Background

Early Life and Military Career

McCain was born in Coco Solo in the Panama Canal Zone which was under American control at the time. His father and grandfather were admirals in the U.S. Navy who, like McCain, graduated from the United States Naval Academy. In 1965, McCain married model Carol Shepp. He adopted his wife's two children and had one child together. They divorced in 1980. After graduating from Annapolis, McCain trained as a naval aviator at Pensacola, Florida, and Corpus Christi, Texas. He graduated and became a naval light attack pilot.

While serving in Vietnam, McCain sustained injuries after a Zuni rocket was accidentally fired his jet. Later that year his jet was shot down by an anti-aircraft middle, landing in a lake near Hanoi. The ejection broke both arms and legs. North Vietnamese soldiers beat him and took him to the notorious. Hoa Lo Prison that became known as "Hanoi Hilton". For five and a half years he was interrogated and tortured, which has rendered him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head. He was offered a release because of his father's position as the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific but refused based on the principle of "first in, first out." In 1973, McCain was released and became a Commanding Officer. In 1976 he became the Navy's liaison to the U.S. Senate. McCain retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 having received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit, the Purple Heart, and a Distinguished Flying Cross during his career.

Political Career and Positions

In 1980, McCain married Cindy Hensley and moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he made business and political contacts working for the Hensley family's Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship. In 1982, McCain successfully ran for the Congressional seat in Arizona's 1st congressional district. He entered the Senate in 1986. In 2000 and 2004, McCain ran for but lost the Republican presidential bid. McCain announced he is seeking the 2008 Presidential nomination for the Republican party in February 2007.

McCain has a record for attacking vested interests, many of which had benefit established Republicans. He has sponsored major initiatives that address lobbying and campaign finance. Hit hardest were the spokesmen for the religious right, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson; interest-groups like defense companies; and a campaign-finance system that largely benefit incumbents. As chairman of the committee on Indian affairs, McCain's leadership exposed Jack Abramoff, a conservative super-lobbyist, and Tom DeLay , the former Republican Speaker for the House of Representatives. McCain has been a longtime supporter of the Iraq war but a critic of the administration's handling of the war. He thinks that a defeat in Iraq would be a disaster, generating chaos and genocide and it would encourage Islamic radicals to attack Americans at home. He advocates free trade, the death penalty, pro-life values (barring cases of rape and incest), school vouchers, and mandatory sentencing. He originally opposed the Bush Tax cuts and gun control but changed his position on both issues. McCain has worked with Democrats on legalizing illegal immigrants, increasing the number work visas for immigrants, campaign-finance reform, and addressing global warming.

Professional Positions

Accomplishments

Criticism

• one of the "Keating Five," five U.S. Senators accused of corruption in 1989. McCain was eventually cleared of any wrong doing by the Senate Ethics Committee in 1991
• has few major legislative accomplishments and his campaign finance reform has done little to remove money from politics
• his bill to give the President line-item veto was ruled unconsitutional
• between 2005 and mid-2007, the only U.S. Senator to miss more roll-call votes than John McCain is Senator Tim Johnson, who had a near fatal aneurysm
• he has admitted that he knows little about the economy or Social Security
• At a 1998 Republican fundraiser Senator McCain said "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father."

Additional Information

• John McCain graduated Annapolis 894 out of a class of 899.

Biography Links

• John McCain - Wikipedia
• Keating Five - Wikipedia