Boarding school

While his father was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway, Kerry was sent to Massachusetts to attend b. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and graduated from there inoarding school. In 1957, he attended the Fessenden School in West Newton, a village in Newton, Massachusetts. There he met and became friends with Richard Pershing, grandson of the famed U.S. Gen. John Joseph Pershing.

The following year, he enrolled at St 1962. His father's Foreign Service salary was not enough to pay the school's tuition; Kerry's childless great-aunt, Clara Winthrop, then very much advanced in age, voluntarily covered the costs. At St. Paul's, Kerry felt like an outsider because he was a Catholic and liberal while most of his fellow students were Republican Episcopalians.

Despite having difficulty fitting in, he made friends and developed his interests. He learned skills in public speaking and he became deeply interested in politics. In his free time, he enjoyed ice hockey and lacrosse, which he played on teams captained by classmate Robert S. Mueller III, the current director of the FBI. Kerry also played electric bass for the prep school's band The Electras, which produced an album in 1961. Only 500 copies were made. In 2004, one of the copies was auctioned on eBay for $2,551.

In 1959 Kerry founded the John Winant Society at St. Paul's to debate the issues of the day; the Society still exists there. In November of 1960, Kerry gave his first political speech, in favor of John F. Kennedy's election to the White House.

While living in the U.S., Kerry spent several summers at the Forbes family's estates on Naushon Island off Cape Cod.

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Encounters with President Kennedy (1962)

Kerry sails aboard the Coast Guard yacht Manitou with President John F. Kennedy off Narragansett, Rhode Island, on August 26, 1962.In 1962, Kerry volunteered for Edward Kennedy's first Senatorial campaign. That summer, he began dating Janet Jennings Auchincloss (now deceased), Jacqueline Kennedy's half-sister. Auchincloss invited Kerry to visit her family's estate, Hammersmith Farm in Rhode Island. It was there that Kerry met President Kennedy for the first time.

When Kerry told Kennedy that he was about to enter Yale University, Kennedy grimaced because he had gone to rival school Harvard University. Kerry later recalled, "He smiled at me, laughed and said, 'Oh, don't worry about it. You know I'm a Yale man too now.'" According to Kerry, "The President uttered that famous comment about how he had the best of two worlds now: a Harvard education and Yale degree," in reference to the honorary degree he had received from Yale a few months earlier. Later that day, a White House photographer snapped a photo of Kerry sailing with Kennedy and his family in Narragansett Bay. They met again a few weeks later at the America's Cup race off the coast of Rhode Island.

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Yale University (1962-1966)

Kerry (bottom, far right) played on the lacrosse team at Yale University as #14.
Kerry (top, middle) also played on the hockey team.In 1962, Kerry entered Yale University. There he majored in political science and graduated with a B.A. in 1966. He also played on the soccer, hockey, lacrosse, and fencing teams; in addition, he took flying lessons. To earn extra money during the summers, he loaded trucks in a grocery warehouse and sold encyclopedias door to door.

In his sophomore year, Kerry became president of the Yale Political Union. His involvement with the Political Union gave him an opportunity to be involved with important issues of the day, such as the civil rights movement and Kennedy's New Frontier program. He was also inducted into the Skull and Bones Society.

Under the guidance of the speaking coach and history professor Rollin Osterweis, Kerry won dozens of debate contests against other college students from across the nation. In March 1965, as the Vietnam War escalated, he won the Ten Eyck prize as the best orator in the junior class for a speech that was critical of U.S. foreign policy. In the speech he said, "It is the specter of Western imperialism that causes more fear among Africans and Asians than communism, and thus it is self-defeating." [8]

Over four years, Kerry maintained a 76 grade average and received an 81 average in his senior year. Under Yale's grading system in effect at the time, grades between 90 and 100 equaled an A, 80-89 a B, 70-79 a C, 60 to 69 a D, and anything below that was a failing grade. He received four D's in his freshman year out of 10 courses, but improved his average in later years. In addition to Kerry's four D's in his freshman year, he received one D in his sophomore year. He did not fail any courses. Because of his public speaking skills, he was chosen to give the class oration at graduation. At the last moment, he rewrote his speech from the version that had already been published. The speech he delivered was a broad criticism of American foreign policy, including the Vietnam war, in which he would soon see combat.

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