John McCain Biography

Known to be one of George W Bush’s strongest supporters of the war in Iraq, John McCain probably has more reason to voice his opinion on the war than most, given all the experiences he has had in his career as a naval aviator.

John McCain III was born on August 29, 1936, into a family of predominant U.S. Navy admirals. His father commanded American Forces in Vietnam while John was a prisoner of war and his mother was Roberta Wright.

At the time of his birth his parents were living in Panama, but due to the fact that both his parents were U.S. citizens, he was instantly a U.S. citizen himself which allows him to run for president. John McCain’s grandfather had also known war when he commanded the naval aviation at the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.After graduating from high school in 1954 John entered the United States Naval Academy from where he graduated in 1958. After graduating he was a naval aviator in Pensacola, Florida, where he escaped death when his aircraft crashed into Corpus Christie Bay. In July 1967 McCain once again escaped death when he was serving on board the Forrestal off the coast of Vietnam when a rocket accidentally hit his aircraft that was about to be launched. The following fire from the accident claimed the life of 132 other sailors and it destroyed 20 aircraft.

Once again in 1966, just before his arrival on board, the Oriskany was ignited by a mishandled flare which again resulted in the loss of 44 lives.Knowing the narrow escapes he has had in his career it cannot be questioned as to why McCain insists on carrying lucky charms and follows superstitions to gain fortune. While serving in Vietnam, he demanded that his parachute rigger clean his visor before each flight. On the 2000 campaign, he carried a lucky compass, feather, shoes, pen, penny and, at times, a rock. An incident when McCain misplaced his feather caused a brief panic in the campaign.

Along with near misses in his career McCain has been treated for recurrent skin cancer, including melanoma. McCain married his first wife, Carol Shepp, a model in 1965 and John adopted her two children, Doug and Andy, and they had a daughter together whom they named Sydney. The couple divorced in 1980.McCain retired from his position in the navy as a Captain and during his navy career he received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Legion of Merit, and a Distinguished Flying Cross. Along with John Kerry, John McCain is one of five Vietnam veterans serving in the U.S. Senate. John McCain began his political career when he married Cindy Hensley in 1980 and moved to Phoenix to work at her father’s beer distributorship.

Together they have three children and an adopted daughter from Bangladesh. While in Phoenix, the Republican congressman for Arizona 1st congressional district retired and John gained the support of the local community to run for the position. He succeeded in his bid. Then in 1986 he stepped into the shoes of Barry Goldwater after he retired. In 2000 John ran in the presidential primaries but lost nine out of thirteen of the primaries on Super Tuesday.  

After much controversy during the campaign McCain eventually lost to George W Bush. In the 2004 presidential elections McCain was a staunch supported of George Bush and praised him for his handling of the situation on September 11, 2001, after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

McCain has made several TV and film appearances in the last few years, often appearing on Late Night with Conan O Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. In 2002 McCain hosted Saturday Night Live, making him the third U.S. senator along with Paul Simon and George McGovern, to do so. In 2005 McCain made a cameo appearance in the movie Wedding Crashers, which starred Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.

It was on the Late Show with David Letterman in February 2007 that McCain announced his intension to run for president in the 2008 elections. If McCain wins in 2008, he will be seventy-two years old and that would make him the oldest person to assume the presidency in history, surpassing Ronald Reagan. He would also make history as the only president born outside the United States.In early 2007 the polls showed that Hillary Clinton was ahead of McCain by 1%. It was also reported that most Americans are more familiar with Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani, and Democratic runner Barack Obama.On April 26, 2007, McCain publicly announced that he would run for president in the 2008 general elections.

As the race heated up in early 2008 McCain's campaign really took flight and he emerged as one of two front runners for the position of Republican candidate along with Mike Huckabee.Mitt Romney suspended his campaign until a clear runner became obvious and endorse McCain as the Republican candidate on February 14th 2008, giving up his own delegates to secure McCain's position in his bid to be the next occupant of The White House.

In mid summer 2008 John McCain, beat Mitt Romney to become the Republican Party nominee for president.  With his campaign well under way, McCain selected Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate on August 29^th 208.  

The contestants pursued their campaigns with vigor throughout October and November until the general election was held on November 4th, 2008, at which time Obama defeated John McCain and became the first African American to be elected President of the United States.

McCain delivered his concession speech in Phoenix, Arizona that same evening.

YUDDY