Elected senator from Nebraska in 1988, J. Robert (Bob) Kerrey (born 1943) made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 1992. He made a name for himself as being a maverick and a deficit hawk.

Robert Kerrey was born in 1943 in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he was raised and educated. Upon completion of college at the University of Nebraska (B.S. in pharmacy in 1966), Kerrey entered the military service as a Navy SEAL (the Navy equivalent of the Green Berets). During his service in Vietnam in 1969 he was wounded in battle, which required the amputation of his right leg just below the knee. In 1970 he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for "conspicuous gallantry." He is the only current member of the Senate holding the Medal of Honor. In the history of the United States Senate only four other members have been Medal of Honor recipients--all for service...