his wife never had any children. Kernan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease several years before his 2020 death. However, his family did not disclose his condition until early July 2020, weeks before his death, when they disclosed that Kernan was afflicted by the condition, was living in a care facility, and had lost his ability to speak. Death Kernan died on July 29, 2020, from complications of Alzheimer's disease at a care facility in South Bend. Political positions Kernan stated that he was "personally opposed" to abortion, but was strongly pro-choice. While lieutenant governor, Kernan commented on President Bill Clinton's misconduct outlined in the Starr Report, stating that the president had "gone too far," and further commenting on a sense of disappointment in Clinton by saying, "We've all had some feelings over the last few weeks and the past seven months. Some of us are angry, disappointed, ashamed, bitter, sad. For all of us, one or more of these emotions have come together." As governor, Kernan was not opposed to providing special subsidies for large employers to move jobs to the state. He responded to criticisms of this feeding into a race to the bottom by declaring, "I understand the argument that taking jobs away from Boston and putting them here is nationally a zero-sum game. But Indiana, like virtually every other state, is not going to unilaterally disarm". In 2017, along with Republican former Ohio Governor Bob Taft, Kernan co-authored an op-ed arguing in favor of abolishing the death penalty for mentally ill criminals. Electoral history Mayor Lieutenant gubernatorial Governor See also List of governors of Indiana U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War References External links |- |- 1946 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War Aviators from Indiana Businesspeople from Indiana Catholics from Indiana Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Democratic Party governors of Indiana Lieutenant Governors of Indiana Mayors of South Bend, Indiana Neurological disease deaths in Indiana Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players People from Indiana in the Vietnam War Politicians from Chicago Procter & Gamble people Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Shot-down aviators United States Naval Aviators United States Navy officers University of Notre Dame alumni Vietnam War prisoners of war