American voters go to the polls on Tuesday to elect a new president -- chief executive of the US government and commander-in-chief of the US military.
According to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Sunday, the incumbent President George W. Bush enjoyed a slight lead over Democratic presidential candidate John K. Kerry. The poll indicated that 49 percent of likely voters polled chose Bush, with 47 percent taking sides with Kerry.
This was a virtual tie given the margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, Bush and Kerry were almost evenly split among likely voters in six major battleground states the weekend before the election -- Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio.
The following is the profile of Kerry.
On Dec. 11, 1943, Kerry was born in a military hospital in Denver, Colorado.
After graduating in 1966 from Yale University with a bachelor of arts degree, Kerry joined the US Navy and served in Vietnam from 1968-1969. He became a hero after winning a Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple hearts as a swift boat officer.
Returning from Vietnam, the war hero turned to an anti-war hero. Kerry made a name for his famous line when testifying before a Senate committee: "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
Kerry's first foray into politics was not successful. In 1972, 28-year-old Kerry declared his candidacy in the 5th Congressional District in Massachusetts but lost the bid.
After the defeat, Kerry went to Boston College and got a law degree in 1976. He worked as an assistant district attorney and opened his own law practice. But he never gave up his political ambition.
In 1982, Kerry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. In 1984, he was elected to the US Senate, where he is currently serving his fourth consecutive term. In both elections, Kerry upset a favored Democratic rival for the party's nomination.
In the days leading up to the first caucuses in this year's primary season, Kerry was considered by many to be dead in the water. But Kerry won a landslide and never looked back.
Kerry is married to Teresa Heinz Kerry and has two daughters by a previous marriage. Teresa Heinz is the widow of late Republican Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and has an estimated fortune of US$600 million.