"George Z. Bush" wrote in message
...
He was a millionaire in his own right before he married into the Heinz
fortune.
In other words, you were just blowing smoke.

George Z.

I guess the $300 million that John Kerry's first wife Julia Thorne was worth
had nothing to do with it?

Monday, May 12, 2003 2:08 PM
...."But the press has been far kinder to Democratic presidential
front-runner John Kerry, who, according to published accounts going back
more than a decade, began extricating himself from his first marriage to
Philadelphia heiress Julia Thorne at the same time she was battling a case
of depression so debilitating that it drove her to the brink of suicide.
In an attempt to explain why he decided not to let his wife's precarious
mental state derail his 1982 bid to become Michael Dukakis' lieutenant
governor, Kerry told the New Yorker magazine last December, "When I get
focused and set out to do something, I'm pretty good at staying focused."

"You don't want to let yourself down, you know what I'm saying?" added the
ambitious Democrat without a hint of irony.

Thorne, whose family is reportedly worth $300 million, married Kerry in
1970. According the New Yorker's Joe Klein, the couple's friends said Julia
was not a typical political wife.

"There were times at dinner parties when John would be very pompous, unable
to control his impulse to make a speech," one acquaintance told the writer.
"It was all slightly laughable, and Julia was one of those who laughed.
She'd say things like, 'What the f--k did you just say?'"

Kerry's career focus was so intense that Thorne apparently felt she was an
impediment to her husband's ambitions. In her 1994 book about that period in
her life, titled "You Are Not Alone," she wrote:

"I could no longer pretend I was of use to my husband or my children. ... I
knew that, once I was gone, my family and friends would be relieved of the
burden of my incompetency."

By Thorne's own account, she began to contemplate suicide a full two years
before Kerry ratcheted up his 1982 campaign. Reviewing her book shortly
after it was published, the Boston Globe reported: "One night in 1980, Julia
Thorne put her children to bed and then sat on the edge of her own bed to
contemplate suicide. She was exhausted - overwhelmed by despair,
self-loathing and pain. She wanted to lie down. Curl up. Sleep forever."

The Kerrys were separated in 1982 but didn't divorce until 1988.

Press summaries of the New Yorker report focused on other details of Kerry's
life story, such as his Vietnam heroism. Most omitted any mention of Kerry's
first wife altogether, a fact that likely pleased the Massachusetts
Democrat. "Kerry is understandably loath to talk about the details of the
marriage," noted Klein.

In response to the New Yorker report, Sen. Kerry wrote what was described as
"an anguished letter" of protest to the magazine. Thorne's two daughters by
Kerry also registered their displeasure. Their mother, who has since
conquered her depression and is happily remarried and living in Montana,
told the Globe, "I support John's [presidential] candidacy, and I believe in
John's candidacy. I think he is an immensely talented statesman, and I am
100 percent behind him."

But previous reports indicate that Thorne had problems with Kerry even after
they split 21 years ago.

During the period the Kerrys were separated, for instance, the senator
apparently felt little constrained by his marital vows. Gossip columns at
the time linked him to Morgan Fairchild, Cornelia Guest and even President
Reagan's liberal daughter, Patti Davis. An upcoming Boston Globe expose will
reportedly feature details of the Massachusetts Democrat's 1980s affair with
a 25-year-old British reporter.

According to a previous account offered by the paper, the fact that Kerry
was still technically married till 1988 "reportedly came as a surprise to
some of his frequent companions."

Just weeks before his May 26, 1995, remarriage to Ketchup heiress Theresa
Heinz, Thorne took Kerry to court in a bid for an increase in child support
payments, arguing that "his income was up substantially," according to the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Both Kerry and Thorne denied that the lawsuit had anything to do with Heinz
or her fortune.

But friction arose again two years later when Kerry, a Catholic, applied to
the Washington, D.C., archdiocese to have his marriage to Thorne annulled,
even though the couple had two grown daughters.

Thorne "has written a letter of opposition to the archdiocese because she
feels the process demeans their relationship and their children," reported
the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1997.

The paper blamed Kerry's new wife on the annulment bid. His office issued a
terse statement: "Sen. Kerry very much understands Julia's feelings and
appreciates her support. Sen. Kerry believes that this is a private family
matter."

The Washington Times noted in a Kerry profile several years ago that his
critics consider him "a ruthless political opportunist." Given some of the
more obscure details of Kerry's first marriage, that assessment may not be
too far off the mark.