appadurai resigned this post in 2006. On April 14, 2005, Kerrey announced that the university was changing its name from New School University to The New School, and rebranding its eight divisions as specialized, separate entities serving different constituencies.

On December 10, 2008 it was announced that Kerrey had received a vote of no confidence from the University's senior faculty. This was perceived to have come as a response to his management style, his handling of a University budget crisis, and his controversial decision, later retracted,^[16] to act as temporary Provost with the departure of Joseph W. Westphal. Kerrey had five provosts during his 8-year tenure, something the faculty believed was the result of his inability to reconcile with the academic nature of a University and had prevented the growth and development of academic life at the school. Ironically, one of his vocal critics is Arjun Appadurai.^[17] This no-confidence vote was largely a symbolic gesture. The Board of Trustees, themselves under fire from the students for questionable investment of school money and connections to the defense industry, had until that point, stood by Kerrey.^[18]

On December 16, 2008, dozens of students took over the cafeteria in the 65 5th Avenue building; as the occupation continued, the group grew into hundreds of students from the New School, other New York City based universities, labor union members, and other supporters. This evolved into a 30-hour occupation involving hundreds of students, and dozens of police and New School officials. The occupation ended when students accepted a treaty; Kerrey agreed to amnesty, more student space, and more student power in school communications, investments, and decision making.^[19][20]

The following spring semester, students contended that the concessions from the December occupation were being buried in red tape. Early in the morning of April 10, 2009, 19 students took over the entire 65 5th Avenue building, erecting an anarchist flag and demanding once again that Kerrey resign. A few hours later, police in riot gear swarmed the same building, arresting 22 students (including 3 who were not inside) and ending the occupation after five hours.^[21]

On May 7, 2009 Kerrey announced that he would leave New School when his current contract expired on July 1, 2011.^[22] However, he ended up resigning earlier than planned, and was succeeded by David E. Van Zandt on January 1, 2011.^[23]

Return to politics[link]

Speculation[link]

On April 17, 2005, The New York Times reported that Kerrey was interested in becoming a Democratic candidate for Mayor of New York City, joining such candidates as Fernando Ferrer and C. Virginia Fields in opposing the re-election of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. After much speculation over the potential ramifications of his entry into the race, Kerrey eventually withdrew his interest in the 2005 mayoral race.

Following the announcement that Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning would challenge incumbent Senator Chuck Hagel in the Republican Primary, Kerrey began to show interest in returning to the Senate. Kerrey had endorsed Hagel had the Senator chosen to run again.^[24] On August 23, Kerrey said he believed that Sen. Hagel would retire, and he contacted the board of directors at The New School to inform them of the possibility that he might announce a return to Nebraska to run for the open seat.^[25] On September 8, 2007, Republican officials confirmed that Hagel would not run for a third term, heightening speculation that Kerrey would run.^[26]

On October 24, 2007 Kerrey announced through a news release that he would not run for the Senate because his family decided that it was "not the time for me to re-enter politics as a candidate".^[27]

Endorsement of Hillary Clinton[link]

On December 19, 2007, Kerrey endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Presidential nomination. In doing so, he stated that about Senator Barack Obama: "I like the fact that his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim and that his paternal grandmother is a Muslim. [...] There's a billion people on the planet that are Muslims, and I think that experience is a big deal." Some took this as an attack and Kerrey later wrote a letter of apology to Obama, saying: "I answered a question about your qualifications to be president in a way that has been interpreted as a backhanded insult of you. I assure you I meant to do just the opposite." Obama has said that he accepted Kerrey's apology.^[28]

Kerrey made negative comments about John Edwards while speaking of his Hillary Clinton endorsement in January 2008:

"Even before John Edwards was chasing ambulances in North Carolina and Barack was voting ‘present’ in the Illinois state senate, Senator Clinton was involved in major policy initiatives."^[29]

2012 U.S. Senate election[link]

On December 27, 2011, Political Wire reported that Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson would not seek re-election, and asserted that Kerrey was in talks with senior Democrats about the possibility of replacing him.^[30] The Washington Post reported that Kerrey would neither confirm nor deny the rumor.^[31] American Crossroads has been running advertisements critical of Kerrey's potential Nebraska Senate run, focusing on the fact that Kerrey has been living in New York for the last ten years.^[32] Kerrey responded to the ads with an invitation for Karl Rove to eat at one of Kerrey's restaurants in Nebraska, or to work out at one of his gyms that he owns in that state.^[33] On February 27, 2012, the Washington Post reported that Kerrey had earlier decided against a run, but that an aide had confirmed that he was now filing to seek election to his old Senate seat.^[4] Kerrey has decided to run after all.^[34]

Personal life[link]

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this section if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (September 2010)

While he was Governor of Nebraska, Kerrey dated actress Debra Winger while the latter was in Lincoln filming Terms of Endearment (part of which is set in Nebraska), which won the 1983 Oscar for Best Picture. When confronted with intense questioning by the press over the nature of the relationship, Kerrey famously replied; "What can I say – she swept me off my foot," alluding to the fact that the lower part of one of his legs was amputated due to injuries sustained in his Medal of Honor action in Vietnam.^[35]

He is married to Sarah Paley and lives in New York City.^[35] They had a son Henry (b. September 10, 2001). He has two children from his previous marriage: Ben and Lindsey.

Kerrey is friends with fellow Vietnam veteran James H. Webb. In 2006 he became involved in convincing Webb to run for the US Senate. Webb entered the Virginia Democratic Primary, and Kerrey volunteered to serve as Webb's National Finance Chair. Webb went on to win the extremely close election in Virginia, defeating George Allen. Kerrey has also endorsed, and appeared at campaign events for, Al Franken in his bid for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota.

Honors[link]

On September 9, 2008, a pedestrian bridge connecting Omaha, Nebraska with Council Bluffs, Iowa was named in his honor by the Omaha City Council.

Military awards[link]

200px

Special Warfare insignia
Naval Parachutist Insignia
Medal of Honor|	Bronze Star Medal	Purple Heart Medal

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	United States Navy portal

• List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Vietnam War
• Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge

Notes[link]

References[link]

• "The New School's website of president Bob Kerrey". http://www.newschool.edu/admin/pres/. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• Vistica, Gregory L. (April 25, 2001). "One Awful Night in Thanh Phong,". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/25/magazine/25KERREY.html?ex=1138251600&en=3db9255f522f13f6&ei=5070. Retrieved October 5, 2010. ^{[dead link]} by Gregory L. Vistica, New York Times Magazine, April 25, 2001
• "2002 Interview on Education". http://www.educationupdate.com/archives/2002/feb02/htmls/coll_kerrey.html. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• "CNN Story on the Thanh Phong Incident". April 25, 2001. http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/04/25/kerrey.blitzer.02/. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• Clinton, Bill (2005). My Life. Vintage. ISBN 1-4000-3003-X.
• "Saddam, Al Qaeda Did Collaborate, Documents Show". http://www.nysun.com/article/29746. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• ""The War Within Bob Kerrey", New York Times, published April 26, 2001". The New York Times. April 26, 2001. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801EEDC1539F935A15757C0A9679C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/V/Vietnam%20War. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• ""Finish the war. Liberate Iraq. " by Robert Kerrey, The Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2002". http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002252. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• ""My Perspective on the New School Commencement", blog by Bob Kerrey, Huffington Post, posted May 23, 2006". March 28, 2008. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-kerrey/my-perspective-on-the-new_b_21515.html?view=print. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• ""Why I'm Not Running Again for the US Senate" blog by Bob Kerrey, Huffington Post, posted October 24, 2007". March 28, 2008. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-kerrey/why-im-not-running-again_b_69700.html. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 

Further reading[link]

• Kerrey, Robert. When I Was a Young Man: A Memoir. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2002.
• Vistica, Gregory L. The Education of Lieutenant Kerrey. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2003.

External links[link]

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Appearances at the Internet Movie Database
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Bob Kerrey in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• "Americans at War". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzusaODijRs. 

v t e Governors of Nebraska Territorial (1854–1867) Burt Cuming (acting) Izard Cuming (acting) Richardson Morton (acting) Black Morton (acting) Paddock Saunders State (since 1867) Butler James (acting) Furnas Garber Nance Dawes Thayer Boyd Crounse Holcomb Poynter Dietrich Savage Mickey Sheldon Shallenberger Aldrich Morehead Neville McKelvie Bryan McMullen Weaver Bryan Cochran Griswold Peterson Crosby Anderson Brooks Burney Morrison Tiemann Exon Thone Kerrey Orr Nelson Johanns Heineman

v t e United States Senators from Nebraska Class 1 Tipton Paddock Van Wyck Paddock Allen Hayward Allen Dietrich Burkett G. Hitchcock Howell Thompson Hunter Burke Butler Reynolds Hruska Zorinsky Karnes Kerrey Nelson Class 2 Thayer P. Hitchcock Saunders Manderson Thurston Millard Brown Norris Wherry Seaton Griswold Bowring Abel Curtis Exon Hagel Johanns

v t e Members of the 9/11 Commission Kean (Chair) Hamilton (Vice chair) Ben-Veniste Fielding Gorelick Gorton Kerrey Lehman Roemer Thompson