In pictures: John Kerry's life

John Kerry was born into a patrician Massachusetts family on 11 December 1943.

His father Richard was a US diplomat, his mother Rosemary a member of the affluent Forbes shipping family.

Kerry's childhood was divided between a string of elite boarding schools and summer vacations in France.

Here he is seen (top right) alongside his brother Cameron (far left), sister Diana (second left) and sister Peggy (right).