John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004

John Kerry for President

Campaign	U.S. presidential election, 2004
Candidate	John Kerry Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (1983-1985) U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1985–2013) United States Secretary of State (2013-2017) John Edwards U.S. Senator from North Carolina (1999–2005)
Affiliation	Democratic Party
Status	Lost election November 2, 2004
Headquarters	Boston, Massachusetts
Key people	Mary Beth Cahill (Manager) Bob Shrum (Consultant)
Slogan	A Stronger America Let America Be America Again
Website
www.johnkerry.com (original site via the Internet Archive.)

The 2004 presidential campaign of John Kerry, the long-time U.S. Senator from Massachusetts who would eventually become the U.S. Secretary of State nine years later, began when he formed an exploratory committee on December 1, 2002. On September 2, 2003, he formally announced his candidacy for Democratic Party nomination. After beating running mate John Edwards, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, and other candidates in the primaries, he became the Democratic nominee, with his challenger being Republican incumbent President George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election. Kerry conceded defeat in the race in a telephone call to Bush at around 11 a.m. EST (16:00 UTC) on the morning of November 3, 2004.

Kerry supported increasing the Balanced Budget Act. In 1999, Kerry voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Kerry supported eliminating tax incentives for companies that move operations overseas and making efforts to reduce outsourcing.

Kerry was against cutbacks in Social Security benefits. He opposed privatizing Social Security accounts.