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Born in Coco Solo in the then American-controlled Panama Canal Zone, the son and grandson of United States Navy Admirals, McCain was educated at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia and the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. He then served as a naval aviator (holding the rank of Captain), seeing combat in the Vietnam War, and first became a national celebrity after being held as a prisoner of war for five and a half years, from 1967–1973. Upon his release and return, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives in Arizona's 1st district in 1982 and then to the United States Senate in 1986. He is currently serving his fourth term as senator.
Early life and military careerImage:Jmpolit01.jpg Right:Lieutenant John McCain when he was an instructor in 1965 and 1966 with his squadron McCain was born in Coco Solo in the then American-controlled Panama Canal Zone to Admiral John S. McCain, Jr. and Roberta (Wright) McCain. Despite being born in a foreign country, his parents were both U.S. citizens and he acquired United States citizenship at birth, making him eligible for the Presidency.[4] Both his father and grandfather were famous U.S. Navy admirals. His father commanded American forces in Vietnam while McCain was a prisoner of war. His grandfather John S. McCain, Sr. commanded naval aviation at the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. His mother is Roberta Wright (born 1912). He attended Episcopal High School and graduated in 1954. That fall, McCain entered the United States Naval Academy, like his father and grandfather. He graduated in 1958.
After graduating from Annapolis, McCain trained as a naval aviator at Pensacola, Florida, and Corpus Christi, Texas. During a practice run in Corpus Christi, his aircraft crashed into Corpus Christi Bay, though he escaped with no major injuries.[6] Eventually he graduated and entered the U.S. Navy's light attack community. Image:Nixon greets POW McCain.jpg President Richard Nixon greets the released John McCain. VietnamMcCain escaped death again on July 29, 1967. While Forrestal steamed off the coast of Vietnam preparing to launch attacks, a Zuni rocket from an F-4 Phantom was accidentally fired across the carrier's deck. The rocket struck McCain's A-4E Skyhawk as the jet was preparing for launch.[7] The impact ruptured the Skyhawk's fuel tank, which ignited the fuel and knocked two bombs loose. McCain escaped from his jet by climbing out of the cockpit, working himself to the nose of the jet, and jumping off its refueling probe onto the burning deck of the aircraft carrier. Ninety seconds after the impact, one of the bombs exploded underneath his airplane. McCain was struck in the legs and chest by shrapnel. The ensuing fire killed 132 sailors, injured 62 others, destroyed at least 20 aircraft, and threatened to sink the ship.[8] A video of the incident has been made available by McCain's Presidential Exploratory Committee.[9] After the Forrestal incident, McCain joined the VA-163 Saints on board the short-staffed Oriskany. Before McCain's arrival, on October 26, 1966, a mishandled flare caused a deck fire, resulting in the death of 44 men, including 24 pilots, and the Oriskany was just returning to duty after significant repairs. The Saints squadron and its parent Air Wing 16 suffered the highest loss rate of any Navy flying unit during the entire Vietnam War. These heavy losses have been attributed to the perilous missions assigned to the squadron and the aggressiveness of its aviators.[citation needed] P.O.W. McCainImage:Vietcapturejm01.jpg Unidentified man being pulled out of a lake in North Vietnam On October 26, 1967, McCain's A-4 Skyhawk was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile, landing in Truc Bach Lake. He broke both arms and a leg after ejecting from his plane. After he regained consciousness, a mob gathered around him, spat on him, kicked him and stripped him of his clothing. He was then tortured by Vietnamese soldiers, who bayonetted him in his left foot and groin. His shoulder was crushed by a rifle butt. He was then transported to the Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Hanoi Hilton.[10] Once McCain arrived at the Hanoi Hilton, he was placed in a cell and interrogated daily. When McCain refused to provide any information to his captors, he was beaten until he lost consciousness.[11] When the North Vietnamese discovered his father was the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command, (CINCPAC), commander of all U.S. forces in Vietnam, he was offered a chance to return home. McCain turned down the offer of repatriation.[12] McCain signed an anti-American propaganda message which was written in Vietnamese, but only as a result of rigorous and brutal torture methods, which to this day have left him incapable of raising his arms above his head. According to McCain, signing the propaganda message is something he most regrets during his time as a POW. After McCain signed the statement, the Vietnamese decided they could not use it. They tried to force him to sign a second statement, and this time he refused. He received two to three beatings per week because of his continued refusal.[13] McCain was held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five-and-a-half years, mostly in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, and was finally released from captivity in 1973, having been a POW for almost an extra five years due to his earlier refusal to accept an out of turn repatriation offer. McCain was reinstated to flight status and became Commanding Officer of the VA-174 Hellrazors, the East Coast A-7 Corsair II Navy training squadron.[14] In 1976 he became the Navy's liaison to the Senate.[15] He retired from the Navy in 1981 as a captain.[16] During his military career, he received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit, the Purple Heart, and a Distinguished Flying Cross.[17] McCain is one of five Vietnam veterans currently serving in the U.S. Senate; the others are Thomas Carper (D-DE), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), John Kerry (D-MA), and Jim Webb (D-VA).[18] A television-based film entitled Faith Of My Fathers, based on McCain's memoir of his experiences as a POW, aired on Memorial Day, 2005 on A&E.[19] Political careerImage:John McCain Official Other Version.jpg Senator John Sidney McCain III In 1980 McCain married Cindy Hensley[16] and moved to Phoenix. There he went to work for her father's Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship, where he gained political support among the local business community.[15] When John Jacob Rhodes, the longtime Republican congressman from Arizona's 1st congressional district, announced his retirement, McCain ran for the seat as a Republican in 1982 and won.[20] In 1986, upon Republican Senator Barry Goldwater's retirement, McCain was elected to succeed him.[15] 2000 presidential primaryIn 1997, TIME named him as one of the "25 Most Influential People in America".[21] His best-selling family memoir, Faith of My Fathers (1999), helped propel his presidential run. McCain skipped the Iowa caucus, focusing instead on the New Hampshire primary. In visits to towns he gave a ten-minute talk (focused on campaign reform issues), then announced he would stay until he answered every question that everyone had. He made over 200 stops, talking in every town in New Hampshire in an example of "retail politics" that overcame Bush's famous name. He won by 49-30, and suddenly was the celebrity of the hour. Analysts predicted that a McCain victory in the crucial state of South Carolina primary would give him unstoppable momentum. However, McCain lost South Carolina, allowing Bush to regain the momentum. Analysts attribute McCain's loss in South Carolina to Bush's mobilization of the state's evangelical voters. Indeed, each side made allegations of negative campaigning against the other. There was alleged to have been a push polling campaign by the Bush camp, in which phone calls were made to conservative Republican voters in the Deep South, allegedly to ask them whether they would support McCain if he had an illegitimate interracial daughter with a black woman. McCain in fact has an adopted daughter from Bangladesh. Accounts of this are covered in the books, Bush's Brain and Boy Genius.[22] Additionally, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh entered the fray supporting Bush. Image:McCain-Bush-050321.jpg McCain and Bush in Tucson, Arizona, March 21, 2005 McCain never recovered from his defeat in South Carolina, although he did bounce back by winning in Michigan and Arizona. However, McCain made serious mistakes that negated any momentum he may have regained with the Michigan victory. In Virginia, he began criticizing conservative Christian leaders Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. McCain lost the Virginia primary and then, a week later, went on to lose 9 of the 13 primaries on Super Tuesday. His overall loss on that day has been attributed to his going "off message", ineffectively accusing Bush of being anti-Catholic in response to his visit to Bob Jones University[23] and getting into a verbal battle with leaders of the Religious Right.[24] McCain was also criticized for his continued use of an ethnic slur in reference to his Vietnamese captors. He told reporters, "I hate the gooks.... I will hate them as long as I live."[25] At first, he stood by his use of the slur, saying that it was "the kindest, the kindest description I can give them."[26] Amid heavy criticism,[27] McCain later reversed his position and apologized [5], though the delay aroused the ire of Asian Americans.[25] McCain would go on to win a few more primaries (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Vermont), but in a two-man contest he was unable to catch up. 2004 presidential electionMcCain publicly supported Bush in the 2004 U.S. presidential election. He often praised Bush's leadership since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. McCain's reputation as a moderate appealed to many voters who found Bush too conservative, and in the 2000 elections, many saw Bush as the more conservative candidate and McCain as the more moderate candidate. In fact, according to,[28] McCain's voting record in the 109th Congress was the third most conservative among senators.[29] On the other hand, his voting record during the 107th Congress, from January 2001 through November 2002, placed him as the 6th most liberal Republican senator, according to the same analysis at voteview.com.[30] McCain's colleague, and also the 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee, John Kerry of Massachusetts, reportedly asked McCain to be his running mate.[31] McCain accused the Swift Boat Vet campaign against Kerry of being "dishonest and dishonorable."[32] 2008 presidential raceMcCain announced he is seeking the 2008 Presidential nomination from the GOP on the Wednesday, February 28, 2007, telecast of the Late Show With David Letterman. A formal announcement is expected in April. Should McCain win in 2008, he would be the oldest person to assume the Presidency in history at initial ascension to office, being 72 years old and surpassing Ronald Reagan, who was 69 years old at his inauguration following the 1980 election. He has dismissed concerns about his age and past health concerns (malignant melanoma in 2000), stating in 2005 that his health was "excellent."[33][34] McCain's oft-cited strengths[35] as a presidential candidate in 2008 include national name recognition, sponsorship of major lobbying and campaign finance reform initiatives, leadership in exposing the Abramoff scandal,[36] military service (including years as a tortured POW), competing in the 2000 presidential campaign (where he won the New Hampshire primary), extensive fund-raising abilities, strong advocacy for President Bush's re-election campaign in 2004, and nominee for Vice President. A Time Magazine poll dated January, 2007 shows McCain trailing Hillary Clinton by 1%; results also indicate that fewer Americans are familiar with McCain than any of the other frontrunners, including Republican candidate and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Democratic hopeful Senator Barack Obama.[37] During the 2006 election cycle, McCain attended 346 events and raised more than $10.5 million on behalf of Republican candidates. He also donated nearly $1.5 million to federal, state and county parties.[38] In May 2006, McCain gave the commencement address at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. During his 2000 presidential bid, McCain had called Falwell an "agent of intolerance." With significant coverage during the campaign, McCain said that he would never back down from his earlier statement. His later appearance at Liberty University prompted questions about the McCain-Falwell relationship and a possible presidential run in 2008. McCain backtracked and stated that Falwell is no longer that divisive figure and the two have discussed their shared values.[39] McCain delivered a similar address at The New School commencement in Madison Square Garden. McCain was received by boos, jeers, and several students and professors turned their backs or waved fliers reading "McCain does not speak for me."[40] McCain's speech mentioned his unwavering support for the Iraq War and focused on hearing opposing viewpoints, listening to each other, and the relevance of opposition in a democracy.[41] At the recent inauguration of Alabama governor Bob Riley, McCain mentioned the incumbent as a possible running mate in the 2008 election. He hired a board member of the Project for the New American Century, Randy Scheunemann, as his foreign-policy aide.[42] Political viewsA lifelong Republican,[43] McCain's American Conservative Union rating is 82 percent.[44] However, McCain has supported some initiatives not agreed upon by his own party and has been called a "maverick" by some members of the American media.[45] McCain's reputation as a maverick stems from his support for gay rights issues, support for a guest worker program for illegal immigrants, support for stricter limits on political campaign funds, his mixed record on environmental issues, and opposition to President Bush's $350 billion in tax breaks over 11 years which is also known as the Bush Tax cuts.[6] ControversiesKeating Five controversyThe Keating Five (or Keating Five Scandal) refers to a Congressional scandal related to the collapse of most of the Savings and Loan institutions in the United States in the late 1980s. McCain was one of five senators who met at least twice in 1987 with Ed Gray, chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, seeking to prevent the government's seizure of Lincoln Savings and Loan, a subsidiary of Charles H. Keating's American Continental Corporation. Between 1982–1987, McCain received approximately $112,000 in political contributions from Keating and his associates. In addition, McCain's wife and her father had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators. McCain, his family and baby-sitter made at least nine trips at Keating's expense, sometimes aboard the American Continental jet. After learning Keating was in trouble over Lincoln, McCain paid for the air trips totalling $13,433.[46] Federal regulators ultimately filed a $1.1 billion civil racketeering and fraud suit against Keating, accusing him of siphoning Lincoln's deposits to his family and into political campaigns. McCain received a rebuke from the Ethics Committee for exercising poor judgment for intervening with the federal regulators on behalf of Keating. On his Keating Five experience, McCain said: "The appearance of it was wrong. It's a wrong appearance when a group of senators appear in a meeting with a group of regulators, because it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence. And it was the wrong thing to do." Other controversies
Appearances on radio, television and in moviesMcCain has made appearances in various entertainment media. He was criticized for his cameo in the 2005 summer movie Wedding Crashers. It prompted some critics to accuse McCain of hypocrisy due to his earlier criticisms of Hollywood for creating too many movies of that style.[57] Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report, commenting on McCain's appearance, referred to the film as a "boob raunch fest." McCain responded during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno by joking that he is "working with boobs all the time in Washington.".[58] He has been a regular guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and is a good friend of the host Jon Stewart and the show.[59] McCain hosted the October 12, 2002 episode of Saturday Night Live, making him the third U.S. Senator after Paul Simon and George McGovern, to host the show.[60] In the 2005 documentary Why We Fight by Eugene Jarecki, McCain is interviewed.[61] McCain made a brief cameo on the television show 24.[62] He appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2005 in a bit entitled Secrets.[63] A 2005 made-for-TV movie, Faith of My Fathers, was based on John McCain's memoirs of his experience in the Vietnam War.[64] Personal lifeMcCain lives with his second wife Cindy Hensley McCain in Phoenix. She is the chairman of the large Anheuser-Busch beer and liquor distributor Hensley & Company, founded by her father.[65][66] Cindy suffered a stroke in April 2004 due to high blood pressure, but appears to have made a full recovery.[67] McCain has been treated for recurrent skin cancer, including melanoma, in 1993, 2000, and 2002.[68] He has seven children and four grandchildren. McCain adopted his first wife Carol's sons (Doug and Andy), and he and Carol had a daughter, (Sydney). John has three biological children with his wife Cindy – Meghan, Columbia University (2007); John Sidney IV (Jack), United States Naval Academy (2009); and James, Brophy College Preparatory (2006); in addition, he and Cindy adopted their youngest daughter, Bridget, after discovering her in a Bangladeshi orphanage run by Mother Teresa. McCain's son James enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2006, and began recruit training in September 2006.[69] Awards
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