Early life of john mccain

When John McCain made his first bid for public office in , running for a House seat in Arizona, critics blasted him as a carpetbagger, pointing out that he’d only lived in the state for 18 months.

“Listen, pal, I spent 22 years in the Navy,” the exasperated candidate reportedly shot back at one event. Then, after explaining that career military people tend to move a lot, he delivered a retort that made the attacks against him seem ridiculously petty: “As a matter of fact… the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi.”

McCain won the election, launching a political career that earned him two terms in the House, six in the Senate, and his party’s presidential nomination in But even after four decades in public life, McCain’s experience as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam continued to define him in the minds of many Americans, admirers and detractors alike. While he ultimately made his name on the national political stage, the scion of two four-star admirals was, at his core, a lifelong military man. He followed into the family business, becoming a decorated, if at times reckless, fighter pilot who conducted nearly two dozen bombing runs in Vietnam before being shot down, captured and tortured.

In both his military and political careers, McCain earned a reputation for being feisty and combative. “A fight not joined is a fight not enjoyed,” he declared in his memoir The Restless Wave, written with his longtime collaborator Mark Salter, and published after he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer that took his life on August 25,  

Below, a timeline of his military life:

To the Navy born

John Sidney McCain III is born on August 29 at a U.S. Navy base in the Panama Canal Zone. His father, John S. McCain, Jr., is a submarine officer who will later rise to the rank of admiral and become commander in chief of U.S. forces in the P

American politician and military officer (–)

For other uses, see John McCain (disambiguation).

John Sidney McCain III (August 29, &#;– August 25, ) was an American statesman and naval officer who represented the state of Arizona in Congress for over 35 years, first as a Representative from t

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Who Was John McCain?

The son of a decorated Navy admiral, John McCain enrolled at the U.S. Naval Academy and was dispatched to Vietnam, where he was tortured as a prisoner of war between and After his release, McCain served as a Republican congressman and senator from the state of Arizona, earning renown as a "maverick" who challenged party orthodoxy. He launched a bid for the U.S. presidency in and earned the Republican nomination in , before losing to Barack Obama. After winning a sixth Senate term in , McCain made headlines for his opposition to Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare and his battle with brain cancer. A day after deciding to stop treatment for his cancer, McCain died at his home in Sedona on August 25,

Navy Blood

John Sidney McCain III was born on August 29, , at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone (then a U.S. territory), the second of three children born to naval officer John S. McCain Jr. and his wife, Roberta. Both McCain's father and paternal grandfather, John S. McCain Sr., were four-star admirals, with John Jr. rising to command U.S. naval forces in the Pacific.

McCain spent his childhood and adolescent years moving between naval bases in America and abroad. He attended Episcopal High School, a private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria, Virginia, until graduating in

Combat Duty and Vietnam POW

Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain graduated (fifth from the bottom of his class) from the Naval Academy at Annapolis in He also graduated from flight school in

With the outbreak of the Vietnam War, McCain volunteered for combat duty and began flying carrier-based attack planes on low-altitude bombing runs against the North Vietnamese. He escaped serious injury on July 29, , when his A-4 Skyhawk jet was accidentally shot by a missile on board the USS Forrestal, causing explosions and fires that killed

On October 26, , during his 23rd air mission, Mc

Events in the life of McCain from to

The early life and military career of John Sidney McCain III spans the first forty-five years of his life (–). McCain's father and grandfather were admirals in the United States Navy. McCain was born on August 29, , in the Panama Canal Zone, and attended many schools growing up as his family moved among naval facilities. McCain graduated from the United States Naval Academy in He married the former Carol Shepp in ; he adopted two children from her previous marriage and they had another child together.

As a naval aviator, McCain flew attack aircraft from carriers. During the Vietnam War, he narrowly escaped death in the Forrestal fire. On his twenty-third bombing mission during Operation Rolling Thunder in October , he was shot down over Hanoi and badly injured. He subsequently endured five and a half years as a prisoner of war, including periods of torture. In , he refused a North Vietnamese offer of early release, because it would have meant leaving before other prisoners who had been held longer. He was released in after the Paris Peace Accords.

Upon his return, McCain studied at the National War College, commanded a large training squadron in Florida, and was appointed the Navy liaison to the U.S. Senate. He divorced his wife Carol in and married the former Cindy Hensley shortly thereafter. He retired from the Navy in as a captain.

Early years and education

Family heritage

John Sidney McCain III was born on August 29, , at a United States Navy hospital at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone, which at that time was considered to be among the unincorporated territories of the United States. His parents were Navy officer John S. "Jack" McCain, Jr. (–) and Roberta (Wright) McCain (). McCain was of Scots-Irish and English ancestry.

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