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John McCain
Republican candidate for President of the United States
Election date November 4, 2008
Opponent(s)	Hillary Clinton (D), Barack Obama (D) and numerous others
Incumbent	George W. Bush
Personal details
Born	(1936-08-29) August 29, 1936 (age 88) Panama Canal Zone
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Carol Shepp (m. 1965, div. 1980) Cindy Hensley McCain (m. 1980)
Alma mater	United States Naval Academy
Profession	Naval aviator, Politician

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John Sidney McCain III (born August 29 1936) is the senior United States Senator from Arizona and, following the March 4, 2008 primaries, the presumptive Republican nominee for the Presidency of the United States.

Both McCain's grandfather and father were admirals in the United States Navy. McCain attended the United States Naval Academy and graduated in 1958. He was married in 1965. He became a naval aviator, flying attack aircraft from carriers. During the Vietnam War in 1967, he narrowly escaped death in the Forrestal fire. On his twenty-third bombing mission over North Vietnam later in 1967, he was shot down and badly injured. He then endured five and a half years as a prisoner of war, including periods of torture, before he was released following the Paris Peace Accords in 1973.

Retiring from the Navy in 1981 and recently remarried, McCain moved to Arizona and entered politics. In 1982, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st congressional district. After serving two terms there, he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Arizona in 1986. He was re-elected Senator in 1992, 1998, and 2004. While generally adhering to American conservatism, McCain established a reputation as a political maverick for his willingness to defy Republican orthodoxy on several issues. Surviving the Keating Five scandal of the 1980s, he made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns, which eventually led to the passing of the McCain-Feingold Act in 2002.

McCain was a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential election, but was defeated by George W. Bush after closely contested battles in several early primary states. In the 2008 presidential election cycle, McCain was the Republican front-runner as the cycle began. He suffered a near-collapse of his campaign in mid-2007, due to financial issues and his support for comprehensive immigration reform. In late 2007, he staged a comeback. He won several key primaries during January 2008, and by the end of that month was the Republican front-runner once again. His lead was solidified by several victories on Super Tuesday in early February, and by the subsequent withdrawal of his closest competitor, Mitt Romney; he gained enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee in early March.

Early life and military career

Formative years and education

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John McCain's early life began at a military base. He was born on August 29, 1936 at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in Panama within the then-American-controlled Panama Canal Zone to Navy officer John S. McCain, Jr. (1911–1981) and Roberta (Wright) McCain (b. 1912). His father and grandfather both eventually became United States Navy admirals. McCain has Scots-Irish ancestry.

McCain's family (including his older sister Sandy and younger brother Joe) followed his father to various naval postings in the United States and the Pacific; altogether he attended about 20 different schools. As a child, John was known for a quick temper, an aggressive drive to compete and prevail, and later a defiant streak. In 1951, the family settled in Northern Virginia and McCain attended Episcopal High School in Alexandria. There he excelled at wrestling and graduated in 1954.

Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain entered the United States Naval Academy. He was a rebellious midshipman, and his career at the Naval Academy was ambivalent. He had his share of run-ins with the leadership, did not take well to being bossed, and received many demerits. He competed as a lightweight boxer, and he did well in a few subjects that interested him. Despite his low standing, he was a leader among his fellow midshipmen. He wanted to show the same mettle as his naval forebears, and so he managed to graduate from the Naval Academy in 1958, though near the bottom of his class.

Naval training, early assignments, first marriage, and children

John McCain's pre-combat duty began when he was commissioned an ensign. He spent two and a half years as a naval aviator in training, where he earned a reputation as a party man. Graduating from flight school in 1960, he became a naval pilot of attack aircraft. McCain then spent several years stationed in A-1 Skyraider squadrons on the aircraft carriers USS Intrepid and USS Enterprise, in the Caribbean Sea and in the Mediterranean Sea. During his training and deployments he survived two airplane crashes and a collision with power lines.

On July 3, 1965, McCain married Carol Shepp, a model originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. McCain adopted her two children Doug and Andy, who were five and three years old at the time; he and Carol then had a daughter named Sidney in September 1966.

McCain requested a combat assignment, and in December 1966 was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal, flying A-4 Skyhawks.

Vietnam operations

McCain's combat duty began when he was thirty years old. In Spring 1967, Forrestal was assigned to join Operation Rolling Thunder, a bombing campaign against North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. McCain and his fellow pilots were frustrated by Rolling Thunder's infamous micromanagement from Washington; he would later write that "The target list was so restricted that we had to go back and hit the same targets over and over again.... Most of our pilots flying the missions believed that our targets were virtually worthless. In all candor, we thought our civilian commanders were complete idiots who didn’t have the least notion of what it took to win the war."

By then a Lieutenant Commander, McCain was almost killed in action on July 29, 1967 while serving on Forrestal, operating in the Gulf of Tonkin. He was at the epicenter of the Forrestal fire, when a rocket accidentally fired across the carrier's deck and hit planes, including McCain's which had been waiting to launch. McCain escaped from his burning jet and was trying to help another pilot escape when a bomb exploded; McCain was struck in the legs and chest by shrapnel. The ensuing fire killed 134 sailors and took 24 hours to control. As Forrestal headed for repairs, McCain volunteered to join the short-staffed USS Oriskany.

Prisoner of war

John McCain's capture and imprisonment began on October 26, 1967. He was flying his twenty-third bombing mission over North Vietnam, when his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a Soviet-made SA-2 anti-aircraft missile over Hanoi. McCain fractured both arms and a leg, and then nearly drowned when he parachuted into Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi. After he regained consciousness, a mob gathered around, spat on him, kicked him, and stripped him of his clothes. Others crushed his shoulder with the butt of a rifle and bayoneted him in his left foot and abdominal area; he was then transported to Hanoi's main Hoa Loa Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton" by American POWs.

Although McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to give him medical care unless he gave them military information, beating and interrogating him. Only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a top admiral did they give him medical care and announce his capture. His status as a POW made the front pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post.

McCain spent six weeks in the Hoa Loa hospital, receiving marginal care. Now having lost 50 pounds, in a chest cast, and with his hair turned white, McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi in December 1967, into a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live a week; they nursed McCain and kept him alive. In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years.

In July 1968, McCain's father was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater. McCain was immediately offered a chance to return home early: the North Vietnamese wanted a worldwide propaganda coup by appearing merciful, and also wanted to show other POWs that elites like McCain were willing to be treated preferentially. McCain turned down the offer of repatriation; he would only accept the offer if every man taken in before him was released as well. McCain's refusal to be released was even remarked upon by North Vietnamese senior negotiator Le Duc Tho to U.S. envoy Averell Harriman during the ongoing Paris Peace Talks.

In August of 1968, a program of severe torture methods began on McCain, using rope bindings into painful positions, and beatings every two hours, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery. McCain made an anti-American propaganda "confession" that said he was a "black criminal" and an "air pirate". He has always felt that his statement was dishonorable, but as he would later write, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine." His injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head. He subsequently received two to three beatings per week because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements. Other American POWs were similarly tortured and maltreated in order to extract "confessions", with many enduring even worse treatment than McCain.

McCain refused to meet with various anti-war peace groups coming to Hanoi, not wanting to give either them or the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory based on his connection to his father. From late 1969 on, treatment of McCain and some of the other POWs became more tolerable after disclosoures to the world press of the conditions to which they were being subjected. McCain and other prisoners were moved around to different camps at times, and later cheered the B-52-led U.S. "Christmas Bombing" campaign of December 1972 as a forceful measure to force North Vietnam to terms.

Altogether, McCain was held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years. The Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27, 1973, ending direct U.S. involvement in the war, but the Operation Homecoming arrangements for POWs took longer; McCain was finally released from captivity on March 15, 1973.

Return to United States

McCain's return to the United States reunited him with his wife and family. His wife Carol had suffered her own crippling, near-death ordeal during his captivity, due to an automobile accident in December 1969. As a returned POW, McCain became a celebrity of sorts. The photograph at left of him on crutches shaking the hand of President Richard Nixon during a White House reception for returning POWs became iconic.

McCain underwent treatment for his injuries, including months of grueling physical therapy, and attended the National War College in Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. during 1973–1974. By late 1974 McCain had recuperated enough to have his flight status reinstated, and he became Commanding Officer of a large A-7 Corsair II Navy training squadron stationed in Florida. McCain's leadership abilities were credited with turning around a mediocre unit and winning the squadron its first Meritorious Unit Commendation. During this period, the McCains' marriage began to falter; he would later say he was to blame.

Senate liaison and second marriage

McCain served as the Navy's liaison to the U.S. Senate, beginning in 1977. Returning to the Washington, D.C. area, he became leader of the Senate liaison operation, and would later say it represented " real entry into the world of politics and the beginning of my second career as a public servant." McCain played a key behind-the-scenes role in gaining congressional financing for a new supercarrier against the wishes of the Carter administration.

In 1979, McCain met and began an affair with Cindy Lou Hensley, a teacher from Phoenix, Arizona whose father was a wealthy Anheuser-Busch distributor. By then McCain's naval career had stalled; it was unlikely he would ever be promoted to admiral as his grandfather and father had been, because he had poor annual physicals and had been given no major sea command.

His wife Carol accepted a divorce in February of 1980, and the uncontested divorce occurred on April 2, 1980. The settlement included two houses, and financial support for her ongoing medical treatments resulting from the 1969 automobile accident; they would remain on good terms. McCain and Hensley were married on May 17, 1980.

McCain retired from the Navy on April 1, 1981 as a Captain. During his military career, he received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit, the Purple Heart, and a Distinguished Flying Cross.

House and Senate career, 1982–1999

U.S. Congressman and more children

McCain set his sights on becoming a Congressman. Living in Phoenix, he went to work for his new father-in-law Jim Hensley's large Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship as Vice President of Public Relations, where he gained political support among the local business community, meeting powerful figures such as banker Charles Keating, Jr., real estate developer Fife Symington III, and newspaper publisher Darrow "Duke" Tully. In 1982, McCain ran as a Republican for an open seat in Arizona's 1st congressional district. As a newcomer to the state, McCain was hit with repeated charges of being a carpetbagger. McCain responded to a voter making the charge with what a Phoenix Gazette columnist would later label as "the most devastating response to a potentially troublesome political issue I've ever heard":

Listen, pal. I spent 22 years in the Navy. My father was in the Navy. My grandfather was in the Navy. We in the military service tend to move a lot. We have to live in all parts of the country, all parts of the world. I wish I could have had the luxury, like you, of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place like the First District of Arizona, but I was doing other things. As a matter of fact, when I think about it now, the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi.

With the assistance of local political endorsements, his Washington connections, as well money that his wife lent to his campaign, McCain won a highly contested primary election, then easily won the general election in the heavily Republican district.

McCain was elected the president of the 1983 Republican freshman class of representatives. He was active on Indian Affairs bills. McCain’s politics at this point were mainly in line with President Ronald Reagan. McCain won re-election to the House easily in 1984.

In 1984 McCain and his wife Cindy had their first child together, daughter Meghan. She was followed in 1986 by son John Sidney IV (known as "Jack"), and in 1988 by son James. In 1991, Cindy McCain brought an abandoned three-month old girl needing medical treatment to the U.S. from a Bangladeshi orphanage run by Mother Teresa; the McCains decided to adopt her, and named her Bridget.

U.S. Senate career begins

McCain's Senate career began in 1987, after longtime American conservative icon and Arizona fixture Barry Goldwater retired as United States Senator from Arizona. McCain took office after defeating his Democratic opponent, former state legislator Richard Kimball, with 60 percent of the vote to Kimball's 40 percent in the 1986 election.

Upon entering the Senate, McCain became a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, with whom he had formerly done his Navy liaison work; he also joined the Commerce Committee and the Indian Affairs Committee. He continued to support the Native American agenda. McCain was a strong supporter of the Gramm-Rudman legislation that enforced automatic spending cuts in the case of budget deficits.

McCain soon gained national visibility. He delivered a well-received speech at the 1988 Republican National Convention, he was mentioned by the press as a short list vice-presidential running mate for Republican nominee George H. W. Bush, and he was named chairman of Veterans for Bush.

Keating Five

McCain became enmeshed in a scandal during the 1980s, called Keating Five, in the context of the Savings and Loan crisis of that decade. Between 1982 and 1987, McCain had received approximately $112,000 in political contributions from Charles Keating Jr. and his associates at Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, along with trips on Keating's jets. Subsequently, in 1987, McCain was one of five Senators whom Keating contacted in order to prevent the government’s seizure of Lincoln, which was by then insolvent and being investigated for making questionable efforts to regain solvency. At Keating's request, McCain met at least twice in 1987 with the chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board to prevent the government's seizure of Lincoln.

On his Keating Five experience, McCain said: "The appearance of it was wrong. It's a wrong appearance when a group of senators appear in a meeting with a group of regulators, because it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence. And it was the wrong thing to do."

Federal regulators ultimately filed a $1.1 billion civil racketeering and fraud suit against Keating. The five senators came under investigation for attempting to influence the regulators. In the end, none of the senators were convicted of any crime, although McCain was rebuked by the Senate Ethics Committee for exercising "poor judgment" in intervening with the federal regulators on Keating's behalf. In his 1992 re-election bid, the Keating Five affair did not dominate discussion, and he won handily, gaining 56 percent of the vote to Democratic community and civil rights activist Claire Sargent's 32 percent and independent former Governor Evan Mecham's 11 percent.

A "maverick" senator

McCain has long had a reputation as a maverick. He was a member of the 1991–1993 Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, chaired by Democrat and fellow Vietnam War veteran John Kerry, convened to investigate the fate of U.S. service personnel listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War. The committee's report, which McCain endorsed, stated there was "no compelling evidence that proves that any American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia." Helped by McCain's efforts, in 1995 the U.S. normalized diplomatic relations with Vietnam. During his time on the committee and afterward, McCain was vilified as a fraud, traitor, or "Manchurian Candidate" by some POW/MIA activists who believed that there were large numbers of American servicemen still being held against their will in Southeast Asia.

McCain made attacking the corrupting influence of big money on American politics his signature issue. Starting in 1994 he worked with Democratic Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold on campaign finance reform; their McCain-Feingold bill would attempt to put limits on "soft money". From the start, McCain and Feingold's efforts were opposed by large money interests, by incumbents in both parties, by those who felt spending limits impinged on free political speech, and by those who wanted to lessen the power of what they saw as media bias. McCain-Feingold garnered considerable sympathetic coverage in the national media, and "maverick Republican" became a label frequently applied to McCain in stories. He has also used the term himself. Initial versions of the McCain-Feingold Act were filibustered and never came to a vote. McCain also attacked pork barrel spending within Congress. He was instrumental in pushing through approval of the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, which gave the president the power to veto individual spending items. One of McCain's biggest Senate victories, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the act unconstitutional in 1998.

In the 1996 presidential election, McCain was again on the short list of possible vice-presidential picks for Republican nominee Bob Dole. The next year, Time magazine named McCain as one of the "25 Most Influential People in America".

In 1997, McCain became chairman of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee; he was criticized for accepting funds from corporations and businesses under the committee's purview, but in response said the restricted contributions he received were not part of the big-money nature of the campaign finance problem. McCain took on the tobacco industry in 1998, proposing legislation that would increase cigarette taxes in order to fund anti-smoking campaigns and reduce the number of teenage smokers, increase research money on health studies, and help states pay for smoking-related health care costs. Supported by the Clinton administration but opposed by the industry and most Republicans, the bill failed to gain cloture twice and was seen as a bad political defeat for McCain.

McCain easily won re-election to a third senate term in November 1998, gaining 69 percent of the vote to 27 percent for his Democratic opponent, environmental lawyer Ed Ranger. In 1999, the McCain-Feingold Act once again came up for consideration, but the same failure to gain cloture befell it again. During that year, McCain shared the Profile in Courage Award with Feingold for their work in trying to enact their campaign finance reform, although it was still failing repeated attempts to gain cloture.

2000 presidential campaign

McCain announced his candidacy for president on September 27, 1999 in Nashua, New Hampshire, saying he was staging "a fight to take our government back from the power brokers and special interests, and return it to the people and the noble cause of freedom it was created to serve." The leader for the Republican nomination was Governor of Texas George W. Bush, who had the most establishment party support and funds.

McCain focused on the New Hampshire primary, where his message held appeal to independents. He traveled on a campaign bus called the Straight Talk Express, and held many town hall meetings, answering every question voters had, in a successful example of "retail politics." McCain was accessible to the press, using free media to compensate for his lack of funds. One reporter later recounted that, "McCain talked all day long with reporters on his Straight Talk Express bus; he talked so much that sometimes he said things that he shouldn't have, and that's why the media loved him." On February 1, 2000, he won the primary with 49 percent of the vote to Bush's 30 percent. Analysts predicted that a McCain victory in the crucial South Carolina primary might give his insurgency campaign unstoppable momentum; a degree of panic crept into the Bush campaign and the Republican establishment.

The battle between Bush and McCain for South Carolina has entered American political lore as one of the dirtiest and most brutal ever. A variety of interest groups that McCain had challenged in the past now pounded McCain with negative ads. Bush tried to co-opt McCain's message of reform, while refusing to disassociate himself from a veterans activist who accused McCain (in Bush's presence) of having "abandoned the veterans" on POW/MIA and Agent Orange issues. Incensed, McCain ran ads accusing Bush of lying and comparing Bush to Bill Clinton, which Bush complained was "about as low a blow as you can give in a Republican primary." An unidentified party began a semi-underground smear campaign against McCain, delivered by push polls, faxes, e-mails, and flyers, claiming most infamously that he had fathered a black child out of wedlock (the McCains' dark-skinned daughter Bridget was adopted from Bangladesh), and also that his wife Cindy was a drug addict, that he was a homosexual, and that he was a "Manchurian Candidate" traitor or mentally unstable from his North Vietnam POW days. The Bush campaign strongly denied any involvement with these attacks. Bush mobilized the state's evangelical voters and outspent McCain. Leading conservative broadcaster Rush Limbaugh supported Bush and labeled McCain a favorite of liberal Democrats. McCain lost South Carolina on February 19, with 42 percent of the vote to Bush's 53 percent, allowing Bush to regain the momentum. McCain would soon say of the rumor spreaders, "I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like those." According to one report, the South Carolina experience left McCain in a "very dark place."

McCain's campaign never completely recovered from his defeat there, although he did rebound partially by winning in Arizona and Michigan on February 22. He made a February 28 speech in Virginia Beach that criticized as divisive conservative Christian leaders such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, declaring "... we embrace the fine members of the religious conservative community. But that does not mean that we will pander to their self-appointed leaders." McCain lost the Virginia primary on February 29. A week later on March 7, 2000, he lost nine of the thirteen primaries on Super Tuesday to Bush. With no hope of catching Bush's delegate lead, McCain withdrew from the race on March 9, 2000. McCain endorsed Bush two months later, and made a few appearances with Bush during the general election.

Senate career, 2001–present

Activities during first Bush term, 2001–2004

With no love lost between them, McCain began 2001 by breaking against the new George W. Bush administration on a number of matters. In January 2001 the latest iteration of McCain-Feingold was introduced into the Senate; it was opposed by Bush and most of the Republican establishment, but helped by the 2000 election results, it passed the Senate in one form until procedural obstacles delayed it again. In these few months McCain also opposed Bush on an HMO reform bill, on climate change measures, and on gun legislation. Then in May 2001, McCain voted against the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, Bush's $350 billion in tax breaks over 11 years, which became known as "the Bush tax cuts". He was one of only two Republicans to do so, saying that "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us, at the expense of middle class Americans who most need tax relief." Then when Republican Senator Jim Jeffords became an Independent, throwing control of the Senate to Democrats, McCain defended him against "self-appointed enforcers of party loyalty." Indeed, there was speculation at the time, and in years since, about McCain himself possibly leaving the Republican Party during the first half of 2001. Accounts have differed as to who initiated any discussions, and McCain has always adamantly denied, then and later, that he ever considered doing so. In any case, all of this was enough for conservative Arizonan critics of McCain to organize rallies and recalls against him in May and June 2001.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, McCain became a supporter of Bush and an advocate for strong military measures against those responsible with respect to the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan; in a high-profile late October 2001 Wall Street Journal op-ed piece he wrote, "America is under attack by a depraved, malevolent force that opposes our every interest and hates every value we hold dear." After advocating an overwhelming, not incremental, approach against the Taliban in Afghanistan, including the use of ground forces, he concluded, "War is a miserable business. Let's get on with it." He and Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman wrote the legislation that created the 9/11 Commission, while he and Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings co-sponsored the Aviation and Transportation Security Act that federalized airport security under what became the Transportation Security Administration.

McCain-Feingold had been yet further delayed by the effects of September 11. Finally in March 2002, aided by the aftereffects of the Enron scandal, it passed both House and Senate and, known formally as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, was signed into law by President Bush. Seven years in the making, it was McCain's greatest legislative achievement and had become, in the words of one biographer, "one of the most famous pieces of federal legislation in modern American political history."

Meanwhile, in discussions over proposed U.S. action against Iraq, McCain was a strong supporter of the Bush position, labeling Saddam Hussein "a megalomaniacal tyrant whose cruelty and offense to the norms of civilization are infamous." Unequivocally stating that Iraq had substantial weapons of mass destruction, McCain stated that Iraq was "a clear and present danger to the United States of America." Accordingly he voted for the Iraq War Resolution in October 2002. Both before and immediately after the Iraq War started in March 2003, McCain agreed with the Bush administration's assertions that the U.S. forces would be treated as liberators by most of the Iraqi people. In May 2003, McCain voted against the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, the second round of Bush tax cuts which served to extend and accelerate the first (which he had also voted against), saying it was unwise at a time of war. By November 2003, after a trip to Iraq, McCain was publicly questioning Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's handling of the Iraq War, saying that "All of the trends are in the wrong direction" and that more U.S. troops were needed to handle the deteriorating situation in the Sunni Triangle. By December 2004, McCain was bluntly announcing that he had lost confidence in Rumsfeld.

In the 2004 U.S. presidential election, McCain was once again frequently mentioned for the vice-presidential slot, only this time as part of the Democratic ticket underneath nominee John Kerry. Kerry and McCain had been close since their work on the early 1990s Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, and the pairing was seen as having great allure to independent voters, with polls seeming to confirm the notion. In June 2004, it was reported that Kerry had informally offered the slot to McCain several times, but McCain had declined, either on grounds that it would be infeasible and weaken the presidency or that the vice-presidency held no appeal for McCain. McCain's office formally denied that any vice-presidential offer had taken place. At the 2004 Republican National Convention, McCain enthusiastically supported Bush for re-election, praising Bush's management of the War on Terror since the September 11 attacks. At the same time, McCain defended Kerry by labeling the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign against Kerry's Vietnam war record as "dishonest and dishonorable" and urging the Bush campaign to condemn it. By August 2004, McCain had the best favorable-to-unfavorable rating (55 percent to 19 percent) of any national politician.

McCain was himself up for re-election as Senator in 2004. There was some talk of Representative Jeff Flake mounting a Republican primary challenge against McCain; Stephen Moore, president of the ideologically-oriented Club for Growth (which attempts to defeat those it considers Republican in Name Only), led talk for the prospect, saying "Our members loathe John McCain." Flake decided not to do it, later saying "I would have been whipped." In the general election McCain had his biggest margin of victory yet, garnering 77 percent of the vote against little-known Democrat Stuart Starky, an eighth grade math teacher whom The Arizona Republic termed a "sacrificial lamb". Exit polls showed that McCain even won a majority of the votes cast by Democrats.

Following his 2000 presidential campaign, McCain made frequent appearances on entertainment programs on television and also in film, and even more so after 2004. He hosted the October 12, 2002, episode of Saturday Night Live, making him the third U.S. Senator after Paul Simon and George McGovern, to host the show.

Activities during second Bush term, 2005–2007

He has been a regular guest on The Daily Show; as of 2006 he had been on that show eleven times, more than anyone else. McCain appeared in slightly edgy bits on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and also appeared several times on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Late Show with David Letterman. McCain made a brief cameo on the television show 24 in 2006 and also made a cameo in the 2005 summer movie Wedding Crashers. In more serious fare, a television film entitled Faith Of My Fathers, based on McCain's memoir of his experiences as a POW, aired on Memorial Day, 2005, on A&E. McCain was also interviewed in the 2005 documentary Why We Fight by Eugene Jarecki.

On judicial appointments, McCain was long a believer in judges who “would strictly interpret the Constitution,” and accordingly over the years would support the confirmations of Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito. McCain also drew the ire of the originalist and similar legal movements in the U.S. in May 2005, however, when he led the so-called "Gang of 14" in the Senate, which established a compromise that preserved the ability of senators to filibuster judicial nominees, but only in "extraordinary circumstances." Breaking from his 2001 and 2003 votes, McCain supported the Bush tax cut extension in May 2006, known as the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005, saying not to do so would amount to a tax increase. Working with Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy, McCain was a strong proponent of comprehensive immigration reform, which would involve legalization, guest worker programs, and border enforcement components: the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act was never voted on in 2005, while the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 passed the Senate in May 2006 but then failed in the House. In June 2007, President Bush, McCain and others made the strongest push yet for such a bill, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, but it aroused tremendous grassroots opposition among talk radio listeners and others as an "amnesty" program, and twice failed to gain cloture in the Senate and thus failed.

Owing to his time as a POW, McCain has been recognized for his sensitivity to the detention and interrogation of detainees in the War on Terror. On October 3, 2005, McCain introduced the McCain Detainee Amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill for 2005. On October 5, 2005, the United States Senate voted 90-9 to support the amendment. The amendment prohibits inhumane treatment of prisoners, including prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, by confining interrogations to the techniques in FM 34-52 Intelligence Interrogation.

Although Bush had threatened to veto the bill if McCain's language was included, the President announced on December 15, 2005 that he accepted McCain's terms and would "make it clear to the world that this government does not torture and that we adhere to the international convention of torture, whether it be here at home or abroad." Bush made clear his interpretation of this legislation in a signing statement, reserving what he interpreted to be his Presidential constitutional authority in order to avoid further terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, McCain continued questioning the progress of the war in Iraq. In September 2005, he questioned Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers' habit of optimistic outlooks on the war's progress: "Things have not gone as well as we had planned or expected, nor as we were told by you, General Myers." In August 2006 he criticized the administration for continually understating the effectiveness of the insurgency: "We not told the American people how tough and difficult this could be." From the beginning McCain strongly supported the Iraq troop surge of 2007; the strategy's opponents labeled it "McCain's plan" and University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato said, "McCain owns Iraq just as much as Bush does now." The surge and the war were quite unpopular during most of the year, even within the Republican Party, as McCain's presidential campaign was underway; faced with the consequences, McCain frequently responded, "I would much rather lose a campaign than a war."

2008 presidential campaign

Template:Future election candidate

McCain established his presidential exploratory committee on November 15, 2006, then announced he was seeking the 2008 Presidential nomination from the Republican Party on the February 28, 2007, telecast of the Late Show With David Letterman. McCain officially started his 2008 presidential campaign on April 25, 2007, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Should McCain win in 2008, he would be the oldest person to assume the Presidency in history at initial ascension to office, being 72 years old and surpassing Ronald Reagan, who was 69 years old at his inauguration following the 1980 election. He has dismissed concerns about his age and past health concerns (malignant melanoma in 2000), stating in 2005 that his health was "excellent." In the event of his victory in 2008, he would also become the first President of the United States to be born in a U.S. territory outside of the current 50 states (see natural-born citizens).

McCain's oft-cited strengths as a presidential candidate for 2008 included national name recognition, sponsorship of major lobbying and campaign finance reform initiatives, leadership in exposing the Abramoff scandal, his well-known military service and experience as a POW, his experience from the 2000 presidential campaign, extensive fundraising abilities, and strong advocacy for President Bush's re-election campaign in 2004. During the 2006 election cycle, McCain attended 346 events and raised more than $10.5 million on behalf of Republican candidates. He also donated nearly $1.5 million to federal, state and county parties. In a bid to finally gain support from the Christian right, McCain gave the May 2006 commencement address at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. During his 2000 presidential bid, McCain had called Falwell an "agent of intolerance"; McCain now said that Falwell was no longer as divisive and the two have discussed their shared values. McCain was also more willing to ask business and industry for campaign contributions, counting more lobbyists as fundraisers than any other candidate, while maintaining adamantly that such contributions would not affect any senatorial decisions he made.

McCain's second-quarter 2007 fundraising totals fell from $13.6 million in the first quarter to $11.2 million in the second, and expenses continuing such that only $2 million cash was on hand with about $1 million in debts. Both McCain supporters and political observers pointed to McCain's support for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, very unpopular among the Republican base electorate, as a primary cause of his fundraising problems. Large-scale campaign staff downsizing took place in early July, with 50 to 100 staffers let go and others taking pay cuts or switching to no pay. McCain's aides said the campaign was considering taking public matching funds, and would focus its efforts on the early primary and caucus states. McCain however said he was not considering dropping out of the race. Campaign shakeups reached the top level on July 10, 2007, when his campaign manager and campaign chief strategist both departed.

McCain subsequently resumed his familiar position as a political underdog, embracing a "Living Off the Land" strategy that called for McCain to ride the Straight Talk Express and take advantage of free media such as debates and sponsored events. By December 2007, the Republican race was quite unsettled, with none of the top-tier candidates dominating the race and all of them possessing major vulnerabilities with different elements of the Republican base electorate. McCain was showing a resurgence, in particular with renewed strength in New Hampshire – scene of his 2000 triumph – and was bolstered further by the endorsements of The Boston Globe, the Manchester Union-Leader, and almost two dozen other state newspapers, as well as from Independent Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman. All of this paid off when McCain won the New Hampshire primary on January 8, 2008, beating former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney in a close contest, to once again become one of the front-runners in the race. On January 19, McCain placed first in the South Carolina primary, narrowly defeating former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee, and thereby reversing his loss there in 2000. He followed this up with another win a week later in the Florida primary, beating Romney again in a close, negative and attack-filled contest, thereby making him the front-runner in the nomination race. Following this victory, rival Rudy Giuliani announced he was dropping out of the race and cast his support for McCain's candidacy. As of February 2, McCain had an overall 97–92 lead over Romney in delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention. On February 5, Super Tuesday, McCain won both the majority of states and delegates in the Republican primaries, giving him a commanding lead toward the Republican nomination. With Mitt Romney's departure from the race on February 7, Later in February, The New York Times and The Washington Post reported on McCain's connection with a lobbyist in 2000; the Times came under significant criticism for the report. McCain clinched a majority of the delegates and became the presumptive nominee with wins in the Ohio primary and Texas primary on March 4.

Political positions

Several organizations have attempted to scientifically measure McCain's place on the political spectrum:

• National Journal's studies of roll-call votes through 2006 assigned McCain a lifetime rating of 72 in the political spectrum, relative to the then-current Senate, with a rating of 1 being most liberal and 100 being most conservative. (McCain did not receive a National Journal ranking in 2007 due to missing too many votes because of campaigning.)

• A 2004 analysis by political scientists Joshua D. Clinton of Princeton University and Simon Jackman and Doug Rivers of Stanford University found McCain to be likely the 51st-most liberal Senator.

• The Almanac of American Politics, edited by Michael Barone and Richard E. Cohen, rates votes as liberal or conservative, with 100 as the highest rating, in three policy areas: Economic, Social, and Foreign. For 2006, McCain's ratings are: Economic = 64 percent conservative, 35 percent liberal (2005: 52 percent conservative, 47 percent liberal); Social = 46 percent conservative, 53 percent liberal (2005: 64 percent conservative, 23 percent liberal); Foreign = 58 percent conservative, 40 percent liberal (2005: 54 percent conservative, 45 percent liberal)

Assessments by political interest groups

Various interest groups have given Senator McCain scores or grades as to how well his votes align with the positions of the group:

• McCain has received a lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 82 percent through 2006 (see chart for progression over time).
• Through 2007, McCain has received a lifetime 13 percent "Liberal Quotient" from Americans for Democratic Action (see chart for progression over time).
• The National Right to Life Committee gives McCain a lifetime 72 percent rating from 1997 through 2007, while NARAL Pro-Choice America gives him a lifetime 1 percent rating from 1987 through 2007.
• Americans for Better Immigration has given him a lifetime grade of 'D' (near failing) for 1989 through early 2008 on their Immigration-Reduction Report Card.
• The National Rifle Association gave McCain a 'C' grade (fair) as of 2004, and the Gun Owners of America gives a lifetime 'D-' (very near failing) grade for 2000 through 2006.
• The American Civil Liberties Union has given McCain a lifetime 22 percent score through early 2008.
• The League of Conservation Voters has given him a lifetime 24 percent pro-environment action rating through 2007.

Ratings of McCain's votes from a number of other interest groups are tracked by Project Vote Smart.

In the 2000 elections, many thought of Bush as the more conservative candidate and McCain as the more moderate candidate. His voting record during the 107th Congress, from January 2001 through November 2002, placed him as the sixth most liberal Republican senator, according to Voteview.com. McCain's voting record in the 109th Congress was the second most conservative among senators, according to the same analysis.

Positions on specific issues

McCain has many traditionally Republican views. He has a strong conservative voting record on pro-life and free trade issues, favors private social security accounts, and opposes an expanded government role in health care. McCain also supports school vouchers, capital punishment, mandatory sentencing, and welfare reform. He is generally regarded as a hawk in foreign policy. When a questioner said, "President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years." McCain responded, "Make it a hundred. We've been in Japan for 60 years, we've been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That'd be fine with me as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. That's fine with me. I hope it will be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Qaeda is training, recruiting, equipping, and motivating people every single day."

Nevertheless, McCain has supported liberal legislation opposed by his own party and has been called a "maverick" by certain members of the American media. Arizona Republic columnist and RealClearPolitics contributor Robert Robb, using a formulation devised by William F. Buckley, describes McCain as "conservative" but not "a conservative", meaning that while McCain usually tends towards conservative positions, he is not "anchored by the philosophical tenets of modern American conservatism." McCain declined to sign the pledge put forward by Americans for Tax Freedom not to impose any new taxes or increase existing taxes.

McCain's reputation as a maverick stems primarily from his authorship of the McCain-Feingold Act for campaign finance reform and his stance on illegal immigration.

McCain's views about abortion have also fluctuated; in 1999, he said of Roe v. Wade, "in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade," but in 2007 McCain stated "It should be overturned."

In 2007, McCain co-sponsored controversial legislation with Senator Ted Kennedy known as the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 which would have allowed tens of millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States a path to citizenship. Further, the Washington Post reports that McCain and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham "first checked with Mr. Kennedy before deciding to vote with the Massachusetts Democrat on an amendment to the Senate bill".

McCain has been a lead sponsor of gun control legislation as well as what organizations including Gun Owners of America argue are restrictions on the free speech of pro-Second Amendment organizations even earning an F- rating from Gun Owners of America. Yet in the past McCain had voted against the passage and renewal of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and the Brady Bill.

McCain voted against President Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, though he voted to extend the tax breaks in 2005.

McCain has been an opponent of the Bush administration's use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" in the War on Terror, and has specifically referred to waterboarding as torture, though he later voted against banning the procedure and others. He has also said that he intends to "immediately close" the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp.

On February 28, 2008 McCain is quoted as telling ABC News' Bret Hovell, "It's indisputable that (autism) is on the rise amongst children, the question is what's causing it. And we go back and forth and there's strong evidence that indicates that it's got to do with a preservative in vaccines." However, it is not known whether the actual prevalence of autism is increasing, and there is no scientific evidence that the vaccine preservative thiomersal helps cause autism.

Cultural, political, and family image

According to political scientist John Karaagac, public service is idealized in military tradition, whereas politics is deprecated, and this was the tradition in McCain's family. Karaagac believes that this tradition is reflected in the fact that, "As Senator, he understands how to play the game of politics by knowing when to appear above the fracas." After many years of observing McCain, New York Times columnist David Brooks writes that "there is nobody in politics remotely like him," making reference to his energy and dynamism, his rebelliousness and desire to battle powerful political forces, his willingness to endlessly and truthfully talk with reporters, and his being "driven by an ancient sense of honor." Brooks does not see McCain without political fault, and explains that, "There have been occasions when McCain compromised his principles for political gain, but he was so bad at it that it always backfired." Similarly, Vanity Fair national editor Todd Purdum believes that McCain has tried to tame his maverick impulses in order to conform more with "the orthodoxies required of a Republican presidential front-runner," and compares it to squaring the circle: "McCain needs to square that circle, and the hell of it is, he just can't."

McCain's own emphasis on personal character was revealed in a University of Missouri-Columbia study of political discourse in the 2000 Republican primary campaign, which showed McCain using fewer policy, and more character, utterances than any other candidate. Reason and Los Angeles Times writer Matt Welch, author of McCain: The Myth of a Maverick, sees political pundits as projecting their own ideological fantasies upon McCain. Welch sees Theodore Roosevelt as a role model for McCain, so that "sublimating the individual" in the common cause will be a guiding principle, which may align him with liberals in one instance and conservatives in the next, on the way to a statist result.

McCain has a history, beginning with his military career, of appealing to lucky charms and 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. The night before the 2008 New Hampshire primary he slept on the same side of the bed in the same hotel room he had stayed in before his win there in 2000, and after winning carried some of his talismans forward into the following Michigan primary while adding others. His superstitions are extended to others; to those afraid of flying or experiencing a bumpy flight, he says, "You don't need to worry. I've crashed four fighter jets, and I'm not going to die in a plane crash. You're safe with me."

McCain's war wounds leave him unable to attend to his own hair and he sometimes requires assistance in dressing, tasks performed by nearby aides. His former communications director has said, "You comb someone's hair once, and you never forget it." McCain has been treated for recurrent skin cancer, including melanoma, in 1993, 2000, and 2002; one of the resulting operations left a noticeable mark on the left side of his face. These medical conditions, combined with his advancing years, led him to repeatedly use a self-deprecating remark during his 2007 campaigning: "I am older than dirt and have more scars than Frankenstein."

Journalist Adam Clymer sees McCain's nature as possibly misfit for the Senate: "McCain is an impatient man — perhaps because he lost five years of his life as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam — in an institution that worships delay and rewards endurance." Clymer further notes that, "There is no question that he sometimes loses potential allies by his penchant for telling off other senators." Purdum remarks upon a "temperament that routinely put him atop insiders' lists of the most difficult senators on Capitol Hill," and a 2006 Washingtonian survey of Capitol Hill staff ranked McCain as having the second "Hottest Temper" in the Senate. Indeed, the characteristics that led to McCain gaining hundreds of demerits at the Naval Academy have never fully left him; by his own admission, he has an "irremediable" personality trait of being "a wiseass," and as he added: "Occasionally my sense of humor is ill-considered or ill-timed, and that can be a problem." Others have concurred: A 2007 Associated Press story was titled "McCain's WMD Is a Mouth That Won't Quit". Over the years this trait has led to a series of controversial and/or colorful remarks.

In his 1986 senate campaign, he referred to Arizona's Leisure World retirement community as "Seizure World", a joke whose offense he made worse, as he later conceded, when he did not quickly apologize for it. In 1998, McCain made an off-color joke at a Republican fundraiser about President Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, saying "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." McCain's subsequent apology was accepted by President Clinton. Until the year 2000, McCain used the term "gook" in reference to the individuals who had tortured him in Vietnam, and most Vietnamese Americans were not offended by that narrow use of the word. At a VFW Hall in South Carolina in 2007, a veteran asked when the U.S. would "send an air mail message to Iran." McCain jokingly responded by singing a 1980 "Bomb Iran" tune by Vince Vance & The Valiants, and then seriously explained his concerns about Iran while stopping short of a bombing endorsement. McCain later advised critics of his singing to "Lighten up and get a life." As a guest on the Daily Show in 2007 following a trip to Baghdad, McCain jokingly offered to give host Jon Stewart "a little IED to put on your desk." When anti-Iraq-war Democrats objected to the remark, McCain advised that they too, "Lighten up and get a life." At a meeting in 2007 on immigration legislation, fellow Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) objected to McCain: "Wait a second here. I've been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You're out of line," to which McCain replied, "Fuck you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room." On February 23, 2008, McCain stated that change would not come to Cuba until Fidel Castro was dead: "I hope he has the opportunity to meet Karl Marx very soon."

The traditions McCain was brought up under have extended to his own family. His son John Sidney IV (Jack) is enrolled in the U.S. Naval Academy, and his son James (Jimmy) enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2006, began recruit training later that year, and by the end of 2007 was stationed in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. His daughter Meghan graduated from Columbia University, and works on his presidential campaign. From his first marriage, his son Doug graduated from the University of Virginia, became a Navy A-6E Intruder carrier pilot, then a commercial pilot for American Airlines; his son Andy is vice president and CFO at Hensley & Company; and his daughter Sidney is a recording industry executive living in Toronto who has worked for Capitol Records and V2 Records. Altogether he has seven children, born across four decades – all of whom are reported to be on good terms with him, his wife, and each other – and, as of 2007, four grandchildren. Cindy McCain suffered a stroke in 2004 due to high blood pressure, but appeared to make a full recovery. They reside in Phoenix, and she remains the chair of the large Anheuser-Busch beer and liquor distributor Hensley & Company, founded by her father. By September 2007, McCain's denominational migration was complete, and he was identifying himself as a Baptist.

Awards, honors, and decorations

Military

•   Silver Star
•   Legion of Merit
•   Bronze Star
•   Purple Heart
•   Distinguished Flying Cross
•   Prisoner of War Medal
•   National Defense Service Medal
•   Vietnam Service Medal
•   Vietnam Campaign Medal (Republic of Vietnam)

Civilian

• On May 24, 1999, McCain shared the Profile in Courage Award with fellow Senator Russ Feingold for their work in trying to enact campaign finance reform.
• In December 2004, McCain became an Honorary Patron of the University Philosophical Society at Trinity College Dublin.
• On September 28, 2005, The Eisenhower Institute awarded McCain the Eisenhower Leadership Prize. The prize recognizes individuals whose lifetime accomplishments reflect Dwight D. Eisenhower’s legacy of integrity and leadership.
• On December 5, 2006, McCain was awarded the Henry M. Jackson Distinguished Service Award by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs.
• On February 13, 2007, the World Leadership Forum presented McCain with the Policymaker of the Year Award. The award is given internationally to someone who has "created, inspired or strongly influenced important policy or legislation."

Electoral history

• George W. Bush – 12,034,676 (62.00 percent)
• John McCain – 6,061,332 (31.23 percent)
• Alan Keyes – 985,819 (5.08 percent)
• Steve Forbes – 171,860 (0.89 percent)
• Unpledged – 61,246 (0.32 percent)
• Gary Bauer – 60,709 (0.31 percent)
• Orrin Hatch – 15,958 (0.08 percent)
• Al Gore (write-in) – 1,155 (0.01 percent)
• Bill Bradley (write-in) – 1,025 (0.01 percent)

Writings

• Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them
• Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember by John McCain, Mark Salter (Random House, October 2005) ISBN 1-4000-6412-0
• Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life by John McCain, Mark Salter (Random House, April 2004) ISBN 1-4000-6030-3
• Odysseus in America by Jonathan Shay, Max Cleland, John S. McCain (Scribner, November 2002) ISBN 0-7432-1156-1
• Worth the Fighting for: A Memoir by John McCain, Mark Salter (Random House, September 2002) ISBN 0-375-50542-3
• Unfinished Business: Afghanistan, the Middle East and Beyond — Defusing the Dangers That Threaten America's Security by Harlan Ullman, John S. McCain (Citadel Press, June 2002) ISBN 0-8065-2431-6
• Faith of My Fathers by John McCain, Mark Salter (Random House, August 1999) ISBN 0-375-50191-6
• The Reminiscences of Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., United States Navy (retired) by John S. McCain (U.S. Naval Institute, 1999) ISBN B0006RY8ZK
• "An Enduring Peace Built on Freedom: Securing America's Future" by John McCain Foreign Affairs, November/December 2007
• "How the POW's Fought Back", by John S. McCain III, Lieut. Commander, U.S. Navy, U.S. News and World Report, May 14, 1973 (reprinted for web under different title in 2008)

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81. ^ Alexander (2002), pp. 170–171.
82. Farrell, John Aloysius (2003-06-21). "At the center of power, seeking the summit". John Kerry: A Candidate in the Making. The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-01-05. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
83. ^ Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill (2007-03-01). "John McCain Report: McCain becomes the 'maverick'". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
84. McCain, John S. (September 2002). Worth the Fighting For. Random House. ISBN 0-375-50542-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
85. ^ Maisel, Louis Sandy (2004). Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0742526704. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) pp. 163–165.
86. "Clinton v. City of New York". Supreme Court Collection. Retrieved July 04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
87. Alexander (2002), pp. 176–180.
88. "Biography of John McCain". Institute of Government and Public Affairs. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
89. ^ Alexander (2002), pp. 184–187.
90. ^ "U.S. Senators John McCain and Russell Feingold Share 10th John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award" (Press release). John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. 1999-05-24. Retrieved 2007-12-27. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
91. "McCain formally kicks off campaign". CNN.com. 1999-09-27. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
92. ^ Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill (2007-03-01). "John McCain Report: The 'maverick' runs". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2007-12-27. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
93. Bruni, Frank (2000-09-27). "Quayle, Outspent by Bush, Will Quit Race, Aide Says". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-27. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
94. Alexander (2002), pp. 188–189.
95. Harpaz, Beth (2001). The Girls in the Van: Covering Hillary. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312302711. p. 86.
96. Greenfield, Jeff (2000-02-08). "Random thoughts of a McCain operative". CNN.com. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
97. ^ Goldberg, Jonah (2000-02-11). "Love Is a Two-Way Street". National Review Online. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
98. ^ Corn, David (2000-02-10). "The McCain Insurgency". The Nation. Retrieved 2008-01-01. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
99. ^ Jennifer Steinhauer (2007-10-19). "Confronting Ghosts of 2000 in South Carolina". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-07. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
100. "Dirty Politics 2008". NOW. PBS. 2008-01-04. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
101. Mitchell, Alison (2000-02-10). "Bush and McCain Exchange Sharp Words Over Fund-Raising". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-07. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
102. ^ Alexander (2002), pp. 250–251.
103. ^ Mitchell, Alison (2000-02-16). "McCain Catches Mud, Then Parades It". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-01. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
104. ^ Knowlton, Brian (2000-02-21). "McCain Licks Wounds After South Carolina Rejects His Candidacy". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2008-01-01. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
105. McCaleb, Ian Christopher (2000-02-22). "McCain recovers from South Carolina disappointment, wins in Arizona, Michigan". CNN.com. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
106. "Excerpt From McCain's Speech on Religious Conservatives". The New York Times. 2000-02-29. Retrieved 2007-12-30. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
107. Rothernberg, Stuart (2000-03-01). "Stuart Rothernberg: Bush Roars Back; McCain's Hopes Dim". CNN.com. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
108. McCaleb, Ian Christopher (2000-03-08). "Gore, Bush post impressive Super Tuesday victories". CNN.com. Retrieved 2007-12-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
109. Ian Christopher McCaleb (2000-03-09). "Bradley, McCain bow out of party races". CNN.com. Retrieved 2007-12-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
110. Peter Marks (2000-05-14). "A Ringing Endorsement for Bush". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-01. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
111. Data for table is from "Favorability: People in the News: John McCain". The Gallup Organization. 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
112. ^ Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill (2007-03-01). "John McCain Report: The 'maverick' and President Bush". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2007-12-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
113. ^ Maisel, Buckley (2004), pp. 165–166.
114. ^ Holan, Angie Drobnic. "McCain switched on tax cuts". PolitiFact. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
115. John McCain (2001-05-26). "McCain Statement on Final Tax Reconciliation Bill" (Press release). United States Senate. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
116. Edsall, Thomas and Milbank, Dana (2001-06-02). "McCain Is Considering Leaving GOP: Arizona Senator Might Launch a Third-Party Challenge to Bush in 2004". The Washington Post. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
117. ^ Cusack, Bob (2007-03-28). "Democrats say McCain nearly abandoned GOP". The Hill. Retrieved 2008-01-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
118. McCain, John (2001-10-26). "No Substitute for Victory: War is hell. Let's get on with it". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-01-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
119. "Senate bill would implement 9/11 panel proposals". CNN. 2004-09-08. Retrieved 2008-01-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
120. "Senate Approves Aviation Security, Anti-Terrorism Bills". Online NewsHour. PBS. 2001-10-12. Retrieved 2008-01-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
121. Alexander (2002), p. 168.
122. "Ignoring McCain's "greeted as liberators" assurance, Wash. Post editorial credited him with prewar "foresight"". Media Matters. 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2008-01-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
123. "Newsmaker: Sen. McCain". NewsHour. PBS. 2003-11-06. Retrieved 2008-01-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
124. ^ Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill (2007-03-01). "John McCain Report: The 'maverick' goes establishment". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2007-12-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
125. ^ David M. Halbfinger (2004-06-12). "McCain Is Said To Tell Kerry He Won't Join". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
126. ^ Balz, Dan and VandeHei, Jim (2004-06-12). "McCain's Resistance Doesn't Stop Talk of Kerry Dream Ticket". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-01-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
127. ^ Loughlin, Sean (2004-08-30). "McCain praises Bush as 'tested'". CNN.com. Retrieved 2007-11-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
128. Coile, Zachary (2004-08-06). "Vets group attacks Kerry; McCain defends Democrat". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2006-08-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
129. ^ Baumann, David (2006-03-25). "Sacred Cows and Revered Rodents". National Journal. Retrieved 2007-12-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
130. Whitesides, John (2002-09-04). "Republican 'Club' on War Path Against Moderates". Reuters. Retrieved 2007-12-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
131. Wells, Holly (2004-10-18). "McCain, Starky keep it friendly". Arizona Daily Wildcat. Retrieved 2007-12-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
132. "Election 2004: U.S. Senate - Arizona - Exit Poll". Retrieved 2007-12-23.
133. "Celebrity secrets: McCain secrets". Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Retrieved 2006-08-16.
134. ^ "John McCain". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
135. "Recently Reviewed: Faith of My Fathers". Variety. 2005-05-30. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.
136. Keogh, Tom (2006-02-10). ""Why We Fight": A sobering look at the military-industrial complex". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-01-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
137. Curry, Tom (2007-04-26). "McCain takes grim message to South Carolina". MSNBC.com. Retrieved 2007-12-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
138. "Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 1st Session on the Amendment (McCain Amdt. No. 1977)". United States Senate. 2005-10-05. Retrieved 2006-08-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
139. "Senate ignores veto threat in limiting detainee treatment". CNN.com. October 6, 2005. Retrieved 2008-01-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
140. "McCain, Bush agree on torture ban". CNN. 2005-12-15. Retrieved 2006-08-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
141. "President's Statement on Signing of H.R. 2863, the 'Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006'" (Press release). White House. 2005-12-30. Retrieved 2006-08-16. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
142. Ricks, Thomas E. (2006). Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 1-59420-103-X. p. 412.
143. Baldor, Lolita (January 12, 2007). "McCain Defends Bush's Iraq Strategy". Associated Press for CBS News. Retrieved 2007-01-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
144. Giroux, Greg (2007-01-17). "'Move On' Takes Aim at McCain's Iraq Stance". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
145. Carney, James (2008-01-23). "The Resurrection of John McCain". Time. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
146. Crawford, Jamie (2007-07-28). "Iraq won't change McCain". CNN. Retrieved 2008-01-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
147. "McCain launches White House bid" (stm). BBC NEWS. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
148. STOLBERG, SHERYL GAY (2003-10-08). "How to Be the McCain of '04, by John McCain". The New York TImes. Retrieved 2007-07-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
149. McCain, John. Interview transcript. Meet the Press. MSNBC. 2005-06-19. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
150. McCain, John. Interview transcript. Larry King Live. CNN. 2005-11-03. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
151. Balz, Dan (2006-02-12). "For Possible '08 Run, McCain Is Courting Bush Loyalists". Washington Post. p. A01. Retrieved 2006-08-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
152. Cohen, Richard (January 5, 2006). "McCain's Day to Crow". Washington Post. p. A15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
153. "VIDEO: McCain Says Jerry Falwell is No Longer an 'Agent of Intolerance'". Think Progress. 2006-04-02. Retrieved 2006-08-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
154. ^ Birnbaum, Jeffrey and Solomon, John (2007-12-31). "McCain's Unlikely Ties to K Street". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-01-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
155. "More woes for McCain: Debt and departure of 2 strategists from Iowa campaign". The Associated Press. Associated Press. 2007-07-12. Retrieved 2007-07-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
156. "McCain lags in fundraising, cuts staff". CNN.com. July 2, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
157. "Lagging in Fundraising, McCain Reorganizes Staff". NPR. July 2, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
158. "McCain lags in fundraising, cuts staff", cnn.com, July 2, 2007. Accessed July 6, 2007.
159. "Lagging in Fundraising, McCain Reorganizes Staff", NPR, July 2, 2007. Accessed July 6, 2007.
160. SIDOTI, LIZ (2007-07-10). "McCain Campaign Suffers Key Shakeups". The Associated Press. Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-07-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
161. Martin, Jonathan (2007-07-19). "McCain's comeback plan". The Politico. Retrieved 2007-12-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
162. Witosky, Tom (2007-12-17). "McCain sees resurgence in his run for president". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2007-12-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
163. Sinderbrand, Rebecca (2007-12-29). "McCain, Clinton win Concord Monitor endorsements". CNN. Retrieved 2007-12-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
164. "Coverage of Lieberman endorsement of John McCain". ABC Nightline. 18 December 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
165. "CNN: McCain wins New Hampshire GOP primary". CNN. 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2008-01-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
166. Jones, Tim (19 January 2008). "McCain Wins South Carolina GOP Primary". The Chicago Tribune. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
167. ^ "McCain wins Florida, CNN projects". CNN.com. 2008-01-29. Retrieved 2008-01-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
168. Holland, Steve (2008-01-30). ""Giuliani, Edwards quit White House Race"". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
169. Election Center 2008, CNN. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
170. Sidoti, Liz (2008-02-07). "Romney Suspends Presidential Campaign". Retrieved 2008-02-08.
171. Rutenberg, Jim (2008-02-21). "For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
172. Shear, Michael and Birnbaum, Jeffrey (2008-02-22). "The Anti-Lobbyist, Advised by Lobbyists". Washington Post. p. A01. Retrieved 2008-02-23. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
173. "McCain clinches GOP nomination, CNN projects". CNN. 2008-03-04. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
174. "2008 Republican Presidential Wannabes" (PDF). National Journal. Retrieved 2008-02-27. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
175. Friel, Brian; et al. (2008-01-31). "Obama: Most Liberal Senator In 2007". National Journal. Retrieved 2008-02-27. {{cite news}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
176. Clinton, Joshua D.; Jackman, Simon; Rivers, Doug (October 2004). ""The Most Liberal Senator"? Analyzing and Interpreting Congressional Roll Calls" (PDF). Political Science & Politics: 805–811.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
177. ^ Barone, Michael and Cohen, Richard (2008). Almanac of American Politics (2008). National Journal. p. 95.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
178. "2006 U.S. Congress Ratings". American Conservative Union. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
179. "ADA Voting Records". Americans for Democratic Action. Retrieved 2008-02-26. Average includes all years beginning with 1983 in House, collected from various parts of ADA website and calculated on spreadsheet.
180. "Senator John McCain (R-AZ)". National Right to Life Committee. Retrieved 2008-02-26. NRLC does not factor non-votes, so McCain's percentage calculated on 31 lifetime votes for their positions, 12 against.
181. "Senator John McCain (R-AZ)". NARAL Pro-Choice America. Retrieved 2008-02-26. Zeroes are assigned for the years marked as "no score" since McCain voted against NARAL's positions each of those years.
182. "Immigration Voting Report Card for Sen. John McCain". Americans for Better Immigration. 2008-01-28. Retrieved 2008-02-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
183. Kopel, Dave (2004-11-02). "Voting On Target". National Review Online. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
184. "GOA Ratings For John McCain". Gun Owners of America. Retrieved 2008-02-26. The average of two C- and two F- grades.
185. "ACLU Congressional Scorecard: Senator John McCain III". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
186. "2007 First Session 110th Congress National Environmental Scorecard" (PDF). League of Conservation Voters. p. 14. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
187. "Senator John Sidney McCain III (AZ)". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
188. Whittington, Mark (2008-02-10). "Why John McCain Won". Associated Content. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
189. "107th Rank Ordering". Voteview. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
190. Lewis, Jeff and Poole, Keith (2006-12-31). "109th Senate Rank Ordering". Voteview. Retrieved 2007-12-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
191. "John McCain on Abortion". On the Issues. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
192. "McCain's Hundred Years War". Dallas Morning News Opinion Blog. 3 January 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
193. Barone, Michael, et al. The Almanac of American Politics, 2006 (2005), pp. 93–98.
194. Robb, Robert (2008-02-01). "Is John McCain a Conservative?". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
195. Limbro, Donald. "GOP 'darlings' slow to sign tax-cut pledge", Washington Times, February 22, 2007.
196. Kennedy, McCain try again on immigration The Boston Globe, Feb. 28, 2007
197. Neal, Terry. "McCain Softens Abortion Stand", Washington Post (1999-08-24).
198. McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned "The Associated Press" February 18, 2007
199. Hallow, Ralph Z. "Kennedy alliance costly to GOP senators". The Washington Times, 2008-06-08. Retrieved on 2008-03-04.
200. "GOA On John McCain's Record" Gun Owners of America
201. "John McCain on Gun Control". On the Issues. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
202. Velleco, John. "John McCain's Gun Control Problem". Gun Owners of America. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
203. McCain embraces tax cut turnaround Washington Times, Dec. 19, 2007
204. Senate ignores veto threat in limiting detainee treatment CNN.com, Oct. 6, 2005
205. Highlights from the GOP debate CNN.com, May 16, 2007
206. Eggen, Dan. "Senate Passes Ban On Waterboarding, Other Techniques". Washington Post. 2008-02-14.
207. Sherwell, Philip (2007-03-19). "Straight-talking McCain vows to fix world's view of the 'ugly American'". Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
208. Tapper, Jake (2008-02-29). "John McCain enters the autism wars". ABC News. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
209. Szpir M (2006). "Tracing the origins of autism: a spectrum of new studies". Environ Health Perspect. 114 (7): A412–8. PMID 16835042.
210. Doja A, Roberts W (2006). "Immunizations and autism: a review of the literature". Can J Neurol Sci. 33 (4): 341–6. PMID 17168158.
211. Taylor B (2006). "Vaccines and the changing epidemiology of autism". Child Care Health Dev. 32 (5): 511–9. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2006.00655.x. PMID 16919130.
212. Karaagac, John. John McCain: An Essay in Military and Political History, p. 248 (2000). Via Google Books.
213. ^ Brooks, David (2007-11-13). "The Character Factor". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
214. Benoit, William L. (2003). Campaign 2000: A Functional Analysis of Presidential Campaign Discourse. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0742529142. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) p. 96.
215. Welch, Matt (2007). McCain: The Myth of a Maverick. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0230603967.
216. Welch, Matt (2006-11-26). "Do we need another T.R.?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
217. "A Candidate's Lucky Charms". Washington Post, Saturday, February 19, 2000; Page C01. The Washington Post Company. February 19, 2000. Retrieved 2006-04-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
218. Bailey, Holly (2008-01-09). "A Lucky Nickel". Newsweek. Retrieved 2008-01-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
219. "McCain's Lucky Charms in Michigan". ABC News. 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2008-01-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
220. Sneed, Michael (2002-06-13). "Beatlemania ...". Chicago Sun-Times. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
221. "Just the facts about McCain", The Arizona Republic. 2006-09-18. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.
222. ^ Simon, Roger (2007-01-27). "McCain's Health and Age Present Campaign Challenge". The Politico. Retrieved 2007-11-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
223. ^ Clymer, Adam (2000-03-04). "For McCain, Concerns In the Senate Are Subtle". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
224. "Best and Worst of Congress". Washingtonian. September 2006. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
225. ^ Corn, David (1998-06-25). "A joke too bad to print?". Salon.com. Retrieved 2006-08-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
226. Ma, Jason (2000-02-14). "McCain Apologizes for 'Gook' Comment". Asian Week. Retrieved 2007-07-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
227. Tapper, Jake (2000-02-17). "Straight talk". Salon.com. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
228. Pasco, Jean (2000-03-02). "A Hero's Welcome for McCain in Little Saigon; Politics: Some Vietnamese protest senator's slur but most cheer candidate. Ex-POW salutes comrades in arms". Los Angeles Times.
229. Bunis, Dena (2000-03-02). "McCain's visit stirs admiration". The Orange County Register.
230. Dang, Janet (2000-02-24). "Vietnamese American Reaction Divided". Asian Week. Retrieved 2008-01-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
231. "McCain Revives Song Parody to Make Point on Iran". Fox News. Fox News. 2007-03-19. Retrieved 2007-07-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
232. "MoveOn firing salvo at Bomb-Bomb McCain". The Associated Press. Associated Press. 2007-04-21. Retrieved 2007-07-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
233. "McCain Brushes Off Latest Criticism of His Sense of Humor". 2007-04-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
234. "John McCain to Murtha: 'Lighten Up,' 'Get a Life'". 2007-04-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
235. McCain, Cornyn Engage in Heated Exchange Washington Post Blog Capital Exchange. May 18, 2007 Retrieved June 21, 2007
236. "Is Rush Limbaugh right?". Slate. May 23, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
237. "McCain hoping Castro dies". CNN. February 23, 2008. Retrieved 2007-05-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
238. "Sen. McCain's youngest son joins Marine Corps". Marine Corps Times. Associated Press. July 31, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
239. ^ Lawrence, Jill (2007-10-10). "For candidates' kids, new roles and attention". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-12-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
240. ^ "Meet the McCain Family". John McCain 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
241. Strauss, Neil (2000-09-07). "Fast Women, But Watch It". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
242. MICHAEL, JANOFSKY (2004-05-14). "Senator McCain's Wife Has Minor Stroke; Good Prognosis Is Cited". The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved 2007-07-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
243. "About Us: Our People", Hensley & Company website, Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
244. "Hensley & Company company profile", Yahoo! Finance, Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
245. "McCain Identifies Himself as a Baptist". Associated Press for Fox News. 2007-09-16. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
246. "McCAIN, John Sidney, III, (1936 - )". bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
247. ""Honourary Patrons"". University Philosophical Society. Trinity College Dublin. 2006-10-21. Retrieved 2006-11-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
248. "Senator John S. McCain to Receive 2005 Eisenhower Leadership Prize" (Press release). The Eisenhower Institute. 2005-08-24. Retrieved 2006-11-14. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
249. "JINSA Bestows Distinguished Service Award Upon Senator John McCain" (Press release). Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. 2006-12-05. Retrieved 2007-12-27. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
250. Turner, Malcolm (2007-02-20). "Senator John McCain receives Policy Maker of the Year Award". Leader magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
251. ^ "Election Statistics". Clerk of the House of Representatives.
252. "US President - R Primaries 2000". Our Campaigns. 2007-08-15. Retrieved 2007-12-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

• Michael Barone, et al. The Almanac of American Politics: 2006 (2005) pp. 93–98.

External links

Senate

• United States Senate Office of John McCain

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart

Presidential campaign

• Presidential Campaign Website

Documentaries, topic pages and databases

• New York Times — John McCain news stories and commentary
• Interview About POW Experience at Library of Congress

v t e United States senators from Arizona
Class 1	Ashurst McFarland Goldwater Fannin DeConcini Kyl Flake Sinema Gallego
Class 3	Smith Cameron Hayden Goldwater McCain Kyl McSally Kelly

v t e Current United States senators
President: ▌ Kamala Harris (D) ‧ President pro tempore: ▌ Chuck Grassley (R)
AL: ▌ Tuberville (R)⎣ ▌ Britt (R) AK: ▌ Murkowski (R)⎣ ▌ Sullivan (R) AZ: ▌ Kelly (D)⎣ ▌ Gallego (D) AR: ▌ Boozman (R)⎣ ▌ Cotton (R) CA: ▌ Padilla (D)⎣ ▌ Schiff (D) CO: ▌ Bennet (D)⎣ ▌ Hickenlooper (D) CT: ▌ Blumenthal (D)⎣ ▌ Murphy (D) DE: ▌ Coons (D)⎣ ▌ Blunt Rochester (D) FL: ▌ Rubio (R)⎣ ▌ R. Scott (R) GA: ▌ Ossoff (D)⎣ ▌ Warnock (D) HI: ▌ Schatz (D)⎣ ▌ Hirono (D) ID: ▌ Crapo (R)⎣ ▌ Risch (R) IL: ▌ Durbin (D)⎣ ▌ Duckworth (D) IN: ▌ Young (R)⎣ ▌ Braun (R) IA: ▌ Grassley (R)⎣ ▌ Ernst (R) KS: ▌ Moran (R)⎣ ▌ Marshall (R) KY: ▌ McConnell (R)⎣ ▌ Paul (R) LA: ▌ Cassidy (R)⎣ ▌ Kennedy (R) ME: ▌ Collins (R)⎣ ▌ King (I) MD: ▌ Van Hollen (D)⎣ ▌ Alsobrooks (D) MA: ▌ Warren (D)⎣ ▌ Markey (D) MI: ▌ Peters (D)⎣ ▌ Slotkin (D) MN: ▌ Klobuchar (D)⎣ ▌ Smith (D) MS: ▌ Wicker (R)⎣ ▌ Hyde-Smith (R) MO: ▌ Hawley (R)⎣ ▌ Schmitt (R) MT: ▌ Daines (R)⎣ ▌ Sheehy (R) NE: ▌ Fischer (R)⎣ ▌ Ricketts (R) NV: ▌ Cortez Masto (D)⎣ ▌ Rosen (D) NH: ▌ Shaheen (D)⎣ ▌ Hassan (D) NJ: ▌ Booker (D)⎣ ▌ Kim (D) NM: ▌ Heinrich (D)⎣ ▌ Luján (D) NY: ▌ Schumer (D)⎣ ▌ Gillibrand (D) NC: ▌ Tillis (R)⎣ ▌ Budd (R) ND: ▌ Hoeven (R)⎣ ▌ Cramer (R) OH: ▌ Vance (R)⎣ ▌ Moreno (R) OK: ▌ Lankford (R)⎣ ▌ Mullin (R) OR: ▌ Wyden (D)⎣ ▌ Merkley (D) PA: ▌ Fetterman (D)⎣ ▌ McCormick (R) RI: ▌ Reed (D)⎣ ▌ Whitehouse (D) SC: ▌ Graham (R)⎣ ▌ T. Scott (R) SD: ▌ Thune (R)⎣ ▌ Rounds (R) TN: ▌ Blackburn (R)⎣ ▌ Hagerty (R) TX: ▌ Cornyn (R)⎣ ▌ Cruz (R) UT: ▌ Lee (R)⎣ ▌ Curtis (R) VT: ▌ Sanders (I)⎣ ▌ Welch (D) VA: ▌ Warner (D)⎣ ▌ Kaine (D) WA: ▌ Murray (D)⎣ ▌ Cantwell (D) WV: ▌ Capito (R)⎣    Vacant WI: ▌ Johnson (R)⎣ ▌ Baldwin (D) WY: ▌ Barrasso (R)⎣ ▌ Lummis (R)
▌ Republican: 52 ▌ Democratic: 45 ▌ Independent: 2

v t e John McCain
U.S. Senator from Arizona (1987–2018) U.S. Congressman from Arizona's 1st district (1983–1987)
Life	Early life and military career Cultural and political image Death and funeral
Political activities	House and Senate career, until 2000 Keating Five scandal International Republican Institute 2000 presidential campaign Senate career during 2001–2014 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act Climate Stewardship Acts McCain Detainee Amendment 2008 opposition to limiting interrogation techniques List of bills sponsored Political positions 2008 Republican National Convention 2008 presidential campaign endorsements Elections House elections 1982 1984 Senate elections 1986 1992 1998 2004 2010 2016 2008 United States presidential election lobbyist controversy debates running-mate selection
Media	Books authored Faith of My Fathers Worth the Fighting For Why Courage Matters Character Is Destiny Hard Call Thirteen Soldiers The Restless Wave The Nightingale's Song (1995 book) Faith of My Fathers (2005 film) My Dad, John McCain (2008 book) Change (2010 documentary) Game Change (2012 film)
Family	McCain family Cindy McCain (second wife) Carol McCain (first wife) Meghan McCain (daughter) John S. McCain Jr. (father) Roberta McCain (mother) Joe McCain (brother) John S. McCain Sr. (grandfather)
Category

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