John McCain

Birth Data

Biography

American politician, a Republican Senator from Arizona since 1992 and the rival of George W. Bush for the GOP presidential candidacy of the centennial. With a conservative voting record, he had made his name in part by pounding his head against the wall of campaign-finance reform. On foreign affairs and the military, McCain is an acknowledged expert, and his chairmanship of the Senate Commerce Committee has taught him about the mysteries of the information economy. On other issues, he may be thin but he puts his faith in experts and asks voters as well. His strength is in a campaign about character, an old-fashioned belief in honor that makes him trustworthy, even to those who disagree with some of his policies. McCain has always been a staunch conservative - pro-life, pro-gun, anti-tax, anti-regulation.

By age 40 he had already served as a naval aviator in the Vietnam war and had spent 5 1/2 years of hell as a POW. On 10/26/1967 he had been shot down on a mission over Hanoi, breaking both arms and legs. After solitary confinement, he was transferred to a cell with 50 other prisoners. As the son of Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet during the war, he had turned down paternal sponsorship, resisting pressure from his North Vietnamese captors to go free because his preferential treatment would demoralize the troops. On 3/17/1973, he was turned over to American authorities.

In 1977 McCain was promoted to Captain and reassigned to the Dept of Navy's Office of Legislative affairs. He retired from the Navy in 1981 and entered politics, winning the first of two terms in the House of Representatives in 1982. In 1986 he was elected to the Senate to succeed Goldwater. In September 1999, he launched a book tour promoting "Faith of my Fathers," a three-generational bio of his, his dad's and grand-dad's, both admirals, with the lessons of honor and patriotism that they'd taught him.

On 7/03/1965 he married Carol, adopting her two sons, Douglas and Andrew; they had a daughter together, Sidney Ann. After their 1980 divorce, he married former medical missionary, 18-year-younger Cindy Hensley, who monitors the homework and television of their four kids, even when on the campaign trail.

With a capacity for enthusiasm and his care for the underdog, McCain's belief that character trumps ideology and that hard work is a winning tactic proved accurate when he swept the New Hampshire primaries on 2/08/2000. His opponent, George W. Bush, seemed to be putting in little effort to compete, and that, reluctantly, where McCain was meeting the people in town halls and village squares.

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