A Frank Conversation With A Candidate
John Kerry spoke recently with U.S. News Chief White House Correspondent Kenneth T. Walsh about how the events of 1971 shaped his life. Excerpts:
Vietnam. I've taken a strong position throughout my life on the issue of how you take a country to war. . . . I apply the lessons I learned in Vietnam. And I'm willing to debate those anywhere, anytime with the president. I mean, you know, I learned something about responsibility to young Americans in uniform. You don't just go bouncing off to war because you want to. You do it under extreme circumstances where it's absolutely necessary, and I think this president violated those rules. And there's a complete consistency in all of my arguments through my career about accountability of the Constitution, accountability to the American people, accountability to the soldiers and the families that are involved.
On 1970s-style activism. There's a resonance today with America's entire relationship with the world community. I think people feel it with respect to global environmental issues, global warming; they feel it with respect to AIDS; they feel it with respect to proliferation issues and terror. I think that this is the closest moment to that period of time, in many ways, and that we're on the cusp of a growing activist resurgence.
On charges of waffling. I haven't changed my mind on any fundamental issue whatsoever. And [Bush supporters] can't say that I have. I believe that there was a right way to hold Saddam Hussein accountable. . . . And I thought it was important to do it, and if they suggest that because they screw it up and do it so badly and I criticized them, that that's changing my mind . . . they're really coming from left field.
On tough decisions. There's a complexity in some of these choices that people need to acknowledge. If everything is so simple, and you've learned everything when you're 21 years old, you might as well shut your mind and stop learning. I think it's important to grow and to express that growth as you go along. -Kenneth T. Walsh
This story appears in the May 3, 2004 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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