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In Kerry's case, he was recommended by several outgoing Seniors, including John Shattuck, a St. Paul's alum who later become assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor in the Clinton administration. Kerry's selection was not based on social standing, but instead was due to widespread perception that Kerry would be a future political leader. "I remember pushing him as somebody who would be very interesting person and had no doubt he would go into public life later", Shattuck said.
It was among the other members of the Skull and Bones that Kerry counted his closest friends at Yale: Fred Smith who would stoke Kerry's interest in aviation; David Thorne,whose sister would become Kerry's fiancee; and Richard Preshing, who had known Kerry since they were thirteen years old and later helped convince him to go to Vietnam. Smith, Thorne, Pershing , and Kerry were the only ones in the group of Bonesmen that instead of trying to use connections and deferments, they all went to Vietnam.
Smith and Kerry formed a bond for the skies, resurrecting the Yale Flying Club. They taught themselves to fly. Kerry loved the thrill of flight, going far beyond what most Yale aviators attempted. He learned aerobatics, practicing loop-de-loops and other dangerous maneuvers. Kerry said "I majored in flying my senior year at Yale. I'm serious, I cut classes, I didn't do much, I spent alot of time learning to fly." Smith meanwhile was thinking of flying for another reason. He wrote a term paper that envisioned "the fundamental automation of society, how automation of society would have completely different logistics system to support it." The paper was barely giving a passing grade, but Smith was onto something. Using the principals he laid out in that paper, he founded Federal Express, an air freight business that today is one of the world's most successful companies.
The second close friend, Thorne, met Kerry during his first year at Yale, and it was nearly a disaster. Within minutes of meeting, the two were discussing women when Kerry said he was dating Janet Auchincloss, the half sister of Jacqueline Kennedy. Then Thorne said "No, I'm dating Janet." As it turned out, her relationship didn't last with either Kerry or Thorne. (She wound up marrying Kerry's classmate from St. Paul's, Lewis Rutherford, and died of cancer in 1985 at a Boston hospital at age 39)
The relationship between Kerry and Thorne, however is a thread that wound through Kerry's life ever since the met 42 years ago. Both men had been partly raised in Europe, Kerry spoke French; German; and Italian, and Thorne spoke a least one foreign language. Thorne came from what he called a rock-ribbed Republican family, and Kerry came from a Democrat family, shared a Continental viewpoint. They spent a summer in Europe together traveling the continent in a used London cab. Aside from their world outlook, they both loved soccer and both were on the Yale soccer team. Eventually, Thorne introduced Kerry to his sister Julia, who became Kerry's wife.
The last member of the quartet was the most outlandish and most beloved. This was Richard Pershing. Pershing's star quality and outrageous behavior made him an unforgettable character. Pershing would be the dashing, heroic figure, the fun loving troublemaker who always got the girl and never seemed to care. He and Kerry were extraordinary close having met when they were 13 and having shared the common experience of attending Fessenden, living in Europe, and going to Yale. Kerry said "We were just very very close We had some unbelievably raucous carefree times, good times."
Late during a soccer match on Yale campus on Nov.22,1963, a ripple of noise went through the crowd, growing louder by the second. News was spreading: President Kennedy had been shot. It had just been 15 months since Kerry had been sailing with the president. Kerry said "We were numb". His hero,his role model, was dead. Kerry spent hours watching his small black and white television in disbelief. Thorne said "It was a shock to him. It was his idol, his hero he had gotten as a Young man. It was very deeply upsetting to him."
The memory of Kennedy's death was still seared into Kerry's psyche when one of Kennedy's "best and brightest" William Bundy, came visiting. Bundy, then the assistant secretary of state for Far Eastern affairs, came to the campus to speak in support of the Vietnam war, he was greeted as the legacy of a slain president. After the speech he visited his nephews room and talked with the roommates, including Kerry, into the wee hours of the morning.
Kerry said "We were all drinking beer and sitting around and talking about, you know, Southeast Asia and the domino theories and war."
Bundy kept telling them "We need you. We need you to go into the officer program to go to Vietnam." The visit nudged the students in the direction of Vietnam. As graduation approached Kerry believed he had three choices: be drafted, seek a deferment for graduate school, or join up and position himself to become a officer. Kerry said "I called the draft board because I was thinking one of the options was, maybe I'll go study abroad, which was a euphemism for screwing around a bit, but it was clear to me that I was going to be at risk. My draft board said, 'Look ,the likelihood is you are going to be drafted.' I said, If I'm going to be drafted, I'd like to have the responsibility and be an officer."
Military service had helped Kennedy's career, of course, and Kerry clearly had political ambitions on the horizon. Kerry's debate partner for three years, William Stanberry said "John would say clearly, If I could make my dream come true I would be running for president of the United States.
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