John McCain's Biography
Who was John McCain?
John Sidney McCain III was born on 29 August 1936 in Panama Canal Zone.The son and grandson of admirals, John McCain graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1958. It was to be the start of a 22-year career as a US navy pilot.
John McCain served in the Vietnam War. His jet was shot down in a bombing raid on Hanoi on 23 October 1967 and he was held as a prisoner-of-war in Hanoi.
It was five-and-a-half years before he was released. Around the time of John McCain's imprisonment in Hanoi, his father had been an admiral and Commander in Chief of the USA's Pacific forces.
After his return to the States, John McCain was naval liaison to the Senate until his retirement from the Navy in 1981.
Amongst his medals were the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
McCain moved to Arizona and was elected to Congress there in 1982, and four years later represented Arizona as a Senator.
John McCain stood for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2000, but lost out to George W Bush.
In November 2004, Senator McCain was re-elected with nearly 77% of the vote.
By the time, in mid-February 2008, that former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney had endorsed John McCain's bid for the White House, McCain had already become the favourite to win the Republican's race.
In March 2008, John McCain sealed the Republican nomination and George W Bush endorsed his bid for the White House.
John McCain was married twice.
According to the BBC article, John McCain:The Legend Was Not Enough:
"His marriage to his first wife, who had waited for him to come back from Vietnam, fell apart after he had a number of affairs. He remarried in 1980."
John McCain's first wife was Carol Shepp and in 1980 he married Cindy Lou Hensley.
McCain has written an autobiographical account of his early life, Faith of my Fathers.
On November 4, 2008 John McCain lost out to the Democratic candidate Barack Obama in his bid to become President of the USA.
In October 2016, John McCain withdrew his endorsement of the Republican nominee Donald Trump after a leaked video showed Trump boasting about making sexual advances toward women without their consent.
There are no excuses for Donald Trump’s offensive behavior. Cindy & I will not vote for him. My full stmt: https://t.co/MOw0rx4LSI
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) October 8, 2016
In July 2017, John McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer.
Soon after, John McCain was only one of three Republicans to side with the Democrats to defeat a bill to repeal Obamacare by 51-49.
John McCain died on 25 August 2018, aged 81.
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