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Kerry was the Democratic nominee in 2004, when he lost narrowly
to Republican President George W. Bush.
His support could help Biden make the case that he is the
Democrat best-suited to face President Donald Trump in the
November 2020 election. Kerry also served as secretary of state
under President Barack Obama and was a longtime U.S. senator
from Massachusetts.
"I've never before seen the world more in need of someone who on
day one can begin the incredibly hard work of putting back
together the world Donald Trump has smashed apart," Kerry said
in a statement, crediting Biden's help on fighting Islamic State
and striking a deal on Iran's nuclear program.
Biden argues that his foreign policy experience as a longtime
senator and then Obama's vice-president have prepared him for
the White House.
But he is facing a tough primary against 14 other Democrats,
including a current U.S. senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth
Warren.
Kerry will join Biden on the campaign trail on Friday in Iowa
and on Sunday in New Hampshire, a state that neighbors
Massachusetts and where Kerry's endorsement may be particularly
important. Iowa and New Hampshire will be the first states to
select a Democratic nominee next February, and Kerry won both
states in the 2004 primaries.
One of Biden's other Democratic rivals, South Bend, Indiana,
Mayor Pete Buttigieg, announced the endorsement of three Obama
administration officials earlier on Thursday, including close
Obama aide Reggie Love, former Chairman of the Council of
Economic Advisers Austan Goolsbee and Linda Douglass, former
director of communications for the White House Office of Health
Reform.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in New York; Editing by David
Gregorio and Dan Grebler)
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