Posted on 10/31/2004 1:59:36 AM PST by conservative in nyc
Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, has had a remarkable life even if it does not end up in the White House.
Her name alone -- Teresa Thierstein Simoes-Ferreira Heinz Kerry -- suggests the unusual path followed by the woman born to Portuguese parents in the then-Portuguese colony of Mozambique in 1938.
After studying in South Africa and Switzerland, the young Teresa Simoes-Ferreira moved to the United States to put her fluency in five languages to work at the United Nations.
She married John Heinz, scion of the Pittsburgh-based Heinz food condiment company, in 1966. A Republican senator from Pennsylvania, Heinz died in a plane crash in 1991.
Heinz Kerry inherited a fortune worth hundreds of millions of dollars upon his death and turned down offers to run for his Senate seat to concentrate on raising their three sons and her philanthropic activities.
A registered Democrat since only last year, Heinz Kerry got to know Massachusetts Senator John Kerry when they attended the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. They married in 1995.
If her husband does win the presidency on November 2, Heinz Kerry would be the oldest and just the second foreign-born First Lady of the United States.
The first non-American born First Lady was Louisa Adams, whose husband John Quincy Adams served as president from 1825-1829. Louisa Adams was born in England, the daughter of a British mother and an American father.
In a nod to her cosmopolitan upbringing, Heinz Kerry describes herself as "a little bit of everything."
Heinz Kerry usually appears in public in jacket and tailored pants with a shawl around her shoulders. With her chestnut hair often covering her eyes, she affects a natural look which belies her wealthy background.
"I can only be me," she said in an interview with the US television personality Barbara Walters. "Americans want real people. I am a real person. I may not be what everybody would like to see, but it's real."
Blunt-spoken, Heinz Kerry's frankness has landed her in trouble, such as the time she told a journalist to "shove it."
She was forced to apologize recently to Laura Bush after saying that the First Lady had never held a "real job." Laura Bush was a schoolteacher and librarian before her marriage.
In the popularity stakes, only 38 percent of Americans in a recent Gallup poll said they have a favorable view of Heinz Kerry while 40 percent said they did not. Laura Bush, on the other hand, was viewed favorably by 73 percent of those polled.
Conservative commentator Gary Bauer said Laura Bush "reminds Americans of themselves, someone they can talk to between the back fence or at a cookout."
Heinz Kerry, however, is seen as a "senator's wife with a great fortune, a tough, opinionated lady too old to be bossed around," he said.
On the campaign trail, Heinz Kerry does appeal to immigrants who may share her life story of adopting the United States as their new home. With women, she discusses the difficulties of balancing motherhood and a career or the importance of education.
Since John Heinz's death, Heinz Kerry has headed the Heinz family's charitable foundations -- the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Heinz Family Philanthropies.
She has channelled millions of dollars into the defense of the environment and women's rights, including abortion -- topics central to the presidential campaign.
Kerry has described his wife as "saucy, sexy and brilliant."
Some have said the marriage has helped Kerry financially.
But Heinz Kerry says that since they married in 1995 the couple have kept their personal accounts separate. Kerry even had to mortgage his half of the Boston family home at one low point to finance his campaign for the Democratic nomination.
10/31/2004 02:38 GMT - AFP
I guess that's remarkable to the French press. I'm not sure why.
Guess Teresa and barf alert are definitely synonymous.
Amazing how high she has climbed while on her back.
I would describe Kerry as "blind, deaf and dumb."
"...saucy, sexy and brilliant."
Ummm, sorry; none of those adjectives come to my mind when describing the mentally-ill, lowlife, foul-mouthed, low-class, gold-digging, skank bitch. Nope.
"Kerry has described his wife as "saucy, sexy and brilliant."
Non-PC translation:
She's a belligerent smart-assed hoyden.
She's a "type" that isn't all that uncommon in certain cities. This is just the first time that the American public have gotten a look at that "type."
She looks like she is drunk most of the time to me.....Now, having said that, I could be wrong......don't think so/
Momma T was born in Mozambique so she tells a group of African-American women that she is African-American.
Next thing you know she will speak to a group of Hispanic women and tell them she is a Latina because her parents were ethnic Portuguese. LOL
The only thing I found impressive was that she speaks 5 languages. I'll be fair and tip my hat to that, that's a hallmark of intelligence. Now...her taste in men on the other hand.....
Prescription drugs.
Most are betting on one of the anti-depressant class.
Totally off-topic, has kerry ever campaigned at or visited any military bases?
Ridiculous last sentence matched on the grovel meter by the rest of the piece.
I do find it remarkable that so much money can find no decent poise and manners teacher.
So the only real Job Teresa Heinz, the Mozambique Voodoo queen of soaked raisins, has ever held was a translator for a few months, then he was JUST A WIFE AND MOM? bwaaaaaaaaaahahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahaha First she Married a Rich guy, then she married a gigilo.
Let's not forget she was on someone's list of WORST DRESSED
Ferreira is actually more proto-Celtic.
The name come from the Italian town of "Ferrera" which was an iron-age Celtic settlement.
Variations of the name [Ferrera, Ferrer, Ferrara, Ferrar, etc] appear all over greater Europe and the UK, wherever the Celtic tribes settled.
The meaning of the name is literally "blacksmith" or "iron worker" and was "Latinized" by the Romans in the same way that my surname was.
It's hubby's surname and his people came from Sicily.
He does not look "Italian".
His mother was of Portuguese stock.
He has nearly black auburn hair and blue eyes and is by far "whiter" than I, a Scots-Irish/Welsh mongrel.
[My skin is gold-toned like the Welsh though I have green eyes, red hair and freckles]
Even with her ancient Celtic roots, I detest the tart....:))
I guess that's remarkable to the French press. I'm not sure why.
I can’t figure it out either – maybe I’m not enough of a Europhile?
Well, I do not recall seeing him with the troops at all. I think they would egg him (probably not, those guys are (for the most part) totally in control of their behavior. Perscription drugs for Teresa.... probably some, because the docs like to do those as often as possible...I am amazed. But I think she probably likes her booze as well. He eyes look crossed or fuzzy or something.
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