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Kerry's Ex-wife Endorses Kerry
NewsMax ^ | 3/4/04 | Limbacher

Posted on 03/04/2004 10:53:03 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection

It's not often that after a powerful political couple break up, the ex-spouse turns around and endorses her ex-husband.

But Sen. John Kerry's first wife, Philadelphia heiress Julia Thorne, has done that.

She says Kerry is a good man and deserves public support.

But her own revelations about her marriage to the Boston aristocrat show how tragic marriage can be in the political spotlight, and how his unbridled ambition might have contributed to the breakup.

In her 1996 book, "Change of Heart," Thorne said that playing the role of wife to the rising political star had made her so depressed she wanted to kill herself.

Without ever mentioning Kerry by name, she complained: "Politics became my husband's life. During the years of our marriage, he was appointed and elected to several political offices. Eventually he was elected to the U.S. Senate."

Thorne said that it wasn't long before she felt neglected. "The day our first child was born, my husband started law school thirty-five miles away. Stuck studying in the library until the early morning hours, he often did not come home.

"I was alone and overwhelmed," she remembers, "abandoned with a new baby in a town that held political disdain for us. ... I tried to be happy for him, but after fourteen years as a political wife, I associated politics only with anger, fear and loneliness."

'Vacuum of Misunderstanding'

As Kerry continued to focus on his career and political future, his wife's mental state deteriorated to the point of suicidal depression. In her 1993 book, "You Are Not Alone," Thorne chronicles with chilling vividness her decision to try to kill herself.

"February 1980, five months after my 36th birthday, my mind ravaged by corroding voices, my body defeated by bone rattling panics, I sat on the edge of my bed minutes from taking my own life.

"For weeks I had silently prepared my death. I believed I was a failure. I could no longer pretend I was of use to my husband or my children. ... I was emotionally, spiritually, and physically exhausted by a life destroying affliction - depression ... I was also alone - dying a lonely death in a vacuum of misunderstanding, ignorance and shame."

Two years after her brush with suicide, Thorne said she asked Kerry for a separation. "Six years and one reconciliation would pass before we actually divorced," she wrote.

She has said little about the marriage since writing her two books, beyond telling reporters that her ex-husband was a good man and that she supported his bid for the White House.

Despite her continuing political support, however, she and Kerry have clashed over their children at least twice in the intervening years.

In 1995, the Boston Globe reported:

"Seven weeks before Sen. John F. Kerry married wealthy heiress Teresa Heinz last month, his ex-wife, Julia Thorne, filed suit seeking an increase in support payments, asserting that the senator's income and resources 'have substantially increased' since she previously sought an increase in 1991."

Thorne insisted that the timing of the suit was purely coincidental had nothing to do with her ex-husband's remarriage.

But in 1997, when Sen. Kerry sought to have the marriage that had produced their two daughters annulled, Thorne was furious at being asked to acquiesce.

In an interview with the Boston Globe she said the request "was disrespectful to me ... and devoid of any sense of the humanity of what this means to me and the children."

"I cannot look my children in the eyes or stand before them with integrity and know in my heart that I have contributed in any way to a process that invalidates and nullified the union from which they were created," Thorne raged.

Still, the spurned ex-wife decided not to contest the annulment.

In a statement released to the press, Kerry declined to comment on his request for annulment, except to say that he "very much understands Julia's feelings and appreciates her support."

Thorne has since remarried and lives quietly in Montana.



TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: endorsement; juliathorne; kerry
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1 posted on 03/04/2004 10:53:03 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
.. And I thought she would go for Sharpton...
2 posted on 03/04/2004 10:57:18 AM PST by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
"my mind ravaged by corroding voices, my body defeated by bone rattling panics, I sat on the edge of my bed minutes from taking my own life."

I think I would feel like that too if I had to listen to John Kerry for more than 10 minutes.
3 posted on 03/04/2004 10:58:58 AM PST by Betaille ("I think I believe in God, but I don't believe the way President Bush does" -John Kerry)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
"The day our first child was born, my husband started law school thirty-five miles away. Stuck studying in the library until the early morning hours, he often did not come home.

He cant make the 1/2 hour drive home to help out with a child he brought into this world. jerk
4 posted on 03/04/2004 11:06:34 AM PST by boxerblues (Included on a lefty hate list! I'll wear it like a badge of honor.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
In her 1996 book, "Change of Heart," Thorne said that playing the role of wife to the rising political star had made her so depressed she wanted to kill herself.

Clearly, not a person who can feel for another human being. Even the person supposedly most close to him.

This may well be the issue which destroys him. Can you imagine how this will play with the so called "Soccer Moms"?

5 posted on 03/04/2004 11:07:33 AM PST by MarketR ("We are pioneers of the world; the advance-guard, sent on through the wilderness of untried things,)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
But in 1997, when Sen. Kerry sought to have the marriage that had produced their two daughters annulled...

I guess the kids are lucky that he didn't try to have them annulled!

6 posted on 03/04/2004 11:12:06 AM PST by HenryLeeII (John Kerry's votes have killed more people than my guns!)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
If this was the story of a conservative politician, the news would have read:

"Senator's Neglect Drives Wife To Suicide."

"Wife With History of Mental Illness Backs Ex-Husband".

blessings, Bobo

7 posted on 03/04/2004 11:12:25 AM PST by bobo1
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Most of the other candidtates had to drop out before she endorsed him. Hmmm...

Lots of contradictions in this story. What a sorry couple.

8 posted on 03/04/2004 11:13:32 AM PST by Ruth A.
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To: MarketR
Actually, I'd heard she'd since married a Republican.

In the bedroom, her new husband had a track record of being aggressive and "effective."

Whereas, John? He would just sit on the edge of the bed and promise how great it would be if he ever got in.
9 posted on 03/04/2004 11:15:20 AM PST by anonymous_user (Politics is show business for ugly people.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Here's a link to a NewsMax article about Kerry, Thorne, their divorce, and what Douglas Brinkley thinks about Kerry's private life and the campaign.
10 posted on 03/04/2004 11:16:14 AM PST by mewzilla
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Stuck studying in the library until the early morning hours, he often did not come home.

35 miles away and he "often" did not come home... He was cheatin on her...and she knew it...that's more likely why she divorced his sorry ass democrat...

imo

11 posted on 03/04/2004 11:17:02 AM PST by joesnuffy (Moderate Islam Is For Dilettantes)
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To: anonymous_user
I am so glad I wasn't drinking anything just now.
12 posted on 03/04/2004 11:19:36 AM PST by Dahoser (347 Firefighters Dead---The RAT terrorism detector.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
I had heard that she had mental problems.
13 posted on 03/04/2004 11:32:36 AM PST by per loin (Ask about Secret News: ADL to pay $12M for defaming Colorado couple.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Is Kerry the first divorced man to run for President?
14 posted on 03/04/2004 11:33:41 AM PST by mabelkitty (If Kerry is so "electable", then why are Democrats afraid of Nader?)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Sounds like John Boy was an absentee husband and father, just like his own father before him.
15 posted on 03/04/2004 11:34:20 AM PST by mass55th
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To: mabelkitty
Ronald Reagan was divorced from Jane Wyman before he married Nancy.
16 posted on 03/04/2004 11:36:51 AM PST by EllaMinnow (The best days of America lie ahead GWB 2/23/04)
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To: mabelkitty
"Is Kerry the first divorced man to run for President? "

Nah! Reagan was divorced, and I believe so was Bob Dole.

17 posted on 03/04/2004 11:37:42 AM PST by mass55th
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Opps, sorry. I thought this article was about Kerry's current wife endorsing him...which *would* be a newsworthy event.

I would say the annulment issue is potentially an explosive personality indicator and really shows his true colors.
18 posted on 03/04/2004 11:43:25 AM PST by oldcomputerguy
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To: HenryLeeII
He didn't have to annul them; by getting an annulment, he bastardized them.
19 posted on 03/04/2004 11:43:51 AM PST by Howlin (Just another unrepentant Bush supporter.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
But in 1997, when Sen. Kerry sought to have the marriage that had produced their two daughters annulled, Thorne was furious at being asked to acquiesce.
In an interview with the Boston Globe she said the request "was disrespectful to me ... and devoid of any sense of the humanity of what this means to me and the children."
"I cannot look my children in the eyes or stand before them with integrity and know in my heart that I have contributed in any way to a process that invalidates and nullified the union from which they were created," Thorne raged.
Still, the spurned ex-wife decided not to contest the annulment

Her endorsement looks like she's still being a doormat for him - the fact that he sought to annullment after 2 children to marry the ketchup queen speaks volumes about his lack of character.

20 posted on 03/04/2004 11:47:34 AM PST by SunnyUsa
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