page_title: Bob Kerrey
section_title: Personal life
hierarchical_section_title: Bob Kerrey / Personal life
caption_attribution_description: English: Bob Kerrey, former governor of Nebraska, former U.S. Senator, and Medal of Honor recipient for his service as a Navy SEAL in Vietnam, speaks at the LBJ Presidential Library's Vietnam War Summit on Thursday, April 28, 2016. He participated in a panel discussion about lessons learned from the Vietnam War. Other panelists were Charles Robb, former governor of Virginia, former U.S. Senator, and Vietnam veteran; and William McRaven, chancellor of the University of Texas System and former Commander of United States Special Operations Command. University of Texas at Austin history professor Mark Lawrence, who has written several books about the Vietnam War, moderated the discussion. LBJ Library photo by David Hume Kennerly 04/28/2016.
context_page_description: Joseph Robert Kerrey is an American politician who served as the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1989 to 2001. Before entering politics, he served in the Vietnam War as a United States Navy SEAL officer and was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in combat. During the action for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor, he was severely wounded, precluding further naval service.
  Kerrey was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992. He retired from the Senate in 2000 and was replaced by former Governor and fellow Democrat Ben Nelson. From 2001 to 2010, he served as president of The New School, a university in New York City. In May 2010, he was selected to become the head of the Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAA, however, could not reach an agreement with him and chose former Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd instead.
  In 2012, Kerrey sought election to his old Senate seat to succeed retiring Democratic incumbent Ben Nelson. He lost to Republican nominee Deb Fischer.
  In 2013, Kerrey joined the Carmen Group lobbying firm.
context_section_description: While he was Governor of Nebraska, Kerrey dated actress Debra Winger while the latter was in Lincoln filming Terms of Endearment (part of which is set in Nebraska), which won the 1983 Oscar for Best Picture. When confronted with intense questioning by the press over the nature of the relationship, Kerrey famously replied; "What can I say – she swept me off my foot", alluding to the fact that the lower part of one of his legs was amputated because of injuries sustained in his Medal of Honor action in Vietnam.
  Kerrey is friends with fellow Vietnam veteran Jim Webb. In 2006 he became involved in convincing Webb to run for the US Senate. Webb entered the Virginia Democratic Primary, and Kerrey volunteered to serve as Webb's National Finance Chair. Webb went on to win the extremely close election in Virginia, defeating George Allen. Kerrey has also endorsed, and appeared at campaign events for, Al Franken in his bid for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota.
  Kerrey is married to Sarah Paley. They have a son, Henry. He has two children from his previous marriage: Ben and Lindsey.
  A 2012 The New York Times op-ed by columnist Frank Bruni states that Kerrey describes himself as an agnostic.
  On September 9, 2008, a pedestrian bridge connecting Omaha, Nebraska with Council Bluffs, Iowa was named in Kerrey's honor by the Omaha City Council.
  In 2011, Kerrey was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The New School.
  In 2016, Kerrey received an honorary doctorate and delivered the postgraduate commencement address for Southern New Hampshire University.
caption: Kerrey at the LBJ Library in 2016
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