John Kerry's Newt Gingrich Problem?
After Newt Gingrich hit the national spotlight in 1994
by becoming the first Republican speaker of the House in
40 years, he was skewered by reports that he had served
his first wife divorce papers as she lay in a hospital
bed battling cancer.
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.
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