John McCain

John McCain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Senior Senatorfrom Arizona
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1987Serving with Jon Kyl
Preceded by
Barry Goldwater
Member of the U.S. House of Representativesfrom Arizona's 1st district
In officeJanuary 3, 1983 – January 3, 1987
Preceded by
John Jacob Rhodes Jr.
Succeeded by
John Jacob Rhodes III
Born
August 29, 1936 (1936-08-29) (age 71)Coco Solo Naval Air Station, Panama Canal Zone
Nationality
American
Political party
Republican
Spouse
Carol Shepp (m. 1965, div. 1980)Cindy Hensley McCain (m. 1980)
Children
Douglas (b. ~1960), Andrew (b. ~1962), Sidney (b. 1966), Meghan (b. 1984), John Sidney IV "Jack" (b. 1986), James (b. 1988), Bridget (b. 1991)
Alma mater
United States Naval Academy
Profession
Naval aviator, Politician
Net Worth
$23–36 million (USD)[1]
Religion
Episcopalian (to 1990s)Baptist (by 2000s)
Signature

Website
U.S. Senator John McCain

The life of John McCain

Early life and military careerHouse and Senate career, 1982–20002000 presidential campaignSenate career, 2001–present2008 presidential campaignCultural and political imagePolitical positions

John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936) is the senior United States Senator from Arizona and presumptive Republican Party nominee for President of the United States in the upcoming 2008 election.

McCain graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958 and became a naval aviator, flying attack aircraft from carriers. During the Vietnam War, he nearly lost his life in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. Later that year while on a bombing mission over North Vietnam, he was shot down, badly injured, and captured as a prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese. He spent five and a half years as a prisoner of war, experiencing episodes of torture.

McCain retired from the Navy in 1981 and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona in 1982. After serving two terms, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, winning re-election in 1992, 1998, and 2004. While generally adhering to conservative principles, McCain established a reputation as a political maverick for disagreeing with his party on several key issues. Surviving the Keating Five scandal of the 1980s, he made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns, eventually co-sponsoring the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in 2002.

McCain lost the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush. He ran again for Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and gained enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee in March 2008.
Contents[hide]

1 Early life and military career
1.1 Formative years and education
1.2 Military service and marriages
2 House and Senate career, 1982–2000
2.1 U.S. Congressman and a growing family
2.2 First two terms in U.S. Senate
3 2000 presidential campaign
4 Senate career after 2000
4.1 Remainder of third Senate term
4.2 Fourth Senate term
5 2008 presidential campaign
6 Political positions
7 Cultural and political image
8 Writings by McCain
9 References
10 Bibliography
11 External links