Kerrey, Bob (1943-…), was a member of the United States Senate from 1989 to 2001. Kerrey, a Democrat, represented Nebraska. After leaving the Senate, he served as president of New School University (now the New School) in New York City until 2010.
As a senator, Kerrey introduced a series of bills designed to assure the financial health of the Social Security system, including raising the mandatory retirement age to 70 and reducing cost-of-living adjustments. He also worked on plans to balance the federal budget. Kerrey served as vice chair of the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence and was a member of the Finance Committee and the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry committees.
Joseph Robert Kerrey was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Aug. 27, 1943. He earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1966. From 1966 to 1969, Kerrey served in the United States Navy in Vietnam. He lost part of his right leg in combat and was later awarded the Medal of Honor.
After returning from military service, Kerrey established a chain of restaurants and health clubs. Kerrey was elected governor of Nebraska in 1982. He chose not to seek reelection in 1986.
Kerrey won election to the U.S. Senate in 1988 and was reelected in 1994. In 1992, Kerrey was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. In early 2000, he announced that he would not run for reelection to the Senate. Kerrey wrote a memoir of his days in Vietnam, When I Was a Young Man (2002). In 2012, Kerrey won the Democratic nomination to seek a Nebraska U.S. Senate seat. However, he lost the November 2012 election to Republican Deb Fischer.
