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April 22, 2008
Election 2008
Senator, Arizona
John McCain
Republican
John McCain is again running for president, having won the 2000 New Hampshire Republican primary before bowing out and endorsing George W. Bush four months later. He has been called a maverick and is known as a fiercely independent politician, nicknaming his 2000 campaign bus the "Straight Talk Express."
Sen. McCain's 25 years in politics followed a 22-year naval career, including time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. A child and grandchild of Navy admirals, he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1958 and volunteered for duty during the Vietnam War. In October 1967, his plane was shot down during a bombing mission. When his captors learned he was the son of a prominent Navy officer, they offered to release him ahead of other POWs, but he refused. He spent more than five years enduring torture and solitary confinement before his release in 1973.
McCain was first elected to the Senate in 1986, replacing longtime Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater. His most well known accomplishment has been the controversial 2001 McCain-Feingold bill, which banned unrestricted "soft-money" contributions to political parties.
Quick Facts
- Occupation: U.S. Senator - Arizona
- Age: 71
- Birth date: August 29, 1936
- Family: Married to Cindy Hensley; daughters Meghan and Bridget; sons Sydney, Doug, Andy, John Sydney and James
- Education: U. S. Naval Academy; National War College
- Professional Experience: Pilot; Captain, U.S. Navy, Vietnam; Senate Navy Liaison; Member, Council on Foreign Relations; Founding Member, Pacific Council on International Policy, University of Southern California
- Political Experience: U.S. Senate; U.S. House of Representatives
- Religious Affiliation: Episcopal
Did You Know?
- McCain is known to be superstitious and, in addition to wearing a pair of lucky shoes, carried with him a compass, tribal feather and flattened penny on the 2000 campaign. When he misplaced the compass, he sent his political director to hunt it down.
- Favorite food to cook - Baby-back ribs
- Last music purchase - "Sounds of Summer", "The Very Best of the Beach Boys"
- Last work of fiction read - A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
- Pets at home - Sam, the English springer spaniel; Coco, the mutt; turtles Cuff and Link; Oreo, the black and white cat; a ferret; three parakeets; 13 saltwater fish