Every Day is Extra
John Kerry tells the story of his remarkable American life—from son of a diplomat to decorated Vietnam veteran, five-term United States senator, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, and Secretary of State for four years—a revealing memoir by a witness to some of the most important events of our recent history.
Every Day Is Extra is John Kerry’s candid personal story. A Yale graduate, Kerry enlisted in the US Navy in 1966, and served in Vietnam. He returned home highly decorated but disillusioned, and testified powerfully before Congress as a young veteran opposed to the war.
Kerry served as a prosecutor in Massachusetts, then as lieutenant governor, and was elected to the Senate in 1984, eventually serving five terms. In 2004 he was the Democratic presidential nominee and came within one state—Ohio—of winning. Kerry returned to the Senate, chaired the important Foreign Relations Committee, and succeeded Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State in 2013. In that position he tried to find peace in the Middle East; dealt with the Syrian civil war while combatting ISIS; and negotiated the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement.
Every Day Is Extra is Kerry’s passionate, insightful, sometimes funny, always moving account of his life. Kerry tells wonderful stories about colleagues Ted Kennedy and John McCain, as well as President Obama and other major figures. He writes movingly of recovering his faith while in the Senate and deplores the hyper-partisanship that has infected Washington.
Few books convey as convincingly as this one the life of public service like that which John Kerry has lived for fifty years. Every Day Is Extra shows Kerry for the dedicated, witty, and authentic man that he is, and provides forceful testimony for the importance of diplomacy and American leadership to address the increasingly complex challenges of a more globalized world.(less)
Every Day Is Extra is John Kerry’s candid personal story. A Yale graduate, Kerry enlisted in the US Navy in 1966, and served in Vietnam. He returned home highly decorated but disillusioned, and testified powerfully before Congress as a young veteran opposed to the war.
Kerry served as a prosecutor in Massachusetts, then as lieutenant governor, and was elected to the Senate in 1984, eventually serving five terms. In 2004 he was the Democratic presidential nominee and came within one state—Ohio—of winning. Kerry returned to the Senate, chaired the important Foreign Relations Committee, and succeeded Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State in 2013. In that position he tried to find peace in the Middle East; dealt with the Syrian civil war while combatting ISIS; and negotiated the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement.
Every Day Is Extra is Kerry’s passionate, insightful, sometimes funny, always moving account of his life. Kerry tells wonderful stories about colleagues Ted Kennedy and John McCain, as well as President Obama and other major figures. He writes movingly of recovering his faith while in the Senate and deplores the hyper-partisanship that has infected Washington.
Few books convey as convincingly as this one the life of public service like that which John Kerry has lived for fifty years. Every Day Is Extra shows Kerry for the dedicated, witty, and authentic man that he is, and provides forceful testimony for the importance of diplomacy and American leadership to address the increasingly complex challenges of a more globalized world.(less)
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Every Day is Extra was a very interesting, honest and all-encompassing memoir of a man who spent much of his life in public service to this country, from his days in the United States Navy during the Vietnam war to serving as lieutenant governor of Massachusetts and five terms in the United States Senate before his service as Secretary of State during President Obama's second term in office. John Kerry notes in the Author's Note that Every Day is Extra is an attitude about life that the guys he served with in Vietnam felt about coming home alive; it was the recognition of a gift and a mystery and gratitude for survival when so many did not make it. Kerry poignantly states that it is a pledge to live their extra days in ways that keep faith with the memory of their brothers whose days were cut tragically short. Having followed John Kerry since he testified in 1971 before the Foreign Relations Committee in Congress about Vietnam, I found Kerry's memoir a most interesting look at history as well as his career. John Kerry speaks honestly and informatively about all of the issues that are facing our country today. As a personal aside, having worked hard in my community during the Kerry-Edwards campaign in 2004, I am ready to work again in 2020 for a Kerry candidacy for president should he decide to run.
"How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
"I've told much of this story in these pages for a reason: not to relive a difficult past, but to remember how we changed the course of our country. Good people believed the world--at home and abroad--could be different and better. Citizens organized. People fought for something. We marched. We voted. We got knocked down and we got back up."
"Our democracy is challenged. . . It is constantly changing, growing and reinventing itself. But its well-being always--always--depends on citizens to keep it alive. The strength of the United States is derived not from a party, not from a leader, but from a natural resource that is truly renewable: the resolve of our citizens and their commitment to make the American ideal a reality." (less)
"How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
"I've told much of this story in these pages for a reason: not to relive a difficult past, but to remember how we changed the course of our country. Good people believed the world--at home and abroad--could be different and better. Citizens organized. People fought for something. We marched. We voted. We got knocked down and we got back up."
"Our democracy is challenged. . . It is constantly changing, growing and reinventing itself. But its well-being always--always--depends on citizens to keep it alive. The strength of the United States is derived not from a party, not from a leader, but from a natural resource that is truly renewable: the resolve of our citizens and their commitment to make the American ideal a reality." (less)
Sep 17, 2018Carol Douglas rated it really liked it
John Kerry is an exceptional man, and this is an exceptional book. He is one of my favorite presidential candidates ever because of his transformation of heroism in Vietnam to public protest against that war. I was a war protester myself, but only after I had taken classes on the history of Southeast Asia.
Naturally, the part of the book that interested me most was his account of joining the Navy and fighting from a swift boat. He gives an articulate and moving description of those experiences and his disillusionment with the war. He also details the outrageous, dishonest attacks on his war record. The first time that happened, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt spoke up for him. The second time, during Kerry's presidential campaign, Zumwalt was no longer alive to do so, but almost everyone who fought with Kerry did.
Also moving is Kerry's account of how he and Sen. John McCain became friends and worked together to double-check everywhere they could to bring back the bodies of Americans who had died in Vietnam and to ensure that there were no POWs left alive, and that the American people knew that.
Kerry laments the passing of the time when the Senate was a collegial body. He tells of working and forming friendships with senators of both parties, even of helping each other spiritually in Senate Prayer Breakfasts.
Also fascinating are Kerry's descriptions of his work trying to bring peace to Israel and the Palestinians and of negotiating with Iran. Both accounts are detailed and should be full of interest. His efforts for peace were endless and unflagging.
Kerry admits that voting to allow President George W. Bush to make war in Iraq was the worst political decision of his life. Kerry says he had assumed that Bush would make it more of an international effort. Kerry, who was then thinking of running for president, also thought that if he were president, he would want Congress to support him. I think that showed faulty reasoning.
He also writes about his personal life to some extent. The way that he and his late ex-wife worked together to give their daughters a secure childhood without trying to pressure them to take sides was gratifying.
I'm very sorry that Kerry never had a chance to be president, but I'm very glad that he wrote this book. I wonder whether he might have won if he had written an autobiography sooner. (less)
Naturally, the part of the book that interested me most was his account of joining the Navy and fighting from a swift boat. He gives an articulate and moving description of those experiences and his disillusionment with the war. He also details the outrageous, dishonest attacks on his war record. The first time that happened, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt spoke up for him. The second time, during Kerry's presidential campaign, Zumwalt was no longer alive to do so, but almost everyone who fought with Kerry did.
Also moving is Kerry's account of how he and Sen. John McCain became friends and worked together to double-check everywhere they could to bring back the bodies of Americans who had died in Vietnam and to ensure that there were no POWs left alive, and that the American people knew that.
Kerry laments the passing of the time when the Senate was a collegial body. He tells of working and forming friendships with senators of both parties, even of helping each other spiritually in Senate Prayer Breakfasts.
Also fascinating are Kerry's descriptions of his work trying to bring peace to Israel and the Palestinians and of negotiating with Iran. Both accounts are detailed and should be full of interest. His efforts for peace were endless and unflagging.
Kerry admits that voting to allow President George W. Bush to make war in Iraq was the worst political decision of his life. Kerry says he had assumed that Bush would make it more of an international effort. Kerry, who was then thinking of running for president, also thought that if he were president, he would want Congress to support him. I think that showed faulty reasoning.
He also writes about his personal life to some extent. The way that he and his late ex-wife worked together to give their daughters a secure childhood without trying to pressure them to take sides was gratifying.
I'm very sorry that Kerry never had a chance to be president, but I'm very glad that he wrote this book. I wonder whether he might have won if he had written an autobiography sooner. (less)
Sep 18, 2018Brian Bridgeforth rated it it was ok
As someone who reads a lot on US foreign policy, I make sure to read the memoirs written by former Secretaries of State from both sides of the isle. I have never been a fan of John Kerry and his elitist liberal policies. I had to hold my nose while reading this book as he whines and claims he was duped into voting for the Iraq war, whines about his 2004 loss to Bush in what he says was a rigged election, and pretend he didn't have his ass turned into mincemeat by Putin over Syrian chemical weapons. His account of events are myopic and only represent his narrow political views which is probably to be expected by someone who is more partisan politician and not the national security or foreign policy maven he claims to be. But even with that, there are some accounts that have important takeaways and the struggles to find solutions to difficult problems are real. It is important for those interested in national security to at least consider what he has to say.(less)
Sep 14, 2018Laurel Starkey rated it liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: memoirs, politics, us-society
I’m not sure why John Kerry wrote this book. Really. It’s long. It rambles. It manages to turn dramatic material into something so dull I had to force myself to finish it. It’s very partisan, he only discusses in excruciating details the hot liberal topics de jour: negotiations for peace in Israel/Palestine, Syria and the refugee crisis, the Paris Climate Accords, for example. When Obama briefed Trump, Obama said the biggest problem the US faced was North Korea (from the Bob Woodward book “Fear”). Not a peep about Korea except for during the 50s.
Who should read this? Anyone interested in the American prosecution of the Vietnam War. Policy wonks who are interested in Middle East negotiations. Students of Congress. People who are nostalgic for the traditional WASP sense of nobless oblige and doing one’s duty.
He seems like a decent guy — proper, intelligent, and politically ambitious. A leader in some circumstances. Always discrete. Presidential material? No. After reading 600+ pages I still don’t know what his guiding moral principles are except getting the next job, and peace in the world. (less)
Who should read this? Anyone interested in the American prosecution of the Vietnam War. Policy wonks who are interested in Middle East negotiations. Students of Congress. People who are nostalgic for the traditional WASP sense of nobless oblige and doing one’s duty.
He seems like a decent guy — proper, intelligent, and politically ambitious. A leader in some circumstances. Always discrete. Presidential material? No. After reading 600+ pages I still don’t know what his guiding moral principles are except getting the next job, and peace in the world. (less)
05:09:2018: Kerry sees 'new era of accountability' heralded by 2018 races.Former Secretary of State John Kerry reacts to the news of the upset victory by Ayanna Pressley over long-time incumbent Michael Capuano in a Massachusetts Democratic House primary, and talks about the importance of the 2018 primary as a repudiation of Donald Trump.
Sep 20, 2018Carole rated it it was amazing
I loved this memoir by John F. Kerry. I campaigned for and voted for him in 2004, but this memoir really changed my personal feelings and thoughts about him from just thinking he would make a great president to feeling like I know him now as the excellent individual he is.
I understand anyone writing a memoir tries to put their best foot forward, but I don't think John Kerry has a bad foot in him! His life is unlike the life of most people -- here is the "stable genius" we are really looking for as an appropriate president of the United States.
I am sorry that he did not become president in 2004, and I am grateful for all his good work and help in ending the war in Viet Nam, for all his good work in the Senate for almost 30 years, and for all his good work as Secretary of State for four years. Not only an excellent Senator, Secretary of State, soldier, but apparently he is a pretty wonderful husband, father, grandfather, ex-husband, sibling, etc.
What surprised most about this memoir is how well written it was -- the writing was fluid, the words sounded sincere -- full of integrity, this man. I wish the comforting and warm personality he showed in his writing of this memoir had come across more strongly in the 2004 campaign -- then again, I don't necessarily believe that he really lost the campaign.
This memoir was a wonderful, warm, and well-written look at the past 50 years or so of history of the United States through the eyes of a truly good and thoughtful man whose life's work had a significant effect - for the better - on the world(less)
I understand anyone writing a memoir tries to put their best foot forward, but I don't think John Kerry has a bad foot in him! His life is unlike the life of most people -- here is the "stable genius" we are really looking for as an appropriate president of the United States.
I am sorry that he did not become president in 2004, and I am grateful for all his good work and help in ending the war in Viet Nam, for all his good work in the Senate for almost 30 years, and for all his good work as Secretary of State for four years. Not only an excellent Senator, Secretary of State, soldier, but apparently he is a pretty wonderful husband, father, grandfather, ex-husband, sibling, etc.
What surprised most about this memoir is how well written it was -- the writing was fluid, the words sounded sincere -- full of integrity, this man. I wish the comforting and warm personality he showed in his writing of this memoir had come across more strongly in the 2004 campaign -- then again, I don't necessarily believe that he really lost the campaign.
This memoir was a wonderful, warm, and well-written look at the past 50 years or so of history of the United States through the eyes of a truly good and thoughtful man whose life's work had a significant effect - for the better - on the world(less)
Sep 24, 2018Christine Irvin rated it really liked it
Former Secretary of State and former presidential candidate, John Kerry, provides an indepth look at his life and his political career. Packed with many anecdotes and personal information, the story is a fascinating one. But, because Kerry is so meticulous in his tellings, the narrative often gets bogged down. However, it is still well worth the read.
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