U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to quit politics in 2016

USPA News - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will withdraw from politics in 2016, squashing speculation that he may consider a second run for the White House, he told CNN`s Jake Tapper during an interview aired on Wednesday. Tapper questioned Kerry about a number of topics, including talks about other potential candidates for the 2016 presidential election, such as former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and incumbent Vice President Joe Biden.

Asked whether he would consider running for president again himself, Kerry said: "One of the joys of this job is I`m out of politics." Kerry continued: "I`m out of politics. I have no plans whatsoever. This is my last stop. I`m going to serve the country in the extraordinarily privileged position the president has given me, the great challenges that I have and move on. And I don`t have to comment and won`t comment on anybody contemplating a run for office anywhere." Kerry was the Democratic Party candidate during the 2004 presidential election, during which he was defeated by Republican nominee George W. Bush. His decision to step away from politics may come as a surprise to his supporters, with a recent Gallup poll saying some 60 percent of Americans approve of Kerry`s job performance as secretary of state. In the 2004 primaries, Kerry won Michigan, Washington, Maine, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Washington, D.C., Nevada, Wisconsin, Utah, Hawaii, and Idaho. On Super Tuesday he also won primaries in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island, leading to his nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004 alongside vice presidential candidate John Edwards. Kerry and Edwards ran a strong race for the presidency, but they ultimately lost the popular vote by a mere 2.46 percent to then-President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, making Bush`s winning percentage margin the narrowest ever for an incumbent president. The Democrats also lost the Electoral College by only 6.51 percent.