WASHINGTON
Twenty years ago, John Kerry suffered the worst fate possible for an American politician: He lost a one-on-one battle for the presidency.
I was there in Huntington, W.Va., in March 2004, when Kerry infamously said, “I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.” The reference to Iraq War funding fueled voter concern about Kerry’s habit of vacillating. It was a gift for the plainspoken incumbent, President George W. Bush.
Yet instead of wallowing in his first-world problem, Kerry decided to rededicate himself to public service and global issues. The Massachusetts Democrat returned to the US Senate, became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and served as unofficial diplomatic emissary for President Barack Obama. His commitment earned him a formal job during Obama’s second term, serving as secretary of state.
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On Monday, Kerry’s tenure at the State Department was honored. Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided over the unveiling of Kerry’s official portrait in Washington.
The 68th secretary of state will now be remembered in the same way as Hillary Rodham Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, his two immediate predecessors, and all those back to Thomas Jefferson. That Founding Father was the first person to lead the nation’s No. 1 Cabinet agency.
“As his friend and colleague Wendy Sherman put it: John doesn’t do animus,” Blinken said Monday. “He took a beat. He reflected on how we might do things differently. And then he dusted himself off and got right back into the fight.”
It’s just recognition for a man who’s easily criticized but not always appreciated for serving the nation continually since being sworn in as a naval officer. Then, he was 22. On Wednesday, he turns 81.
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I had the opportunity to watch Kerry every day he led the State Department. He’d asked if I would consider quitting my job as a reporter to join his government staff in a strategic communications role.
Over the next four years, we traveled some 1.4 million miles, equivalent to 58 times around the world. Our team visited all seven continents.
We made more than a dozen trips to the Middle East, trying to prevent the outbreak of violence that has engulfed Israel, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Lebanon during the past year. We spent countless hours working to convince the Iranians to curb their nuclear enrichment efforts, seeking to stave off the broader regional conflict boiling over today.
And we staffers watched as Kerry elevated climate change from a niche issue to a mandatory talking point. It was on the agenda for every bilateral and multinational meeting he held across 91 countries.
In particular, Kerry spearheaded the administration’s efforts to reach the Paris Climate Accord in 2015. Sadly for him, the achievement was short-lived; President Donald Trump backed out after he took office in 2017.
Yet, again, Kerry didn’t retreat. He simply reengaged.
When his former Senate colleague, Joe Biden, was elected president in 2020, Kerry asked not for a plum posting but accepted an offer to serve as special presidential envoy for climate. He felt worsening storms and rising global temperatures only added to the urgency of the work he’d started as secretary. His one request was walk-in access to the Oval Office.
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His own office was back in the State Department. The man who’d once led its 70,000-person workforce returned to Foggy Bottom under its leadership by Blinken, who had served as deputy secretary during his own term.
Bring up Kerry to his critics in Massachusetts — and beyond — and many words and phrases pour out: “Swift Boat.” “Fire hydrant.” “Sailboat.” “Medals.” “Flip-flop.”
The former reporter in me sees merit in the criticisms, which I wrote about extensively for the Globe and the Associated Press. But the former diplomat in me remembers a tireless boss, caring father, and unyielding public servant.
On his second day as secretary of state, Kerry proposed an annual conference focused on preserving the world’s ocean system. From 2014 to 2016, we staged three “Our Ocean” conferences. Collectively, they generated more than $9.2 billion to protect oceans worldwide and commitments to safeguard 3.8 million square miles of water.
Yet “Our Ocean” didn’t end when Kerry left office. Instead, just like him, the conferences kept going. During the past 10 years, they’ve generated $140 billion worth of ocean-preservation funding.
In myriad ways, Kerry overcame political humiliation to wage a noteworthy second act. And it’s more meaningful than the painting now hanging on a State Department wall.
Glen Johnson is a former Globe political reporter who served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Strategic Communications from 2013-2017. He is author of “Window Seat on the World.”
