PAEDIA EXPRESS CELEBRATES JOHN McCAIN IN GLORIOUS DEATH

PAEDIA EXPRESS CELEBRATES JOHN McCAIN IN GLORIOUS DEATH

A FAMILY MEMBER MOURNS OVER THE CASKET OF SENATOR McCAIN AS SHE PAYS HER LAST RESPECT

 

John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and military officer who served as a United States Senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms in the United States House of Representatives and was the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 election, which he lost to Barack Obama.

McCain graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958 and was commissioned into the United States Navy. He became a naval aviator and flew ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. While on a bombing mission during Operation Rolling Thunder over Hanoi in October 1967, he was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973. He experienced episodes of torture and refused an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer. The wounds that he sustained during the war left him with lifelong physical disabilities. He retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, where he entered politics. In 1982, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, where he served two terms. He entered the U.S. Senate in 1987 and easily won reelection five times, the final time in 2016.

While generally adhering to conservative principles, McCain also had a media reputation as a "maverick" for his willingness to disagree with his party on certain issues. After being investigated and largely exonerated in a political influence scandal of the 1980s as a member of the Keating Five, he made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns, which eventually resulted in passage of the McCain–Feingold Act in 2002. He was also known for his work in the 1990s to restore diplomatic relations with Vietnam, and for his belief that the Iraq War should have been fought to a successful conclusion. He chaired the Senate Commerce Committee and opposed pork barrel spending. He belonged to the bipartisan "Gang of 14" which played a key role in alleviating a crisis over judicial nominations.

McCain entered the race for the Republican nomination for president in 2000, but lost a heated primary season contest to Governor George W. Bush of Texas. He secured the nomination in 2008 after making a comeback from early reversals, but was defeated by Democratic nominee Barack Obama in the general election, losing by a 365–173 electoral college margin. He subsequently adopted more orthodox conservative stances and attitudes and largely opposed actions of the Obama administration, especially with regard to foreign policy matters. By 2013, he had become a key figure in the Senate for negotiating deals on certain issues in an otherwise partisan environment. In 2015, he became Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. In 2017, the year before his death at age 81, he reduced his role in the Senate after a diagnosis of brain cancer.

Early life and military career, 1936–1981

Early life and education

John Sidney McCain III was born on August 29, 1936, at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone, to naval officer John S. McCain Jr. and Roberta (Wright) McCain. He had an older sister Sandy and a younger brother Joe.^[1] At that time, the Panama Canal was under U.S. control.^[2]

McCain's family tree includes Scots-Irish and English ancestors.^[3] His father and his paternal grandfather, John S. McCain Sr., were also Naval Academy graduates and both became four-star United States Navy admirals.^[4] The McCain family followed his father to various naval postings in the United States and the Pacific.^[1][5]

Altogether, he attended about 20 schools.^[6] In 1951, the family settled in Northern Virginia, and McCain attended Episcopal High School, a private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria.^[7][8] He excelled at wrestling and graduated in 1954.^[9][10] He referred to himself as an Episcopalian as recently as June 2007 after which date he said he came to identify as a Baptist.^[11]

Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. He was a friend and informal leader there for many of his classmates,^[12] and sometimes stood up for targets of bullying.^[4] He also became a lightweight boxer.^[13] McCain did well in academic subjects that interested him, such as literature and history, but studied only enough to pass subjects that gave him difficulty, such as mathematics.^[4][14] He came into conflict with higher-ranking personnel and did not always obey the rules, which contributed to a low class rank (894 of 899), despite a high IQ.^[12][15] McCain graduated in 1958.^[12]

Naval training, first marriage, and Vietnam War assignment

McCain began his early military career when he was commissioned as an ensign and started two and a half years of training at Pensacola to become a naval aviator.^[16] While there, he earned a reputation as a man who partied.^[6] He completed flight school in 1960 and became a naval pilot of ground-attack aircraft; he was assigned to A-1 Skyraider squadrons^[17] aboard the aircraft carriers USS Intrepid and USS Enterprise^[18] in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas.^[19] McCain began as a sub-par flier^[19] who was at times careless and reckless;^[20] during the early to mid-1960s, two of his flight missions crashed and a third mission collided with power lines, but he received no major injuries.^[20] His aviation skills improved over time,^[19] and he was seen as a good pilot, albeit one who tended to "push the envelope" in his flying.^[20]

At age 28 on July 3, 1965, McCain married Carol Shepp, who was a model from Philadelphia.^[21] McCain adopted her two young children Douglas and Andrew.^[18][22] He and Carol then had a daughter named Sidney.^[23][24]

McCain requested a combat assignment^[25] and was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal flying A-4 Skyhawks.^[26] His combat duty began when he was 30 years old in mid-1967, when Forrestal was assigned to a bombing campaign, Operation Rolling Thunder, during the Vietnam War.^[21][27] Stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin, McCain and his fellow pilots became frustrated by micromanagement from Washington, and he later wrote, "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."^[27][28]

On July 29, 1967, McCain was a lieutenant commander when he was near the epicenter of the USS Forrestal fire. He escaped from his burning jet and was trying to help another pilot escape when a bomb exploded;^[29] McCain was struck in the legs and chest by fragments.^[30] The ensuing fire killed 134 sailors and took 24 hours to control.^[31][32] With the Forrestal out of commission, McCain volunteered for assignment with the USS Oriskany, another aircraft carrier employed in Operation Rolling Thunder.^[33] There he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal and the Bronze Star Medal for missions flown over North Vietnam.^[34]

Prisoner of war

McCain's capture and subsequent imprisonment occurred on October 26, 1967. He was flying his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam when his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile over Hanoi.^[35][36] McCain fractured both arms and a leg when he ejected from the aircraft,^[37] and nearly drowned after he parachuted into Trúc Bạch Lake. Some North Vietnamese pulled him ashore, then others crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him.^[35] McCain was then transported to Hanoi's main Hỏa Lò Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton".^[36]

Although McCain was seriously wounded and injured, his captors refused to treat him. They beat and interrogated him to get information, and he was given medical care only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was an admiral.^[38] His status as a prisoner of war (POW) made the front pages of major American newspapers.^[39][40]

McCain spent six weeks in the hospital, where he received marginal care. He had lost 50 pounds (23 kg), was in a chest cast, and his gray hair had turned white.^[35] McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi.^[41] In December 1967, McCain was placed in a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live more than a week.^[42] In March 1968, McCain was placed into solitary confinement, where he remained for two years.^[43]

In mid-1968, his father John S. McCain Jr. was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater, and the North Vietnamese offered McCain early release^[44] because they wanted to appear merciful for propaganda purposes^[45] and also to show other POWs that elite prisoners were willing to be treated preferentially.^[44] McCain refused repatriation unless every man taken in before him was also released. Such early release was prohibited by the POWs' interpretation of the military Code of Conduct which states in Article III: "I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy".^[46] To prevent the enemy from using prisoners for propaganda, officers were to agree to be released in the order in which they were captured.^[35]

Beginning in August 1968, McCain was subjected to a program of severe torture.^[47] He was bound and beaten every two hours; this punishment occurred at the same time that he was suffering from heat and dysentery.^[35][47] Further injuries brought McCain to "the point of suicide," but his preparations were interrupted by guards. Eventually, McCain made an anti-U.S. propaganda "confession".^[35] He had always felt that his statement was dishonorable, but as he later wrote, "I had learned what we all learned over there: every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine."^[48][49] Many U.S. POWs were tortured and maltreated in order to extract "confessions" and propaganda statements;^[50] virtually all of them eventually yielded something to their captors.^[51] McCain received two to three beatings weekly because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements.^[52]

McCain refused to meet various anti-war groups seeking peace in Hanoi, wanting to give neither them nor the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory.^[53] From late 1969, treatment of McCain and many of the other POWs became more tolerable,^[54] while McCain continued to resist the camp authorities.^[55] McCain and other prisoners cheered the U.S. "Christmas Bombing" campaign of December 1972, viewing it as a forceful measure to push North Vietnam to terms.^[49][56]

McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years until his release on March 14, 1973.^[57] His wartime injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head.^[58] After the war, McCain returned to the site with his wife Cindy and family on a few occasions to try to come to terms with what happened to him there during his capture.^[59]

Commanding officer, liaison to Senate and second marriage

McCain was reunited with his family when he returned to the United States. His wife Carol had also been crippled, by an automobile accident in December 1969. As a returned POW, he became a celebrity of sorts.^[60]

McCain underwent treatment for his injuries that included months of physical therapy.^[61] He attended the National War College at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. during 1973–1974.^[62] He was rehabilitated by late 1974 and his flight status was reinstated. In 1976, he became Commanding Officer of a training squadron that was stationed in Florida.^[60][63] He improved the unit's flight readiness and safety records,^[64] and won the squadron its first-ever Meritorious Unit Commendation.^[63] During this period in Florida, he had extramarital affairs and his marriage began to falter, about which he later stated, "The blame was entirely mine".^[65][66]

McCain served as the Navy's liaison to the U.S. Senate beginning in 1977.^[67] In retrospect, he said that this represented his "real entry into the world of politics and the beginning of my second career as a public servant."^[60] His key behind-the-scenes role gained congressional financing for a new supercarrier against the wishes of the Carter administration.^[61][68]

In April 1979,^[61] McCain met Cindy Lou Hensley, a teacher from Phoenix, Arizona, whose father had founded a large beer distributorship.^[66] They began dating, and he urged his wife Carol to grant him a divorce, which she did in February 1980; the uncontested divorce took effect in April 1980.^[22][61] The settlement included two houses, and financial support for her ongoing medical treatments due to her 1969 car accident; they remained on good terms.^[66] McCain and Hensley were married on May 17, 1980, with Senators William Cohen and Gary Hart attending as groomsmen.^[21][66] McCain's children did not attend, and several years passed before they reconciled.^[24][61] John and Cindy McCain entered into a prenuptial agreement that kept most of her family's assets under her name; they kept their finances apart and filed separate income tax returns.^[69]

McCain decided to leave the Navy. It was doubtful whether he would ever be promoted to the rank of full admiral, as he had poor annual physicals and had not been given a major sea command.^[70] His chances of being promoted to rear admiral were better, but he declined that prospect, as he had already made plans to run for Congress and said he could "do more good there."^[71][72]

McCain retired from the Navy on April 1, 1981,^[73] as a captain.^[34] He was designated as disabled and awarded a disability pension.^[74] Upon leaving the military, he moved to Arizona. His numerous military decorations and awards include the Silver Star, two Legion of Merits, Distinguished Flying Cross, three Bronze Star Medals, two Purple Hearts, two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, and the Prisoner of War Medal.^[34]

House and Senate elections and career, 1982–2000

U.S. Representative

McCain set his sights on becoming a representative because he was interested in current events, was ready for a new challenge, and had developed political ambitions during his time as Senate liaison.^[66][75][76] Living in Phoenix, he went to work for Hensley & Co., his new father-in-law Jim Hensley's large Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship.^[66] As vice president of public relations at the distributorship, he gained political support among the local business community, meeting powerful figures such as banker Charles Keating Jr., real estate developer Fife Symington III (later Governor of Arizona) and newspaper publisher Darrow "Duke" Tully.^[67] In 1982, McCain ran as a Republican for an open seat in Arizona's 1st congressional district, which was being vacated by 30-year incumbent Republican John Jacob Rhodes.^[77] A newcomer to the state, McCain was hit with charges of being a carpetbagger.^[66] McCain responded to a voter making that charge with what a Phoenix Gazette columnist later described as "the most devastating response to a potentially troublesome political issue I've ever heard":^[66]

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.^[66][78]

McCain won a highly contested primary election with the assistance of local political endorsements, his Washington connections, and money that his wife lent to his campaign.^[67][66] He then easily won the general election in the heavily Republican district.^[66]

In 1983, McCain was elected to lead the incoming group of Republican representatives,^[66] and was assigned to the House Committee on Interior Affairs. Also that year, he opposed creation of a federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but admitted in 2008: "I was wrong and eventually realized that, in time to give full support [in 1990] for a state holiday in Arizona."^[79][80]

At this point, McCain's politics were mainly in line with those of President Ronald Reagan; this included support for Reaganomics, and he was active on Indian Affairs bills.^[81] He supported most aspects of the foreign policy of the Reagan administration, including its hardline stance against the Soviet Union and policy towards Central American conflicts, such as backing the Contras in Nicaragua.^[81] McCain opposed keeping U.S. Marines deployed in Lebanon, citing unattainable objectives, and subsequently criticized President Reagan for pulling out the troops too late; in the interim, the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing killed hundreds.^[66][82] McCain won re-election to the House easily in 1984,^[66] and gained a spot on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.^[83] In 1985, he made his first return trip to Vietnam,^[84] and also traveled to Chile where he met with its military junta ruler, General Augusto Pinochet.^[85][86][87]

Growing family

In 1984, McCain and Cindy had their first child together, daughter Meghan, followed two years later by son John Sidney (Jack) IV, and in 1988 by son James (Jimmy).^[88] 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.^[89] The McCains decided to adopt her and named her Bridget.^[90]

First two terms in U.S. Senate

McCain's Senate career began in January 1987, after he defeated his Democratic opponent, former state legislator Richard Kimball, by 20 percentage points in the 1986 election.^[67][91] McCain succeeded longtime American conservative icon and Arizona fixture Barry Goldwater upon the latter's retirement as U.S. senator from Arizona.^[91]

Senator McCain became a member of the Armed Services Committee, with which he had formerly done his Navy liaison work; he also joined the Commerce Committee and the Indian Affairs Committee.^[91] He continued to support the Native American agenda.^[92] As first a House member and then a senator—and as a lifelong gambler with close ties to the gambling industry^[93]—McCain was one of the main authors of the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act,^[94][95] which codified rules regarding Native American gambling enterprises.^[96] McCain was also a strong supporter of the Gramm-Rudman legislation that enforced automatic spending cuts in the case of budget deficits.^[97]

McCain soon gained national visibility. He delivered a well-received speech at the 1988 Republican National Convention, was mentioned by the press as a short list vice-presidential running mate for Republican nominee George H. W. Bush, and was named chairman of Veterans for Bush.^[91][98]

McCain became embroiled in a scandal during the 1980s, as one of five United States senators comprising the so-called Keating Five.^[99] Between 1982 and 1987, McCain had received $112,000 in lawful^[100] political contributions from Charles Keating Jr. and his associates at Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, along with trips on Keating's jets^[99] that McCain belatedly repaid, in 1989.^[101] In 1987, McCain was one of the five senators whom Keating contacted in order to prevent the government's seizure of Lincoln, and McCain met twice with federal regulators to discuss the government's investigation of Lincoln.^[99] In 1999, 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."^[102] In the end, McCain was cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee of acting improperly or violating any law or Senate rule, but was mildly rebuked for exercising "poor judgment".^[100][102] In his 1992 re-election bid, the Keating Five affair was not a major issue,^[103] and he won handily, gaining 56 percent of the vote to defeat Democratic community and civil rights activist Claire Sargent and independent former governor, Evan Mecham.^[104]

McCain with President George H. W. Bush in 1990

McCain developed a reputation for independence during the 1990s.^[105] He took pride in challenging party leadership and establishment forces, becoming difficult to categorize politically.^[105]

The 1992 christening of USS John S. McCain at Bath Iron Works, with his mother Roberta, son Jack, daughter Meghan, and wife Cindy

As a member of the 1991–1993 Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, chaired by fellow Vietnam War veteran and Democrat, John Kerry, McCain investigated the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue, to determine the fate of U.S. service personnel listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War.^[106] The committee's unanimous report stated there was "no compelling evidence that proves that any American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia."^[107] Helped by McCain's efforts, in 1995 the U.S. normalized diplomatic relations with Vietnam.^[108] McCain was vilified by some POW/MIA activists who, despite the committee's unanimous report, believed large numbers of Americans were still held against their will in Southeast Asia.^{[108][109][110]} From January 1993 until his death, McCain was Chairman of the International Republican Institute, an organization partly funded by the U.S. government that supports the emergence of political democracy worldwide.^[111]

In 1993 and 1994, McCain voted to confirm President Clinton's nominees Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg whom he considered to be qualified for the U.S. Supreme Court. He later explained that "under our Constitution, it is the president's call to make."^[112] McCain had also voted to confirm nominees of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, including Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas.^[113]

McCain attacked what he saw as the corrupting influence of large political contributions—from corporations, labor unions, other organizations, and wealthy individuals—and he made this his signature issue.^[114] Starting in 1994, he worked with Democratic Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold on campaign finance reform; their McCain–Feingold bill attempted to put limits on "soft money".^[114] The efforts of McCain and Feingold were opposed by some of the moneyed interests targeted, by incumbents in both parties, by those who felt spending limits impinged on free political speech and might be unconstitutional as well, and by those who wanted to counterbalance the power of what they saw as media bias.^[114][115] Despite sympathetic coverage in the media, initial versions of the McCain–Feingold Act were filibustered and never came to a vote.^[116]

The term "maverick Republican" became a label frequently applied to McCain, and he also used it himself.^{[114][117][118]} In 1993, McCain opposed military operations in Somalia.^[119] Another target of his was pork barrel spending by Congress, and he actively supported the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, which gave the president power to veto individual spending items^[114] but was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1998.^[120]

In the 1996 presidential election, McCain was again on the short list of possible vice-presidential picks, this time for Republican nominee Bob Dole.^[103][121] The following year, Time magazine named McCain as one of the "25 Most Influential People in America".^[122]

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 small contributions he received were not part of the big-money nature of the campaign finance problem.^[114] McCain took on the tobacco industry in 1998, proposing legislation that would increase cigarette taxes in order to fund anti-smoking campaigns, discourage teenage smokers, increase money for health research studies, and help states pay for smoking-related health care costs.^[114][123] Supported by the Clinton administration but opposed by the industry and most Republicans, the bill failed to gain cloture.^[123]

Start of third term in the U.S. Senate

In November 1998, McCain won re-election to a third Senate term; he prevailed in a landslide over his Democratic opponent, environmental lawyer Ed Ranger.^[114] In the February 1999 Senate trial following the impeachment of Bill Clinton, McCain voted to convict the president on both the perjury and obstruction of justice counts, saying Clinton had violated his sworn oath of office.^[124] In March 1999, McCain voted to approve the NATO bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, saying that the ongoing genocide of the Kosovo War must be stopped and criticizing past Clinton administration inaction.^[125] Later in 1999, McCain shared the Profile in Courage Award with Feingold for their work in trying to enact their campaign finance reform,^[126] although the bill was still failing repeated attempts to gain cloture.^[116]

In August 1999, McCain's memoir Faith of My Fathers, co-authored with Mark Salter, was published;^[127] a reviewer observed that its appearance "seems to have been timed to the unfolding Presidential campaign."^[128] The most successful of his writings, it received positive reviews,^[129] became a bestseller,^[130] and was later made into a TV film.^[131] The book traces McCain's family background and childhood, covers his time at Annapolis and his service before and during the Vietnam War, concluding with his release from captivity in 1973. According to one reviewer, it describes "the kind of challenges that most of us can barely imagine. It's a fascinating history of a remarkable military family."^[132]

2000 presidential campaign

Main article: John McCain presidential campaign, 2000

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".^[127][133] The frontrunner for the Republican nomination was Texas Governor George W. Bush, who had the political and financial support of most of the party establishment.^[134]

McCain focused on the New Hampshire primary, where his message appealed to independents.^[135] He traveled on a campaign bus called the Straight Talk Express.^[127] He held many town hall meetings, answering every question voters asked, in a successful example of "retail politics", and he used free media to compensate for his lack of funds.^[127] 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."^[136] On February 1, 2000, he won New Hampshire's primary with 49 percent of the vote to Bush's 30 percent. The Bush campaign and the Republican establishment feared that a McCain victory in the crucial South Carolina primary might give his campaign unstoppable momentum.^[127][137]

The Arizona Republic wrote that the McCain–Bush primary contest in South Carolina "has entered national political lore as a low-water mark in presidential campaigns", while The New York Times called it "a painful symbol of the brutality of American politics".^{[127][139][140]} A variety of interest groups, which McCain had challenged in the past, ran negative ads.^[127][141] Bush borrowed McCain's earlier language of reform,^[142] and declined to dissociate himself from a veterans activist who accused McCain (in Bush's presence) of having "abandoned the veterans" on POW/MIA and Agent Orange issues.^[127][143]

Incensed,^[143] McCain ran ads accusing Bush of lying and comparing the governor to Bill Clinton, which Bush said was "about as low a blow as you can give in a Republican primary".^[127] An anonymous smear campaign began against McCain, delivered by push polls, faxes, e-mails, flyers, and audience plants.^[127][144] The smears claimed that McCain had fathered a black child out of wedlock (the McCains' dark-skinned daughter was adopted from Bangladesh), that his wife Cindy was a drug addict, that he was a homosexual, and that he was a "Manchurian Candidate" who was either a traitor or mentally unstable from his North Vietnam POW days.^[127][139] The Bush campaign strongly denied any involvement with the attacks.^[139][145]

McCain lost South Carolina on February 19, with 42 percent of the vote to Bush's 53 percent,^[146] in part because Bush mobilized the state's evangelical voters^[127][147] and outspent McCain.^[148] The win allowed Bush to regain lost momentum.^[146] McCain said of the rumor spreaders, "I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like those."^[90] According to one acquaintance, the South Carolina experience left him in a "very dark place".^[139]

McCain's campaign never completely recovered from his South Carolina defeat, although he did rebound partially by winning in Arizona and Michigan a few days later.^[149] He made a speech in Virginia Beach that criticized Christian leaders, including Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, as divisive conservatives,^[139] 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."^[150] McCain lost the Virginia primary on February 29,^[151] and on March 7 lost nine of the thirteen primaries on Super Tuesday to Bush.^[152] With little hope of overcoming Bush's delegate lead, McCain withdrew from the race on March 9, 2000.^[153] He endorsed Bush two months later,^[154] and made occasional appearances with the Texas governor during the general election campaign.^[127]

Senate career, 2000–2008

Main article: Senate career of John McCain, 2001–2014

Remainder of third Senate term

McCain began 2001 by breaking with the new George W. Bush administration on a number of matters, including HMO reform, climate change, and gun legislation; McCain–Feingold was opposed by Bush as well.^[116][155] In May 2001, McCain was one of only two Senate Republicans to vote against the Bush tax cuts.^[155][156] Besides the differences with Bush on ideological grounds, there was considerable antagonism between the two remaining from the previous year's campaign.^[157][158] Later, when a Republican senator, Jim Jeffords, became an Independent, thereby throwing control of the Senate to the Democrats, McCain defended Jeffords against "self-appointed enforcers of party loyalty".^[155] Indeed, there was speculation at the time, and in years since, about McCain himself leaving the Republican Party, but McCain had always adamantly denied that he ever considered doing so.^{[155][159][160]} Beginning in 2001, McCain used political capital gained from his presidential run, as well as improved legislative skills and relationships with other members, to become one of the Senate's most influential members.^[161]

After the September 11, 2001, attacks, McCain supported Bush and the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.^[155][162] He and Democratic senator Joe Lieberman wrote the legislation that created the 9/11 Commission,^[163] while he and Democratic senator Fritz Hollings co-sponsored the Aviation and Transportation Security Act that federalized airport security.^[164]

In March 2002, McCain–Feingold, officially known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, passed in both Houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Bush.^[116][155] Seven years in the making, it was McCain's greatest legislative achievement.^[155][165]

Meanwhile, in discussions over proposed U.S. action against Iraq, McCain was a strong supporter of the Bush administration's position.^[155] He stated that Iraq was "a clear and present danger to the United States of America", and voted accordingly for the Iraq War Resolution in October 2002.^[155] He predicted that U.S. forces would be treated as liberators by a large number of the Iraqi people.^[166] In May 2003, McCain voted against the second round of Bush tax cuts, saying it was unwise at a time of war.^[156] By November 2003, after a trip to Iraq, he was publicly questioning Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, saying that more U.S. troops were needed; the following year, McCain announced that he had lost confidence in Rumsfeld.^[167][168]

In October 2003, McCain and Lieberman co-sponsored the Climate Stewardship Act that would have introduced a cap and trade system aimed at returning greenhouse gas emissions to 2000 levels; the bill was defeated with 55 votes to 43 in the Senate.^[169] They reintroduced modified versions of the Act two additional times, most recently in January 2007 with the co-sponsorship of Barack Obama, among others.^[170]

In the 2004 U.S. presidential election campaign, McCain was once again frequently mentioned for the vice-presidential slot, only this time as part of the Democratic ticket under nominee John Kerry.^{[171][172][173]} McCain said that Kerry had never formally offered him the position and that he would not have accepted it if he had.^{[172][173][174]} At the 2004 Republican National Convention, McCain supported Bush for re-election, praising Bush's management of the War on Terror since the September 11 attacks.^[175] At the same time, he defended Kerry's Vietnam War record.^[176] By August 2004, McCain had the best favorable-to-unfavorable rating (55 percent to 19 percent) of any national politician;^[175] he campaigned for Bush much more than he had four years previously, though the two remained situational allies rather than friends.^[157]

McCain was also up for re-election as senator, in 2004. He defeated little-known Democratic schoolteacher Stuart Starky with his biggest margin of victory, garnering 77 percent of the vote.^[177]

Start of fourth Senate term

In May 2005, McCain 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".^[178] The compromise took the steam out of the filibuster movement, but some Republicans remained disappointed that the compromise did not eliminate filibusters of judicial nominees in all circumstances.^[179] McCain subsequently cast Supreme Court confirmation votes in favor of John Roberts and Samuel Alito, calling them "two of the finest justices ever appointed to the United States Supreme Court."^[113]

Breaking from his 2001 and 2003 votes, McCain supported the Bush tax cut extension in May 2006, saying not to do so would amount to a tax increase.^[156] 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 failed in the House.^[168] 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 intense grassroots opposition among talk radio listeners and others, some of whom furiously characterized the proposal as an "amnesty" program,^[180] and the bill twice failed to gain cloture in the Senate.^[181]

By the middle of the 2000s (decade), the increased Indian gaming that McCain had helped bring about was a $23 billion industry.^[95] He was twice chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, in 1995–1997 and 2005–2007, and his Committee helped expose the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal.^[182][183] By 2005 and 2006, McCain was pushing for amendments to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that would limit creation of off-reservation casinos,^[95] as well as limiting the movement of tribes across state lines to build casinos.^[184]

Owing to his time as a POW, McCain was recognized for his sensitivity to the detention and interrogation of detainees in the War on Terror. An opponent of the Bush administration's use of torture and detention without trial at Guantánamo Bay, saying: "some of these guys are terrible, terrible killers and the worst kind of scum of humanity. But, one, they deserve to have some adjudication of their cases ... even Adolf Eichmann got a trial".^[185] In October 2005, McCain introduced the McCain Detainee Amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill for 2005, and the Senate voted 90–9 to support the amendment.^[186] It prohibits inhumane treatment of prisoners, including prisoners at Guantánamo, by confining military interrogations to the techniques in the U.S. Army Field Manual on Interrogation. Although Bush had threatened to veto the bill if McCain's amendment was included,^[187] the President announced in December 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".^[188] This stance, among others, led to McCain being named by Time magazine in 2006 as one of America's 10 Best Senators.^[189] McCain voted in February 2008 against a bill containing a ban on waterboarding,^[190] which provision was later narrowly passed and vetoed by Bush. However, the bill in question contained other provisions to which McCain objected, and his spokesman stated: "This wasn't a vote on waterboarding. This was a vote on applying the standards of the [Army] field manual to CIA personnel."^[190]

Meanwhile, McCain continued questioning the progress of the war in Iraq. In September 2005, he remarked upon Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers' optimistic outlook 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."^[191] In August 2006, he criticized the administration for continually understating the effectiveness of the insurgency: "We [have] not told the American people how tough and difficult this could be."^[168] From the beginning, McCain strongly supported the Iraq troop surge of 2007.^[192] The strategy's opponents labeled it "McCain's plan"^[193] and University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato said, "McCain owns Iraq just as much as Bush does now."^[168] The surge and the war were unpopular during most of the year, even within the Republican Party,^[194] as McCain's presidential campaign was underway; faced with the consequences, McCain frequently responded, "I would much rather lose a campaign than a war."^[195] In March 2008, McCain credited the surge strategy with reducing violence in Iraq, as he made his eighth trip to that country since the war began.^[196]

2008 presidential campaign

McCain formally announced his intention to run for President of the United States on April 25, 2007, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.^[197] He stated that: "I'm not running for president to be somebody, but to do something; to do the hard but necessary things, not the easy and needless things."^[198]

McCain's oft-cited strengths as a presidential candidate for 2008 included national name recognition, sponsorship of major lobbying and campaign finance reform initiatives, his ability to reach across the aisle, his well-known military service and experience as a POW, his experience from the 2000 presidential campaign, and an expectation that he would capture Bush's top fundraisers.^[199] During the 2006 election cycle, McCain had attended 346 events^[58] and helped raise more than $10.5 million on behalf of Republican candidates. McCain also became more willing to ask business and industry for campaign contributions, while maintaining that such contributions would not affect any official decisions he would make.^[200] Despite being considered the front-runner for the nomination by pundits as 2007 began,^[201] McCain was in second place behind former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani in national Republican polls as the year progressed.

McCain had fundraising problems in the first half of 2007, due in part to his support for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, which was unpopular among the Republican base electorate.^[202][203] Large-scale campaign staff downsizing took place in early July, but McCain said that he was not considering dropping out of the race.^[203] Later that month, the candidate's campaign manager and campaign chief strategist both departed.^[204] McCain slumped badly in national polls, often running third or fourth with 15 percent or less support.

The Arizona senator subsequently resumed his familiar position as a political underdog,^[205] riding the Straight Talk Express and taking advantage of free media such as debates and sponsored events.^[206] By December 2007, the Republican race was 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.^[207] McCain was showing a resurgence, in particular with renewed strength in New Hampshire—the scene of his 2000 triumph—and was bolstered further by the endorsements of The Boston Globe, the New Hampshire Union Leader, and almost two dozen other state newspapers,^[208] as well as from Senator Lieberman (now an Independent Democrat).^[209][210] McCain decided not to campaign significantly in the January 3, 2008, Iowa caucuses, which saw a win by former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee.

McCain's comeback plan paid off when he won the New Hampshire primary on January 8, defeating former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney in a close contest, to once again become one of the front-runners in the race.^[211] In mid-January, McCain placed first in the South Carolina primary, narrowly defeating Mike Huckabee.^[212] Pundits credited the third-place finisher, Tennessee's former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, with drawing votes from Huckabee in South Carolina, thereby giving a narrow win to McCain.^[213] A week later, McCain won the Florida primary,^[214] beating Romney again in a close contest; Giuliani then dropped out and endorsed McCain.^[215]

On February 5, McCain won both the majority of states and delegates in the Super Tuesday Republican primaries, giving him a commanding lead toward the Republican nomination. Romney departed from the race on February 7.^[216] McCain's wins in the March 4 primaries clinched a majority of the delegates, and he became the presumptive Republican nominee.^[217]

McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone. Had he been elected, he would have become the first president who was born outside the contiguous forty-eight states. This raised a potential legal issue, since the United States Constitution requires the president to be a natural-born citizen of the United States. A bipartisan legal review,^[218] and a unanimous but non-binding Senate resolution,^[219] both concluded that he was a natural-born citizen. If inaugurated in 2009 at the age of 72 years and 144 days, he would have been the oldest person to become president.^[220]

McCain addressed concerns about his age and past health issues, stating in 2005 that his health was "excellent".^[221] He had been treated for a type of skin cancer called melanoma, and an operation in 2000 for that condition left a noticeable mark on the left side of his face.^[222] McCain's prognosis appeared favorable, according to independent experts, especially because he had already survived without a recurrence for more than seven years.^[222] In May 2008, McCain's campaign briefly let the press review his medical records, and he was described as appearing cancer-free, having a strong heart, and in general being in good health.^[223]

McCain clinched enough delegates for the nomination and his focus shifted toward the general election, while Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fought a prolonged battle for the Democratic nomination.^[224] McCain introduced various policy proposals, and sought to improve his fundraising.^[225][226] Cindy McCain, who accounts for most of the couple's wealth with an estimated net worth of $100 million,^[69] made part of her tax returns public in May.^[227] After facing criticism about lobbyists on staff, the McCain campaign issued new rules in May 2008 to avoid conflicts of interest, causing five top aides to leave.^[228][229]

When Obama became the Democrats' presumptive nominee in early June, McCain proposed joint town hall meetings, but Obama instead requested more traditional debates for the fall.^[230] In July, a staff shake-up put Steve Schmidt in full operational control of the McCain campaign.^[231] Rick Davis remained as campaign manager but with a reduced role. Davis had also managed McCain's 2000 presidential campaign; in 2005 and 2006, U.S. intelligence warned McCain's Senate staff about Davis's Russian links but gave no further warnings.^{[232][233][234][235]}

Throughout the summer of 2008, Obama typically led McCain in national polls by single-digit margins,^[236] and also led in several key swing states.^[237] McCain reprised his familiar underdog role, which was due at least in part to the overall challenges Republicans faced in the election year.^[205][237] McCain accepted public financing for the general election campaign, and the restrictions that go with it, while criticizing his Democratic opponent for becoming the first major party candidate to opt out of such financing for the general election since the system was implemented in 1976.^[238][239] The Republican's broad campaign theme focused on his experience and ability to lead, compared to Obama's.^[240]

The Palins and McCains campaign in Fairfax, Virginia, following the 2008 Republican National Convention on September 10.

On August 29, 2008, McCain revealed Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his surprise choice for running mate.^[241] McCain was only the second U.S. major-party presidential nominee (after Walter Mondale) to select a woman for his running mate and the first Republican to do so. On September 3, 2008, McCain and Palin became the Republican Party's presidential and vice presidential nominees, respectively, at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota. McCain surged ahead of Obama in national polls following the convention, as the Palin pick energized core Republican voters who had previously been wary of him.^[242] However, by the campaign's own later admission, the rollout of Palin to the national media went poorly,^[243] and voter reactions to Palin grew increasingly negative, especially among independents and other voters concerned about her qualifications.^[244]

McCain's decision to choose Sarah Palin as his running mate was criticised; New York Times journalist David Brooks says that "he took a disease that was running through the Republican party – anti-intellectualism, disrespect for facts – and he put it right at the centre of the party".^[245] Laura McGann in Vox says that McCain gave the "reality TV politics" and Tea Party movement more political legitimacy, as well as solidifying "the Republican Party's comfort with a candidate who would say absurdities ... unleashing a political style and a values system that animated the Tea Party movement and laid the groundwork for a Trump presidency."^[246] Although McCain said later in life that he expressed regret for not choosing the independent Senator Joe Lieberman as his VP candidate instead, he has consistently defended Palin's performances at his events.^[247]

On September 24, McCain said he was temporarily suspending his campaign activities, called on Obama to join him, and proposed delaying the first of the general election debates with Obama, in order to work on the proposed U.S. financial system bailout before Congress, which was targeted at addressing the subprime mortgage crisis and liquidity crisis.^[248][249] McCain's intervention helped to give dissatisfied House Republicans an opportunity to propose changes to the plan that was otherwise close to agreement.^[250][251] After Obama declined McCain's suspension suggestion, McCain went ahead with the debate on September 26.^[252] On October 1, McCain voted in favor of a revised $700 billion rescue plan.^[253] Another debate was held on October 7; like the first one, polls afterward suggested that Obama had won it.^[254] A final presidential debate occurred on October 15.^[255] Down the stretch, McCain was outspent by Obama by a four-to-one margin.^[256]

During and after the final debate, McCain compared Obama's proposed policies to socialism and often invoked "Joe the Plumber" as a symbol of American small business dreams that would be thwarted by an Obama presidency.^[257][258] He barred using the Jeremiah Wright controversy in ads against Obama,^[259] but the campaign did frequently criticize Obama regarding his purported relationship with Bill Ayers.^[260] His rallies became increasingly vitriolic,^[261] with attendees denigrating Obama and displaying a growing anti-Muslim and anti-African-American sentiment.^[262] During a campaign rally in Minnesota, Gayle Quinnell, a McCain supporter, told him she did not trust Obama because "he's an Arab".^[263] He replied, "No ma'am. He's a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues."^[262] McCain's response was considered one of the finer moments of the campaign and was still being viewed several years later as a marker for civility in American politics.^[261][264] Meghan McCain said that she cannot "go a day without someone bringing up (that) moment," and noted that at the time "there were a lot of people really trying to get my dad to go (against Obama) with ... you're a Muslim, you're not an American aspect of that," but that her father had refused. "I can remember thinking that it was a morally amazing and beautiful moment, but that maybe there would be people in the Republican Party that would be quite angry," she said.^[265]

Results of the presidential election

The election took place on November 4, and Barack Obama was projected the winner at about 11:00 pm Eastern Standard Time; McCain delivered his concession speech in Phoenix, Arizona about twenty minutes later.^[266] In it, he noted the historic and special significance of Obama being elected the nation's first African American president.^[266] In the end, McCain won 173 electoral college votes to Obama's 365;^[267] McCain failed to win most of the battleground states and lost some traditionally Republican ones.^[268] McCain gained 46 percent of the nationwide popular vote, compared to Obama's 53 percent.^[268]

Senate career after 2008

Remainder of fourth Senate term

Following his defeat, McCain returned to the Senate amid varying views about what role he might play there.^[269] In mid-November 2008 he met with President-elect Obama, and the two discussed issues they had commonality on.^[270] Around the same time, McCain indicated that he intended to run for re-election to his Senate seat in 2010.^[271] As the inauguration neared, Obama consulted with McCain on a variety of matters, to an extent rarely seen between a president-elect and his defeated rival,^[272] and President Obama's inauguration speech contained an allusion to McCain's theme of finding a purpose greater than oneself.^[273]

Nevertheless, McCain emerged as a leader of the Republican opposition to the Obama economic stimulus package of 2009, saying it had too much spending for too little stimulative effect.^[274] McCain also voted against Obama's Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor—saying that while undeniably qualified, "I do not believe that she shares my belief in judicial restraint"^[275]—and by August 2009 was siding more often with his Republican Party on closely divided votes than ever before in his senatorial career.^[276] McCain reasserted that the War in Afghanistan was winnable^[277] and criticized Obama for a slow process in deciding whether to send additional U.S. troops there.^[278]

McCain also harshly criticized Obama for scrapping construction of the U.S. missile defense complex in Poland, declined to enter negotiations over climate change legislation similar to what he had proposed in the past, and strongly opposed the Obama health care plan.^[278][279] McCain led a successful filibuster of a measure that would allow repeal of the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy towards gays.^[280] Factors involved in McCain's new direction included Senate staffers leaving, a renewed concern over national debt levels and the scope of federal government, a possible Republican primary challenge from conservatives in 2010, and McCain's campaign edge being slow to wear off.^[278][279] As one longtime McCain advisor said, "A lot of people, including me, thought he might be the Republican building bridges to the Obama Administration. But he's been more like the guy blowing up the bridges."^[278]