John McCain

John McCain
Official portrait, 2009
United States Senator from Arizona
In office January 3, 1987 – August 25, 2018
Preceded by	Barry Goldwater
Succeeded by	Jon Kyl
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st district
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1987
Preceded by	John Jacob Rhodes
Succeeded by	John Jacob Rhodes III
Senatorial positions Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee In office January 3, 2015 – August 25, 2018[a] Preceded by Carl Levin Succeeded by Jim Inhofe Chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee In office January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2007 Preceded by Ben Nighthorse Campbell Succeeded by Byron Dorgan In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997 Preceded by Daniel Inouye Succeeded by Ben Nighthorse Campbell Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005 Preceded by Fritz Hollings Succeeded by Ted Stevens In office January 20, 2001 – June 3, 2001 Preceded by Fritz Hollings Succeeded by Fritz Hollings In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2001 Preceded by Larry Pressler Succeeded by Fritz Hollings
Personal details
Born	John Sidney McCain III (1936-08-29)August 29, 1936 Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone
Died	August 25, 2018(2018-08-25) (aged 81) Cornville, Arizona, U.S.
Resting place	United States Naval Academy Cemetery
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Carol Shepp ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1980)​ Cindy Hensley ​ (m. 1980)​
Children	7, including Meghan
Parents	John S. McCain Jr. Roberta Wright
Relatives	Joe McCain (brother)
Education	United States Naval Academy (BS)
Civilian awards	Presidential Medal of Freedom (posthumous, 2022)
Signature
Website	Senate website
Nickname	John Wayne
Military service
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1958–1981
Rank	Captain
Battles/wars	Vietnam War (POW) Operation Rolling Thunder (WIA)
Military awards	Silver Star Legion of Merit (2) with Combat "V" Distinguished Flying Cross Bronze Star Medal (3) with Combat "V" Purple Heart (more...)
John McCain's voice McCain speaks on the 2016 presidential transition Recorded November 16, 2016

John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a U.S. senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and was the Republican Party's nominee in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

McCain was a son of Admiral John S. McCain Jr. and grandson of Admiral John S. McCain Sr. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958 and received a commission in the U.S. Navy. McCain became a naval aviator and flew ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he almost died in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. While on a bombing mission during Operation Rolling Thunder over Hanoi in October 1967, McCain was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973. McCain experienced episodes of torture and refused an out-of-sequence early release. He sustained wounds that left him with lifelong physical disabilities. McCain retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona.

In 1982, McCain was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served two terms. Four years later, he was elected to the Senate, where he served six terms. While generally adhering to conservative principles, McCain also gained a reputation as a "maverick" for his willingness to break from his party on certain issues, including LGBT rights, gun regulations, and campaign finance reform where his stances were more moderate than those of the party's base. McCain was investigated and largely exonerated in a political influence scandal of the 1980s as one of the Keating Five; he then made regulating the financing of political campaigns one of his signature concerns, which eventually resulted in passage of the McCain–Feingold Act in 2002. He was also known for his work in the 1990s to restore diplomatic relations with Vietnam. McCain chaired the Senate Commerce Committee from 1997 to 2001 and 2003 to 2005, where he opposed pork barrel spending and earmarks. He belonged to the bipartisan "Gang of 14", which played a key role in alleviating a crisis over judicial nominations.

McCain entered the race for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination, but lost a heated primary season contest to George W. Bush. He secured the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, beating fellow candidates Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, though he lost the general election to Barack Obama. McCain subsequently adopted more orthodox conservative stances and attitudes and largely opposed actions of the Obama administration, especially with regard to foreign policy matters. In 2015, he became Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He refused to support then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election and later became a vocal critic of the Trump administration. While McCain opposed the Obama-era Affordable Care Act (ACA), he cast the deciding vote against the American Health Care Act of 2017, which would have partially repealed the ACA. After being diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2017, he reduced his role in the Senate to focus on treatment, dying from the disease in 2018.

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