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John
McCain,
a decorated war veteran and former Prisoner
of War, began his political career in
1982 with his election into office as
a US Representative from Arizona and later
as a Senator. He ran for the Republican
nomination for Presidency in 2000 and
2008.
John Sidney McCain III was born on August
29, 1939 at the Coco Solo Naval Air Station
in Panama. His Father, John S. McCain
Jr., was a Navy officer at the time (later
becoming an Admiral) stationed in Panama
with his mother, Roberta. During his early
years, McCain moved around the US to various
naval stations as a result of his father's
career and ended up attending approximately
twenty different schools. The family finally
settled in Virginia where McCain attended
the Episcopal High School in Alexandria,
graduating in 1954.
After graduation, McCain, highly influenced
by his father and grandfather's associations
with the Navy, entered the US Naval Academy
with mixed results. Although he did not
perform well in school and did not respond
well to the overwhelming discipline of
the structured environment, McCain managed
to gain respect with his peers and surfaced
as a natural leader. Despite the problems,
McCain was able to graduate from the Academy
in 1958.
McCain entered active service and graduated
from flight school in 1960 to become a
naval pilot. He was stationed in both
the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas onboard
the USS Intrepid and the USS Enterprise.
Known as a party man, John McCain met
and eventually married Carol Shepp, a
model, with whom he had one child, Sidney.
McCain also formally adopted Carol's two
children from a previous relationship.
In 1966 John McCain returned to combat
and boarded the USS Forrestal and about
six months later was sent to Vietnam with
the aircraft carrier. The Forrestal was
to be part of Operation Rolling Thunder,
an plan with which McCain openly disagreed.
During the Operation, the Forrestal caught
fire, almost killing McCain, and eventually
rendering the Forrestal inoperable for
a period of time. McCain, still healing
from shrapnel wounds, joined the USS Oriskany.
During a flight over North Vietnam, McCain's
plane was shot down by an anti-aircraft
missile. Although John McCain escaped
the plane via parachute, he did fracture
both arms and leg and was further injured
by an angry mob that discovered him. He
was sent to the Hoa Loa Prison (nicknamed
"Hanoi Hilton") and was originally
refused medical treatment. When the North
Vietnamese discovered that his father
was a top admiral, they changed their
tactics and agreed to treat his wounds.
In March 1968, the North Vietnamese moved
McCain into solitary confinement where
they kept him for two years. He endured
severe beatings and torture and refused
early release: The North Vietnamese had
wanted to use him as a political ploy
but McCain refused to go unless all the
other prisoners were also set free.
John McCain's imprisonment lasted for
five and a half years. He endured enough
beatings and torture to render him permanently
incapable of raising his hands above his
head. The North Vietnamese released him,
and other Prisoners of War, in March of
1973.
McCain underwent physical therapy and
was restored to flight status in 1974
at which time he became the Commanding
Officer of a training squadron in Florida.
McCain became the Navy's liaison to the
US Senate in 1977 and began an affair
with Cindy Hensley two years later. Although
his marriage to Carol was failing at the
time, they did not finalize the divorce
until 1980. McCain married Hensley in
May of that same year. One year later
McCain retired from the Navy as a Captain,
having collected five major medals for
his career: the Silver Star, Bronze Star,
Purple Heart, Legion of Merit, and a Distinguished
Flying Cross.
With the help of his new father in-law,
McCain began his political career in 1982
an elected Representative from Arizona
and was re-elected in 1984 to the same
position. He began his Senate career in
1986 and focused his efforts on improving
international affairs and ending corporate
monetary influences on political affairs.
McCain also helped decrease the tobacco
industry's influence on teenagers by increasing
cigarette taxes to fund anti-smoking campaigns.
McCain remained an active part of the
senate and ran for the Republican nomination
to the 2000 US presidency. He eventually
lost the nomination to George
W. Bush, but decided to run for the
nomination again in 2007 with hopes of
winning the bid for the 2008 presidential
election.
John McCain has three biological children
with his second wife and one adopted daughter.
This John McCain biography may
not be reproduced online.
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