John Sidney McCain III (born
August 29, 1936) is the senior
United
States Senator from
Arizona. He was the
Republican nominee for president in the
2008 United States
election.
McCain
followed his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, into the United States Navy, graduating from the
U.S. Naval Academy in 1958. He became a
naval aviator, flying
ground-attack aircraft from
aircraft carriers.
During the Vietnam War, he nearly lost his life in the
1967 USS
Forrestal fire. In October 1967, while on a bombing mission
over Hanoi, he was shot
down, badly injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a
prisoner of war until 1973. McCain
experienced episodes of
torture, and refused
an out-of-sequence early
repatriation
offer. His war wounds left him with lifelong physical
limitations.
He retired from the Navy as a
captain in 1981, moved to Arizona, and entered politics.
Elected to the
U.S.
House of
Representatives in 1982, he served two terms, and was then
elected to the
U.S. Senate in 1986, winning re-election
easily in 1992, 1998, and 2004. While generally adhering to
conservative
principles, McCain at times has 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 led to the passage of the
McCain-Feingold Act in 2002. He
is also known for his work towards restoring diplomatic relations
with Vietnam in the 1990s, and for his belief that the
war in Iraq should be fought to a successful
conclusion. McCain has chaired the
Senate Commerce Committee, has opposed spending that he
considered to be
pork barrel, and played
a key role in
alleviating a crisis over
judicial nominations.
McCain ran for the Republican presidential nomination in
2000, but lost a
heated primary contest to
George W.
Bush. He secured the nomination in
2008 after
coming back from early reversals, but lost to
Democratic candidate
Barack Obama in the general
election.
Early life and military career, 1936–1981
Formative years and education
John
McCain was born on August 29, 1936 at Coco
Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone, Panama, to naval
officer John S. McCain, Jr. (1911–1981) and
Roberta McCain (b. 1912).
At that time, the
Panama
Canal was under U.S. control.
McCain's family tree includes
Scots-Irish and
English ancestors. His father and his
paternal grandfather,
John S.
McCain, Sr., both became
four-star
United States Navy
admirals.
His 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 schools.
In 1951,
the family settled in Northern
Virginia, and McCain attended Episcopal High School, a
private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria. He excelled at
wrestling and graduated in 1954.
Following
in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain entered the
United States
Naval Academy at Annapolis. There, he was a friend and informal leader
for many of his classmates, and sometimes stood up for targets of
bullying. He also became a lightweight
boxer. McCain came into conflict with
higher-ranking personnel, he did not always obey the rules, and
that contributed to a low class rank (894 of 899), despite a high
IQ. He did well in academic
subjects that interested him, such as literature and history, but
studied only enough to pass subjects he struggled with, such as
mathematics. McCain graduated in 1958.
Naval training, first marriage, and Vietnam assignment
John
McCain's early military career began when he was commissioned
an ensign and started
two and a half years of training at Pensacola to become a naval aviator. While there, he
earned a reputation as a partying man.
He completed flight
school in 1960, and became a naval pilot of ground-attack aircraft, assigned to
A-1 Skyraider squadrons aboard the
aircraft carriers USS
Intrepid and USS Enterprise in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas. McCain began as a sub-par flier who was at
times careless and reckless; during the early-to-mid 1960s, the
planes he was flying crashed twice and once collided with power
lines, but he received no major injuries. His aviation skills
improved over time, and he was seen as a good pilot, albeit one who
tended to "
push the envelope" in his
flying.
On July
3, 1965, McCain married Carol Shepp, a
model originally from Philadelphia. McCain adopted her two young children
Douglas and Andrew. He and Carol then had a daughter named
Sidney.
McCain
requested a combat assignment, and was assigned to the aircraft
carrier USS
Forrestal flying A-4
Skyhawks.
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.
McCain and his fellow pilots became frustrated by micromanagement
from Washington, and he would later write that "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."
On July
29, 1967 McCain, by then a lieutenant commander,
was near the center of the Forrestal fire. He 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 fragments. The ensuing fire
killed 134 sailors and took 24 hours to control.
With the
Forrestal out of commission, McCain volunteered for
assignment with the USS Oriskany, another aircraft
carrier employed in Operation Rolling Thunder.
Once there, he would be awarded the
Navy Commendation Medal and the
Bronze Star for missions flown
over North Vietnam.
Prisoner of war
John
McCain's capture and subsequent imprisonment began 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. McCain fractured both arms and a leg
ejecting from the aircraft, and nearly drowned when he parachuted
into Truc Bach
Lake. Some North Vietnamese pulled him ashore,
then others crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted
him.
McCain was then transported to Hanoi's main
Hoa Lo
Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton".
Although McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to treat his
injuries, beating and interrogating him to get information; he was
given medical care only when the North Vietnamese discovered that
his father was a top admiral. His status as a
prisoner of war (POW) made the front pages
of major newspapers.
McCain spent six weeks in the hospital while receiving marginal
care. By then having lost , 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. In March 1968, McCain was put
into
solitary confinement,
where he would remain for two years.
mid-1968,
John S. McCain, Jr. was named commander of all
U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater, and the North Vietnamese
offered McCain early release because they wanted to appear merciful
for
propaganda purposes, and also to show
other POWs that elite prisoners were willing to be treated
preferentially. McCain turned down the offer; he would only accept
repatriation if every man taken in before him was released as well.
Such early release was prohibited by the POW's interpretation of
the military
Code of
Conduct: To prevent the enemy from using prisoners for
propaganda, officers were to agree to be released in the order in
which they were captured.
In August 1968, a program of severe torture began on McCain. He was
subjected to rope bindings and repeated beatings every two hours,
at the same time as he was suffering from
dysentery. Further injuries led to the beginning
of a suicide attempt, stopped by guards. After four days, McCain
made an anti-American propaganda "confession". He has 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." Many American POWs were tortured and
maltreated in order to extract "confessions" and propaganda
statements, with many enduring even longer and worse treatment;
virtually all of them eventually yielded something to their
captors. McCain subsequently received two to three beatings weekly
because of his continued refusal to sign additional
statements.
McCain refused to meet with various anti-war groups seeking peace
in Hanoi, wanting to give neither them nor the North Vietnamese a
propaganda victory. From late 1969 onward, treatment of McCain and
many of the other POWs became more tolerable, while McCain
continued actively to resist the camp authorities. 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.
Altogether, McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five
and a half years. He was released on March 14, 1973. His wartime
injuries left McCain permanently incapable of raising his arms
above his head.
Commanding officer, liaison to Senate, and second marriage
McCain's return to the United States reunited him with his family.
His wife
Carol had suffered her own
crippling ordeal due to an automobile accident in December 1969.
McCain became a celebrity of sorts, as a returned POW.
McCain
underwent treatment for his injuries, including months of grueling
physical therapy, and attended the
National War College at
Fort
McNair in Washington, D.C. during 1973–1974. Having been rehabilitated,
by late 1974, McCain had his flight status reinstated, and in 1976
he became
commanding officer of a
training squadron stationed in Florida. He improved the unit's
flight readiness and safety records, and won the squadron its
first-ever
Meritorious
Unit Commendation. During this period in Florida, McCain had
extramarital affairs, and the McCains' marriage began to falter,
for which he later would accept blame.
McCain served as the Navy's liaison to the U.S. Senate
beginning in 1977. In retrospect, he has said that this represented
his "real entry into the world of politics and the beginning of my
second career as a public servant." His key behind-the-scenes role
gained congressional financing for a new
supercarrier against the wishes of the
Carter administration.
In April
1979, McCain met Cindy Lou Hensley, a
teacher from Phoenix,
Arizona, whose father had
founded a large beer
distributorship. They began dating, and he urged his
wife Carol to grant him a divorce, which she did in February 1980,
with the uncontested divorce taking effect in April 1980. The
settlement included two houses, and financial support for her
ongoing medical treatments due to her 1969 car accident; they would
remain on good terms. McCain and Hensley were married on May 17,
1980, with Senators
William Cohen and
Gary Hart attending as
groomsmen.
McCain’s children did not attend, and several years would pass
before they reconciled. John and Cindy McCain entered into a
prenuptial agreement that kept
most of her family's assets under her name; they would always keep
their finances apart and file separate
income tax returns.
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 been given no major sea command. His chances of
being promoted to
rear
admiral were better, but McCain declined that prospect, as he
had already made plans to run for Congress and said he could "do
more good there." McCain retired from the Navy on April 1, 1981 as
a
captain. He was designated as
disabled and awarded a
disability
pension. Upon leaving the military, he moved to Arizona. His 17
military awards and decorations include the
Silver Star,
Legion
of Merit,
Distinguished Flying
Cross,
Bronze Star and
Navy Commendation Medal, for
actions before, during, and after his time as a POW.
House and Senate elections and career, 1982–2000
U.S. Congressman
McCain
set his sights on becoming a Congressman because he was
interested in current events, was ready for a new challenge, and
had developed political ambitions during his time as Senate
liaison.
Living in Phoenix, he went to work for
Hensley & Co., his new
father-in-law Jim Hensley's large
Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship. 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 and newspaper
publisher Darrow "Duke" Tully. In 1982, McCain ran as a Republican
for an open seat in
Arizona's 1st congressional
district. A newcomer to the state, McCain was hit with repeated
charges of being a
carpetbagger. McCain
responded to a voter making that charge with what a
Phoenix Gazette columnist would later
describe as "the most devastating response to a potentially
troublesome political issue I've ever heard":
With the assistance of local political endorsements, his Washington
connections, as well as money that his wife lent to his campaign,
McCain won a highly contested primary election. He then easily won
the general election in the heavily Republican district.
In 1983, McCain was elected to lead the incoming group of
Republican representatives, 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."
McCain's politics at this point were mainly in line with President
Ronald Reagan, including support for
Reaganomics, and he was active on Indian
Affairs bills.
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. 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. McCain won re-election to
the House easily in 1984, and gained a spot on the
House Foreign
Affairs Committee.
In 1985, he made his first return trip to
Vietnam, and also traveled to Chile where he met
with its military junta ruler, General
Augusto Pinochet.
Growing family
In 1984 McCain and his wife Cindy had their first child together,
daughter
Meghan. She was followed two
years later by son John Sidney McCain IV (known as Jack), and in
1988 by son James (Jimmy).
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.
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. McCain succeeded longtime
American conservative icon
and Arizona fixture
Barry Goldwater
upon the latter's retirement as
United States
Senator from Arizona.
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. McCain continued to support the
Native American
agenda. As first a House member and then a senator – and as a
life-long gambler with close ties to the
gambling industry – McCain was one of the main
authors of the 1988
Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act, which codified rules regarding
Native American gambling
enterprises. McCain was also 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, 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.
McCain became enmeshed in a scandal during the 1980s as one of
five United States Senators comprising the so-called
Keating Five. Between 1982 and 1987, McCain had
received $112,000 in lawful political contributions from
Charles Keating Jr. and his associates
at
Lincoln Savings
and Loan Association, along with trips on Keating's jets that
McCain belatedly repaid in 1989. 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. 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." 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".
In his 1992 re-election bid, the Keating Five affair was not a
major issue, 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.
McCain
developed a reputation for independence during the 1990s. He
took pride in challenging party leadership and establishment
forces, becoming difficult to categorize politically.
As a member of the 1991–1993
Senate Select
Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, chaired by Democrat and fellow
Vietnam War veteran
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. The committee's unanimous report 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. McCain
was vilified by some POW/MIA activists who, unlike the Arizona
senator, believed large numbers of Americans were still held
against their will in Southeast Asia. Since January 1993, McCain
has been Chairman of the
International Republican
Institute, an organization partly funded by the U.S. Government
that supports the emergence of political
democracy worldwide.
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 would later explain that "under our
Constitution, it is the president's call to make." McCain had also
voted to confirm nominees of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George
H.W. Bush, including
Robert Bork and
Clarence Thomas.
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. 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". 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. Despite
sympathetic coverage in the media, initial versions of the
McCain-Feingold Act were
filibustered and never came to a vote.
The term "
maverick Republican" became
a label frequently applied to McCain, and he has also used it
himself. In 1993, McCain opposed
military operations in Somalia.
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 but was
ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme
Court in 1998.
In the
1996
presidential election, McCain was again on the
short list of possible vice-presidential picks,
this time for Republican nominee
Bob Dole.
The following year,
Time
magazine named McCain as one of the "25 Most Influential People in
America".
McCain's 1999 family memoir
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. 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. Supported by the
Clinton administration but opposed by
the industry and most Republicans, the bill failed to gain
cloture.
Start of third term in the U.S. Senate
McCain won re-election to a third senate term in November 1998,
prevailing in a landslide over his Democratic opponent,
environmental lawyer Ed Ranger. In the February 1999 Senate trial
in 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. 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. Later in 1999, McCain shared the
Profile in Courage Award
with Feingold for their work in trying to enact their campaign
finance reform, although the bill was still failing repeated
attempts to gain cloture.
In August 1999, McCain's memoir
Faith of My Fathers, co-authored
with
Mark Salter, was published; a
reviewer observed that its appearance "seems to have been timed to
the unfolding Presidential campaign." The most successful of his
writings, it received positive reviews, became a bestseller, and
was later
made into a TV
film. 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."
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
Texas Governor George W. Bush,
who had the political and financial support of most of the party
establishment.
McCain focused on the
New
Hampshire primary, where his message appealed to independents.
He traveled on a
campaign bus called
the Straight Talk Express. 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. 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 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.
The Arizona Republic
would write 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". A variety of
interest groups that McCain had challenged in the past ran negative
ads. Bush borrowed McCain's earlier language of reform, 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.
, 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". An
anonymous smear campaign began against McCain, delivered by
push polls, faxes, e-mails, flyers, and
audience
plants.
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. The Bush campaign strongly denied any involvement with
the attacks.
McCain lost South Carolina on February 19, with 42 percent of
the vote to Bush's 53 percent, in part because Bush mobilized
the state's evangelical voters and outspent McCain. The win allowed
Bush to regain lost momentum. McCain would 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 South Carolina defeat,
although he did rebound partially by winning in Arizona and Michigan a few days later. He made a speech in
Virginia
Beach that criticized Christian leaders, including
Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, as divisive conservatives,
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, and on March 7 lost nine of
the thirteen primaries on Super
Tuesday to Bush. With little hope of overcoming Bush's
delegate lead, McCain withdrew from the race on March 9, 2000. He
endorsed Bush two months later, and made occasional appearances
with the Texas governor during the general election campaign.
Senate career after 2000
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. In May 2001, McCain was one of only two Senate
Republicans to vote against the
Bush
tax cuts. Besides the differences with Bush on ideological
grounds, there was considerable antagonism between the two
remaining from the previous year's campaign. Later, when Republican
Senator
Jim Jeffords became an
Independent, throwing control of the Senate to the Democrats,
McCain defended Jeffords against "self-appointed enforcers of party
loyalty". Indeed, there was speculation at the time, and in years
since, about McCain himself leaving the Republican Party, but
McCain has always adamantly denied that he ever considered doing
so. 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.
After the
September 11, 2001
attacks, McCain supported Bush and the
U.S.-led war in
Afghanistan. He and then-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.
In March 2002,
McCain-Feingold
passed in both Houses of Congress and was signed into law by
President Bush. Seven years in the making, it was McCain's greatest
legislative achievement.
Meanwhile, in discussions over proposed U.S.
action against Iraq, McCain was
a strong supporter of the Bush administration's position. 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. He
predicted that U.S. forces would be treated as liberators by a
large number of the Iraqi people. In May 2003, McCain voted against
the second round of Bush tax cuts, saying it was unwise at a time
of war. 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.
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. They reintroduced modified versions of the Act
two additional times, most recently in January 2007 with the
co-sponsorship of
Barack Obama, among
others.
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. McCain said that Kerry had never
formally offered him the position and that he would not have
accepted it if he had. 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. At the same time, the Senator
defended Kerry's Vietnam war record. By August 2004, McCain had the
best favorable-to-unfavorable rating (55 percent to
19 percent) of any national politician; he campaigned for Bush
much more than he had four years previously, though the two
remained situational allies rather than friends.
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.
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". 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.
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."
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. 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. 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, and the bill twice failed to gain cloture in the
Senate.
By the mid-2000s, the increased
Indian
gaming that McCain had helped bring about was a
$23 billion industry. 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. By 2005 and 2006, McCain was
pushing for amendments to the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
that would limit creation of off-reservation casinos, as well as
limiting the movement of tribes across state lines to build
casinos.
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. 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.
It prohibits inhumane
treatment of prisoners, including prisoners at Guantanamo
Bay, 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, 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". This stance, among others, led to McCain
being named by
Time
magazine in 2006 as one of America's 10 Best Senators. McCain voted
in February 2008 against a bill containing a ban on
waterboarding, 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."
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." 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." 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 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." 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.
2008 presidential campaign
John
McCain formally announced his intention to run for President of the
United States on April 25, 2007 in Portsmouth,
New Hampshire. 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."
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 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. During the 2006 election cycle, McCain had
attended 346 events 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. Despite being
considered the front-runner for the nomination by pundits as 2007
began, 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. Large-scale campaign staff downsizing
took place in early July, but McCain said that he was not
considering dropping out of the race. Later that month, the
candidate's campaign manager and campaign chief strategist both
departed. McCain slumped badly in national polls,
often running third or fourth with 15 percent or less
support.
Arizona senator subsequently resumed his familiar position as a
political
underdog, riding
the Straight Talk Express and taking advantage of free media such
as debates and sponsored events. 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. 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, as well as from
Independent Democratic Senator
Joe Lieberman. 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. In mid-January, McCain
placed first in the
South Carolina
primary, narrowly defeating Mike Huckabee.
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.A
week later, McCain won the
Florida primary, beating
Romney again in a close contest; Giuliani then dropped out and
endorsed McCain.
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. McCain's
wins in the March 4 primaries clinched a majority of the delegates,
and he became the presumptive Republican nominee.
McCain, having been born in the (Panama) Canal Zone, if elected
would have become the first president who was born outside the
current 50 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 and a unanimous but non-binding
Senate resolution both concluded that he is a natural-born citizen.
Also, if inaugurated in 2009 at age 72 years and
144 days, he would have been the oldest U.S. president upon
ascension to the
presidency, and the second-oldest president to be inaugurated.
McCain has addressed concerns about his age and past health
concerns, stating in 2005 that his health was "excellent". He has
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. McCain's prognosis appears favorable, according to
independent experts, especially because he has already survived
without a recurrence for more than seven years. 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 good health.
Upon clinching enough delegates for the nomination, McCain's focus
shifted toward the general election, while
Barack Obama and
Hillary Rodham Clinton fought a
prolonged
battle
for the Democratic nomination. McCain introduced various policy
proposals, and sought to improve his fundraising. Cindy McCain, who
accounts for most of the couple's wealth with an estimated net
worth of $100 million, made part of her tax returns public in
May. 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.
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. In July, a staff shake-up put
Steve Schmidt in full operational
control of the McCain campaign. Throughout these summer months,
Obama typically led McCain in national polls by single-digit
margins, and also led in several key swing states. McCain reprised
his familiar underdog role, which was due at least in part to the
overall challenges Republicans faced in the election year. 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. The Republican's broad campaign theme focused
on his experience and ability to lead, compared to Obama's.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was revealed as McCain's surprise
choice for running mate on August 29, 2008. McCain was only the
second U.S. major-party presidential nominee to select a woman for
running mate and the first Republican to do so; Palin would have
become the first female
Vice President of the United
States if she had been elected.
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. However, by
the campaign's own later admission, the rollout of Palin to the
national media went poorly, and voter reactions to Palin grew
increasingly negative, especially among independents and other
voters concerned about her qualifications.
On September 24, McCain said he was suspending his campaign, 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.
McCain's intervention helped to give dissatisfied House Republicans
an opportunity to propose changes to the plan that was otherwise
close to agreement. After Obama declined McCain's suspension
suggestion, McCain went ahead with the debate on September 26. On
October 1, McCain voted in favor of a revised $700 billion rescue
plan. Another debate was held on October 7; like the first one,
polls afterward suggested that Obama had won it. A final
presidential debate occurred on October 15. During and after it,
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. McCain barred using the
Jeremiah Wright controversy in
ads against Obama, but the campaign did frequently criticize Obama
regarding
his purported
relationship with Bill Ayers. Down the stretch, McCain was
outspent by Obama by a four-to-one margin.
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. In the end, McCain won 173
electoral college votes to Obama's
365; McCain failed to win most of the
battleground states and lost some
traditionally Republican ones. McCain gained 46 percent of the
nationwide popular vote, compared to Obama's 53 percent.
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. In mid-November 2008 he met
with President-elect Obama, and the two discussed issues they had
commonality on. Around the same time, McCain indicated that he
intended to run
for re-election
to his Senate seat in 2010. 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, and
President Obama's inauguration speech contained an allusion to
McCain's theme of finding a purpose greater than oneself.
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. 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" – and by
August 2009 was siding more often with his Republican Party on
closely divided votes than ever before in his senatorial career.
McCain reasserted that the
Afghanistan War was
winnable and criticized Obama for a slow process in deciding
whether to send additional U.S. troops there. 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 famously proposed in the
past, and strongly opposed the
Obama health care plan. Factors
involved in McCain's new direction included Senate staffers
leaving, a possible Republican primary challenge from conservatives
in 2010, and McCain's campaign edge being slow to wear off. 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."
Political positions
Various
interest groups have given
Senator McCain scores or grades as to how well his votes align with
the positions of each group. The
American Conservative Union
awarded McCain a lifetime rating of 81 percent through 2008,
while McCain has an average lifetime 13 percent "Liberal
Quotient" from
Americans
for Democratic Action through 2008.
The Almanac of
American Politics rates congressional votes as
liberal or
conservative on the
political spectrum, in three
policy areas: economic, social, and foreign. For 2005–2006,
McCain's average ratings were as follows: the economic rating
59 percent conservative and 41 percent liberal, the
social rating 54 percent conservative / 38 percent
liberal, and the foreign rating 56 percent conservative /
43 percent liberal.
Columnists such as Robert Robb and
Matthew Continetti have used a
formulation devised by
William
F. Buckley, Jr. to
describe 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."
From the late 1990s until 2008, McCain was a board member of
Project Vote Smart (PVS) which
was set up by Richard Kimball, his 1986 Senate opponent. PVS
provides non-partisan information about the political positions of
McCain and other candidates for political office. Additionally,
McCain uses his Senate web site to describe his political
positions.
Cultural and political image
John McCain's personal character has been a dominant feature of his
public image. This image includes the military service of both
himself and his family, his maverick political persona, his temper,
his admitted problem of occasional ill-considered remarks, and his
close ties to his children from both his marriages.
McCain's political appeal has been more nonpartisan and less
ideological compared to many other national politicians. His
stature and reputation stem partly from his service in the Vietnam
War. He also carries physical vestiges of his war wounds, as well
as his melanoma surgery. When campaigning, he quips: "I am older
than dirt and have more scars than Frankenstein."
In his own estimation, the Arizona senator is straightforward and
direct, but impatient. Other traits include a penchant for lucky
charms, a fondness for hiking, and a sense of humor that has
sometimes backfired spectacularly, as when he made a joke in 1998
about the Clintons widely deemed not fit to print in newspapers:
"Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? — Because Janet
Reno is her father."Corn, David.
"A
joke too bad to print?",
Salon.com
(June 25, 1998). Retrieved August 16, 2006.
Chelsea Clinton is the daughter of
Bill Clinton and
Hillary Clinton. In 1998,
Janet Reno was the
Attorney General of the
United States.Pilkington, Ed.
"The joke that should have sunk McCain",
The Guardian (September 2, 2008). Retrieved September 3,
2008. McCain subsequently apologized profusely, and the Clinton
White House accepted his apology. McCain has not shied away from
addressing his shortcomings, and apologizing for them. He is known
for sometimes being prickly and hot-tempered with Senate
colleagues, but his relations with his own Senate staff have been
more cordial, and have inspired loyalty towards him.
McCain acknowledges having said intemperate things in years past,
though he also says that many stories have been exaggerated. One
psychoanalytic comparison suggests
that McCain would not be the first U.S. leader to have a temper,
and cultural critic
Julia Keller argues
that voters want leaders who are passionate, engaged, fiery, and
feisty. McCain has employed both profanity and shouting on
occasion, although such incidents have become less frequent over
the years. Senator
Joe Lieberman has
made this observation: "It is not the kind of anger that is a loss
of control. He is a very controlled person." Senator
Thad Cochran, who has known McCain for decades
and has battled him over
earmarks, has expressed concern about a
McCain presidency: "He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his
temper and he worries me." Ultimately Cochran decided to support
McCain for president, after it was clear he would win the
nomination.
All of John McCain's family members are on good terms with him, and
he has defended them against some of the negative consequences of
his high-profile political lifestyle. His family's military
tradition extends to the latest generation: son John Sidney IV
("Jack") graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2009, becoming
the fourth generation John S. McCain to do so; son James has served
with the
Marines in the
Iraq War; and son Doug flew jets in the Navy. His daughter
Meghan became a
blogging and
Twittering
presence in the debate about the future of the Republican Party
following the 2008 elections, and showed some of McCain's maverick
tendencies.
Writings by McCain
Books
- Faith of My Fathers
by John McCain, Mark Salter (Random
House, August 1999) ISBN 0-375-50191-6 (later made into the 2005
television film Faith of
My Fathers)
- Worth the Fighting
For by John McCain, Mark Salter (Random House, September
2002) ISBN 0-375-50542-3
- Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life by John
McCain, Mark Salter (Random House, April 2004) ISBN
1-4000-6030-3
-
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
- Hard Call: Great Decisions and the
Extraordinary People Who Made Them by John McCain, Mark
Salter (Hachette, August 2007) ISBN 978-0-446-58040-3
Articles and forewords
- "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).
Reprinted in Reporting Vietnam, Part Two: American Journalism
1969–1975 (The Library of
America, 1998) ISBN 1-883011-59-0
- "The Code of
Conduct and the Vietnam Prisoners of War", by John S. McCain,
Commander USN, National War
College, April 8, 1974 ( actual paper)
- Foreword by John McCain to A Code to Keep: The True Story
of America's Longest-Held Civilian POW in Vietnam by Ernest C. Brace (St. Martin's Press, 1988) ISBN
0-709-03560-8
- Speeches of John McCain, 1988–2000
- Foreword by John McCain to Glory Denied: The Saga of Jim
Thompson, America's Longest-held Prisoner by Tom Philpott (W.
W. Norton, 2001) ISBN 0-393-02012-6
- Foreword by John McCain to The Best and the Brightest
by David Halberstam (Random House,
2001 edition) ISBN 1-588-36098-9
- Foreword by John S. McCain to Unfinished Business:
Afghanistan, the Middle East and Beyond – Defusing the Dangers
That Threaten America's Security by Harlan Ullman (Citadel Press, June 2002) ISBN
0-8065-2431-6
- Foreword by John McCain and Max
Cleland to Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the
Trials of Homecoming by Jonathan Shay (Scribner, November
2002) ISBN 0-7432-1156-1
- Foreword by John McCain to Debunking 9/11
Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up to the Facts by
the Editors of Popular
Mechanics (Hearst, August 2006) ISBN 1-588-16635-X
- Introduction by John McCain to Pearl Harbor, the Day of
Infamy, an Illustrated History by Dan van der Vat (Black Walnut Books, 2007)
ISBN 1-897-33028-6
- "An Enduring Peace Built on Freedom: Securing
America's Future" by John McCain Foreign Affairs, November/December
2007
References
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 17–34 (subscription only link).
- Morison, Samuel Eliot. The
Two-Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the
Second World War (Naval Institute Press 2007), 119.
- Roberts, Gary. "On the Ancestry, Royal Descent, and English and
American Notable Kin of Senator John Sidney McCain IV", New
England Historic Genealogical Society (April 1, 2008). Retrieved
May 19, 2008.
- Nowicki, Dan & Muller, Bill. "John McCain Report: At the Naval Academy",
The Arizona Republic (March 1,
2007). Retrieved November 10, 2007. According to the The
Arizona Republic, "'McCain: The life story of Arizona's
maverick senator' as written by reporter Bill Muller originally
appeared in The Arizona Republic and on azcentral.com on
October 3, 1999. Reporter Dan Nowicki updated and revised the
biography with additional material in January 2007." See "How the biography was put together", The
Arizona Republic (March 1, 2007). Retrieved June 18, 2008.
Regarding McCain's time at the Naval Academy, "McCain's grades were
good in the subjects he enjoyed, such as literature and history.
Gamboa said McCain would rather read a history book than do his
math homework. He did just enough to pass the classes he didn't
find stimulating. 'He stood low in his class,' Gamboa said. 'But
that was by choice, not design.'"
- Alexander, Man of the People, 19.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 22.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 28. See also: Arundel,
John. "Episcopal fetes a favorite son",
Alexandria Times (December 6, 2007). Retrieved December 7,
2007.
- Bailey, Holly. "John McCain: 'I Learned How to Take Hard
Blows'", Newsweek (May 14, 2007). Retrieved December
19, 2007.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 207. McCain scored 128
and then 133 on IQ tests.
- McCain, Faith of My Fathers, 134.
- Timberg, Nightingale's Song, Chapter 1, 31–35
- Alexander, Man of the People, 32.
- Woodward, Calvin. "McCain's WMD Is A Mouth That Won't Quit",
Associated
Press via USA
Today (November 4, 2007). Retrieved November 10,
2007.
- McCain, Faith of My Fathers, 156.
- Feinberg, Barbara. John McCain: Serving His Country,
18 (Millbrook Press 2000). ISBN 0-7613-1974-3.
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 66–68.
- Vartabedian, Ralph and Serrano, Richard A. "Mishaps mark John McCain's record as naval
aviator", Los Angeles Times (October 6, 2008).
Retrieved October 6, 2008.
- "John McCain", Iowa Caucuses '08,
The Des Moines Register.
Retrieved November 8, 2007.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 92.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 33.
- Steinhauer, Jennifer. "Bridging 4 Decades, a Large, Close-Knit
Brood", The New York Times (December 27,
2007). Retrieved December 27, 2007.
- McCain, Faith of My Fathers, 167–168.
- McCain, Faith of My Fathers, 172–173.
- McCain, Faith of My Fathers, 185–186.
- Karaagac, John. John McCain: An Essay in Military and
Political History, 81–82 (Lexington Books 2000). ISBN
0-7391-0171-4.
- Weinraub, Bernard. "Start of Tragedy: Pilot Hears a Blast As He Checks
Plane", The New York Times (July 31, 1967).
Retrieved March 28, 2008.
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 72–74.
- McCain, Faith of My Fathers, 177–179.
- US Navy Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships –
Forrestal. States either Aircraft No. 405 piloted by LCDR
Fred D. White or No. 416 piloted by LCDR John McCain was
struck by the Zuni.
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 75.
- Nowicki, Dan & Muller, Bill. "John McCain Report: Prisoner of War",
The Arizona Republic (March 1,
2007). Retrieved November 10, 2007.
- Dobbs, Michael. “In Ordeal as Captive, Character Was Shaped”,
Washington Post (October 5, 2008)
- Hubbell, P.O.W., 363.
- Hubbell, P.O.W., 364.
- Apple
Jr., R. W. "Adm. McCain's son, Forrestal Survivor, Is Missing
in Raid", The New York Times (October 28,
1967). Retrieved November 11, 2007.
- "Admiral's Son Captured in Hanoi Raid",
Associated
Press via The Washington Post (October 28,
1967). Retrieved February 9, 2008 (fee required for full
text).
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 83.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 54.
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 89.
- "John McCain (center) being captured by Vietnamese
civilians in Truc Bach Lake near Hanoi Vietnam", Library of
Congress (May 26, 2004). Retrieved December 28, 2007.
- Hubbell, P.O.W., 450–451.
- Rochester and Kiley, Honor Bound, 363.
- Hubbell, P.O.W., 452–454.
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 95, 118.
- McCain, John. "How the POW's Fought Back", U.S. News & World
Report (May 14, 1973), reposted in 2008 under title "John
McCain, Prisoner of War: A First-Person Account". Retrieved January
29, 2008. Reprinted in Reporting Vietnam, Part Two: American
Journalism 1969–1975, The Library of America, 434–463
(1998). ISBN 1-883011-59-0.
- Hubbell, P.O.W., 288–306.
- Hubbell, P.O.W., 548–549.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 60.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 64.
- Rochester and Kiley, Honor Bound, 489–491.
- Rochester and Kiley, Honor Bound, 510, 537.
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 106–107.
- Sterba, James. "P.O.W. Commander Among 108 Freed",
The New York Times (March 15, 1973).
Retrieved March 28, 2008.
- Purdum,
Todd. "Prisoner of Conscience", Vanity
Fair, February 2007. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
- Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. "John McCain Report: Back in the USA",
The Arizona Republic (March 1,
2007). Retrieved November 10, 2007.
- Kristof, Nicholas. "P.O.W. to Power Broker, A Chapter Most
Telling", The New York Times (February 27,
2000). Retrieved April 22, 2007.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 81.
- Dictionary of American Naval Aviation
Squadrons, Volume 1, Naval
Historical Center. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- Vartabedian, Ralph. "McCain has long relied on his grit",
Los
Angeles Times (April 14, 2008). Retrieved September 2,
2008.
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 123–124.
- Frantz, Douglas, "The 2000 Campaign: The Arizona Ties; A Beer Baron
and a Powerful Publisher Put McCain on a Political Path",
The New York Times, A14 (February
21, 2000). Retrieved November 29, 2006.
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 132–134.
- Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. "John McCain Report: Arizona, the early years",
The Arizona Republic (March 1,
2007). Regarding his first marriage, McCain said that he "had not
shown the same determination to rebuild (his) personal life" as he
had shown in his military career, and that "marriages can be hard
to recover after great time and distance have separated a husband
and wife. We are different people when we reunite... But my
marriage's collapse was attributable to my own selfishness and
immaturity more than it was to Vietnam, and I cannot escape blame
by pointing a finger at the war. The blame was entirely mine."
Retrieved November 21, 2007.
- "McCain Releases His Tax Returns",
Associated
Press for CBS News
(April 18, 2008). Retrieved April 24, 2008.
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 135.
- Kirkpatrick, David. "Senate's Power and Allure Drew McCain From
Military ", The New York Times (May 29, 2008).
Retrieved May 29, 2008.
- Leahy, Michael. "Seeing White House From a Cell in Hanoi",
The Washington Post (October 13,
2008). Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 93.
- Vartabedian, Ralph. "John McCain gets tax-free disability pension",
Los
Angeles Times (April 22, 2008).
- Kuhnhenn, Jim. "Navy releases McCain's military record",
Associated
Press via The Boston Globe (May 7, 2008).
Retrieved May 25, 2008.
- Gilbertson, Dawn. "McCain, his wealth tied to wife's family beer
business", The Arizona Republic (January 23,
2007). Retrieved May 10, 2008.
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 139.
- Symington would become Governor of Arizona in 1991.
- Thornton, Mary. "Arizona 1st District John McCain",
The Washington Post (December 16,
1982). Retrieved May 10, 2008.
- "McCain, Clinton Head to Memphis for MLK
Anniversary", Washington Wire (blog), The Wall
Street Journal (April 3, 2008). Retrieved April 17,
2008.
- "McCain Remarks on Dr. King and Civil Rights",
The Washington Post (April 4,
2008): "We can be slow as well to give greatness its due, a mistake
I made myself long ago when I voted against a federal holiday in
memory of Dr. King. I was wrong and eventually realized that, in
time to give full support for a state holiday in Arizona."
Retrieved May 10, 2008.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 98–99, 104.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 100.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 100–101.
- Tapper, Jake. "McCain returns to the past", Salon (April
27, 2000). Retrieved November 21, 2007.
- Reinhard, Beth. "Blog: McCain met with Pinochet", Naked
Politics, Miami Herald (October 24, 2008). Retrieved
November 1, 2008.
- Dinges,
John. "CIPER Chile » Blog Archive » La desconocida cita
entre John McCain y Pinochet",
Centro de Investigación e Información Periodística
(October 24, 2008). Retrieved October 24, 2008. This source is in
the Spanish language.
- "Revelan inédita cita entre McCain y Pinochet en
1985", Los
Tiempos (October 25, 2008). Retrieved October 25, 2008.
This source is in the Spanish language.
- " John McCain", The New York
Times website. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 147.
- Strong, Morgan. "Senator John McCain talks about the challenges of
fatherhood", Dadmag.com (June 4, 2000). Retrieved December 19,
2007.
- Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. "John McCain Report: The Senate calls",
The Arizona Republic (March 1,
2007). Retrieved November 23, 2007.
- Barone, Michael; Ujifusa, Grant;
Cohen,
Richard E. The Almanac of American
Politics, 2000 (National Journal 1999), 112. ISBN
0-8129-3194-7.
- Johnson, Tadd. " Regulatory Issues and Impacts of Gaming in Indian
Country", Increasing Understanding of Public Problems and
Policies: Proceedings of the 1998 National Public Policy Education
Conference, 140–144 (September 1998).
- Sweeney, James. "New rules on Indian gaming face longer odds",
The San Diego Union-Tribune
(September 11, 2006). Retrieved July 1, 2008.
- Mason, W. Dale. Indian Gaming: Tribal Sovereignty and
American Politics (University of Oklahoma
Press 2000), 60–64. ISBN 0-806-13260-4.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 112.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 115–120.
- Abramson, Jill; Mitchell, Alison. "Senate Inquiry In Keating Case Tested McCain",
The New York Times (November 21,
1999). Retrieved May 10, 2008.
- Rasky, Susan. "To Senator McCain, the Savings and Loan Affair Is
Now a Personal Demon", The New York Times (December
22, 1989). Retrieved April 19, 2008.
- "Excerpts of Statement By Senate Ethics Panel",
The New York Times (February 28,
1991). Retrieved April 19, 2008.
- Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. "John McCain Report: The Keating Five",
The Arizona Republic (March 1,
2007). Retrieval date November 23, 2007.
- Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. "John McCain Report: Overcoming scandal, moving
on", The Arizona Republic (March 1,
2007). Retrieved November 23, 2007.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 150–151.
- Dan Balz, "McCain Weighs Options Amid Setbacks",
The Washington Post (July 5, 1998)
Retrieved May 10, 2008.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 152–154.
- Report of the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs,
U.S. Senate
(January 13, 1993). Retrieved January 3, 2008.
- Walsh, James. "Good Morning, Vietnam", Time (July
24, 1995). Retrieved January 5, 2008.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 170–171.
- Farrell, John. "At the center of power, seeking the summit",
The
Boston Globe (June 21, 2003). Retrieved January 5,
2008.
- McIntire, Mike. "Democracy Group Gives Donors Access to McCain",
The New York Times (July 28, 2008).
Retrieved August 16, 2008.
- Eilperin, Juliet. "McCain Sees Roberts, Alito as Examples", The
Trail; A Daily Diary of Campaign 2008, via washingtonpost.com (May 6, 2008).
Retrieved July 26, 2008.
- Curry, Tom. "McCain takes grim message to South Carolina",
MSNBC (April 26, 2007).
Retrieved December 27, 2007.
- Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. "John McCain Report: McCain becomes the
'maverick'", The Arizona Republic (March 1,
2007). Retrieved December 19, 2007.
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 190.
- Maisel, Louis and Buckley, Kara. Parties and Elections in
America: The Electoral Process, 163–166 (Rowman &
Littlefield 2004). ISBN 0-742-52670-4.
- Barone, Michael; Cohen, Richard E.
The Almanac of American
Politics, 2006 (National Journal 2005), 93–98. ISBN
0-892-34112-2.
- McCain, Worth the Fighting For, 327
- Jackson, David. “McCain: Life shaped judgment on use of force”,
USA Today
(March 25, 2008).
- Clinton v. City of New
York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998).
- Alexander, Man of the People, 176–180.
- "Bio: Sen. John McCain", Fox News (January 23, 2003).
Retrieved August 11, 2008.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 184–187.
- Timberg, American Odyssey, 194–195.
- McDonald, Greg. "Senate OKs use of force in Balkans",
Houston Chronicle (March 23, 1999).
Retrieved March 5, 2008.
- "U.S. Senators John McCain and Russell Feingold
Share 10th John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award",
John F. Kennedy Library
Foundation (May 24, 1999). Retrieved December 27, 2007.
- Bernstein, Richard. "Books of the Times; Standing Humbly Before a Noble
Family Tradition", The New York Times (October 1,
1999). Retrieved August 11, 2008.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 194–195.
- "Faith of My Fathers (1999)" (IE only), Books
and Authors. Retrieved May 26, 2008.
- Knickerbocker, Brad. "From a Vietnam Prison to the United States Senate",
The Christian Science
Monitor (September 16, 1999). Retrieved May 27, 2008.
- "McCain formally kicks off campaign",
CNN (September 27, 1999).
Retrieved December 27, 2007.
- Bruni, Frank. "Quayle, Outspent by Bush, Will Quit Race, Aide
Says", The New York Times (September 27,
2000). Retrieved December 27, 2007.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 188–189.
- Harpaz, Beth. The Girls in the Van: Covering Hillary,
86 (St. Martin's Press 2001). ISBN 0-312-30271-1.
- Corn, David.
"The McCain Insurgency", The Nation (February 10, 2000).
Retrieved January 1, 2008.
- Steinhauer, Jennifer. "Confronting Ghosts of 2000 in South Carolina",
The New York Times (October 19,
2007). Retrieved January 7, 2008.
- "Dirty Politics 2008", NOW,
PBS (January 4, 2008). Retrieved
January 6, 2008.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 254–255, 262–263.
- Mitchell, Alison. "Bush and McCain Exchange Sharp Words Over
Fund-Raising", The New York Times (February 10,
2000). Retrieved January 7, 2008.
- Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. "John McCain Report: The 'maverick' runs",
The Arizona Republic (March 1,
2007). Retrieved December 27, 2007.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 250–251.
- Data for table is from "Favorability: People in the News: John
McCain", The Gallup Organization, 2008.
Retrieved March 21, 2009.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 263–266.
- Knowlton, Brian. "McCain Licks Wounds After South Carolina Rejects His
Candidacy", International Herald
Tribune (February 21, 2000). Retrieved January 1,
2008.
- Barone, Michael and Cohen, Richard.
The Almanac of American
Politics, 2008, 96 (National Journal 2008). ISBN
0892341173.
- Mitchell, Alison. "McCain Catches Mud, Then Parades It",
The New York Times (February 16,
2000). Retrieved January 1, 2008.
- McCaleb, Ian Christopher. "McCain recovers from South Carolina
disappointment, wins in Arizona, Michigan", CNN (February 22, 2000). Retrieved December 30,
2007.
- "Excerpt From McCain's Speech on Religious
Conservatives", The New York Times (February 29,
2000). Retrieved December 30, 2007.
- Rothernberg, Stuart. "Stuart Rothernberg: Bush Roars Back; McCain's
Hopes Dim", CNN (March 1,
2000). Retrieved December 30, 2007.
- McCaleb, Ian Christopher. "Gore, Bush post impressive Super Tuesday
victories", CNN (March 8,
2000). Retrieved December 30, 2007.
- McCaleb, Ian Christopher. "Bradley, McCain bow out of party races",
CNN (March 9, 2000). Retrieved
December 30, 2007.
- Marks, Peter. "A Ringing Endorsement for Bush",
The New York Times (May 14, 2000).
Retrieved March 1, 2008.
- Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. "John McCain Report: The 'maverick' and President
Bush", The Arizona Republic (March 1,
2007). Retrieved December 27, 2007.
- Holan, Angie. "McCain switched on tax cuts", Politifact,
St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved
December 27, 2007.
- Carney, James. "Frenemies: The McCain-Bush Dance",
Time (July 16, 2008). Retrieved August
11, 2008.
- Drew, Citizen McCain, 5.
- Edsall, Thomas and Milbank, Dana. "McCain Is Considering Leaving GOP: Arizona Senator
Might Launch a Third-Party Challenge to Bush in 2004",
The Washington Post (June 2, 2001).
Retrieved May 10, 2008.
- Cusack, Bob. "Democrats say McCain nearly abandoned GOP",
The Hill (March 28, 2007).
Retrieved January 17, 2008.
- Kirkpatrick, David D. "After 2000 Run, McCain Learned to Work Levers of
Power", The New York Times (July 21, 2008).
Retrieved August 11, 2008.
- McCain, John. "No Substitute for Victory: War is hell. Let's get
on with it", The Wall Street Journal
(October 26, 2001). Retrieved January 17, 2008.
- "Senate bill would implement 9/11 panel
proposals", CNN (September
8, 2004). Retrieved January 17, 2008.
- "Senate Approves Aviation Security, Anti-Terrorism
Bills", Online NewsHour, PBS (October 12, 2001). Retrieved January 17,
2008.
- Alexander, Man of the People, 168.
- "Sen. McCain's Interview With Chris Matthews",
Hardball with Chris
Matthews, MSNBC
(March 12, 2003). Via McCain's Senate web site and archive.org.
Retrieved April 7, 2008.
- "Newsmaker: Sen. McCain", PBS, NewsHour (November 6,
2003). Retrieved January 17, 2008.
- Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. "John McCain Report: The 'maverick' goes
establishment", The Arizona Republic (March 1,
2007). Retrieved December 23, 2007.
- "Summary of the Lieberman-McCain Climate
Stewardship Act", Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
Retrieved April 24, 2008.
- "Lieberman, McCain Reintroduce Climate Stewardship
and Innovation Act", Lieberman Senate web site (January 12,
2007). Retrieved April 24, 2008.
- "McCain: I'd 'entertain' Democratic VP slot",
Associated
Press for USA
Today (March 10, 2004). Retrieved May 6, 2008.
- Halbfinger, David. "McCain Is Said To Tell Kerry He Won't Join",
The New York Times (June 12, 2004).
Retrieved January 3, 2008.
- Balz, Dan and VandeHei, Jim. "McCain's Resistance Doesn't Stop Talk of Kerry
Dream Ticket", The Washington Post (June 12,
2004). Retrieved January 18, 2008.
- "Kerry wants to boost child-care credit",
Associated
Press via MSNBC (June
16, 2004). Retrieved March 8, 2008.
- Loughlin, Sean. "McCain praises Bush as 'tested'",
CNN (August 30, 2004). Retrieved
November 14, 2007.
- Coile, Zachary. "Vets group attacks Kerry; McCain defends
Democrat", San Francisco Chronicle (August
6, 2004). Retrieved August 15, 2006.
- "Election 2004: U.S. Senate – Arizona – Exit
Poll", CNN. Retrieved
December 23, 2007.
- "Senators compromise on filibusters; Bipartisan group
agrees to vote to end debate on 3 nominees", CNN (May 24, 2005). Retrieved March 16, 2008.
- Hulse, Carl. "Distrust of McCain Lingers Over '05 Deal on
Judges", The New York Times (February 25,
2008). Retrieved March 16, 2008.
- Preston, Julia. "Grass Roots Roared and Immigration Plan
Collapsed", The New York Times (July 10, 2007).
Retrieved July 27, 2008.
- "Why the Senate Immigration Bill Failed",
Rasmussen Reports (June 8, 2007).
Retrieved May 10, 2008.
- Schmidt, Susan; Grimaldi, James. "Panel Says Abramoff Laundered Tribal Funds; McCain
Cites Possible Fraud by Lobbyist", The Washington
Post (June 23, 2005). Retrieved May 10, 2008.
- Anderson, John. Follow the Money (Simon and Schuster
2007), 254. ISBN 0-743-28643-X.
- Butterfield, Fox. " Indians' Wish List: Big-City Sites for Casinos",
The New York Times (April 8,
2005).
- "Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 1st Session on
the Amendment (McCain Amdt. No. 1977)", United States
Senate (October 5, 2005). Retrieved August 15, 2006.
- "Senate ignores veto threat in limiting detainee
treatment", CNN (October 6,
2005). Retrieved January 2, 2008.
- "McCain, Bush agree on torture ban",
CNN (December 15, 2005).
Retrieved August 16, 2006.
- Calabresi, Massimo and Bacon Jr., Perry. "America's 10 Best Senators", "John McCain: The Mainstreamer",
Time (April 16, 2006). Retrieved August
14, 2008.
- Eggen, Dan and Shear, Michael. "Vote Against Waterboarding Bill Called
Consistent", The Washington Post (February 16,
2008): "[T]he aide said, there are noncoercive interrogation
techniques not used by the Army that could be useful to the CIA."
Retrieved June 9, 2008.
- Ricks, Thomas.
Fiasco: The
American Military Adventure in Iraq 412 (Penguin Press
2006). ISBN 1-59420-103-X.
- Baldor, Lolita. "McCain Defends Bush's Iraq Strategy",
Associated
Press via CBS News
(January 12, 2007). Retrieved January 13, 2007.
- Giroux, Greg. "'Move On' Takes Aim at McCain's Iraq Stance",
The New York Times (January 17,
2007). Retrieved January 18, 2008.
- Carney, James. "The Resurrection of John McCain",
Time (January 23, 2008). Retrieved
February 1, 2008.
- Crawford, Jamie. "Iraq won't change McCain", CNN (July 28, 2007). Retrieved January 18,
2008.
- "McCain arrives in Baghdad", CNN (March 16, 2008). Retrieved March 16,
2008.
- "McCain launches White House bid",
BBC News (April 25,
2007). Retrieved May 15, 2008.
- "Remarks as Prepared for Delivery: Senator McCain's
Announcement Speech", USA Today (April 25, 2007). Retrieved May 18,
2008.
- Balz, Dan. "For Possible '08 Run, McCain Is Courting Bush
Loyalists", The Washington Post (February 12,
2006). Retrieved August 15, 2006.
- Birnbaum, Jeffrey and Solomon, John. "McCain's Unlikely Ties to K Street",
The Washington Post (December 31,
2007). Retrieved January 3, 2008.
- Kirkpatrick, David D. and Pilhofer, Aron. "McCain Lags in Income, but Excels in
Spending", The New York Times (April 15, 2007).
Retrieved August 11, 2008.
- "McCain lags in fundraising, cuts staff",
CNN (July 2, 2007). Retrieved
July 6, 2007.
- "Lagging in Fundraising, McCain Reorganizes
Staff", NPR (July 2, 2007). Retrieved July 6,
2007.
- Sidoti, Liz. "McCain Campaign Suffers Key Shakeups",
Associated
Press via Breitbart.com (July 10, 2007). Retrieved July
15, 2007.
- Martin, Jonathan. "McCain's comeback plan", The Politico (July 19,
2007). Retrieved December 12, 2007.
- Witosky, Tom. "McCain sees resurgence in his run for
president", The Des Moines Register
(December 17, 2007). Retrieved December 29, 2007.
- Sinderbrand, Rebecca. "McCain, Clinton win Concord Monitor
endorsements", CNN (December
29, 2007). Retrieved December 29, 2007.
- "Lieberman: McCain can reunite our country",
CNN (December 17, 2007).
Retrieved June 26, 2008.
- Lieberman, Joseph. "Joe Lieberman: McCain for President",
New York
Post (February 3, 2008): "Joe Lieberman is an independent
Democratic senator from Connecticut." Retrieved June 26, 2008.
- "CNN: McCain wins New Hampshire GOP primary",
CNN (January 8, 2008). Retrieved
January 8, 2008.
- Jones, Tim et al. "Moderates flock to McCain in S.C.; 2nd-place
finish deals blow for Huckabee", Chicago Tribune
(January 20, 2008). Retrieved November 2, 2008.
- "Thompson Quits US Presidential Race",
Reuters (January 22,
2008). Retrieved June 2, 2008.
- "McCain wins Florida, Giuliani expected to drop
out", CNN (January 29,
2008). Retrieved January 29, 2008.
- Holland, Steve. "Giuliani, Edwards quit White House Race",
Reuters (January 30,
2008). Retrieved January 30, 2008.
- Sidoti, Liz. "Romney Suspends Presidential Campaign",
Associated
Press via Breitbart.com (February 7, 2008). Retrieved
May 19, 2008.
- "McCain wins key primaries, CNN projects; McCain
clinches nod", CNN (March 4,
2008). Retrieved March 4, 2008.
- "Lawyers Conclude McCain Is "Natural Born",
Associated
Press via CBS News
(March 28, 2008). Retrieved May 23, 2008.
- Dobbs, Michael. "McCain's Birth Abroad Stirs Legal Debate",
The Washington Post (May 2, 2008).
Retrieved October 24, 2008.
- Bash, Dana. "With McCain, 72 is the new... 69?",
CNN (September 4, 2006).
Retrieved May 10, 2008.
- "Presidential Inaugural Facts",
The
Miami Herald (January 20, 1985). Excerpt via Google News. Retrieved March
30, 2008. Ronald Reagan was 73 years and 350 days old at
his second inauguration.
- McCain, John. Interview transcript. Meet the Press via
MSNBC (June 19, 2005).
Retrieved November 14, 2006.
- Altman, Lawrence. "On the Campaign Trail, Few Mentions of McCain's
Bout With Melanoma", The New York Times (March 9,
2008). Retrieved May 10, 2008.
- "Medical records show McCain is in good health"
International Herald
Tribune (May 23, 2008). Retrieved on May 23, 2008.
- Page, Susan. "McCain runs strong as Democrats battle on"
USA Today
(April 28, 2008). Retrieved May 10, 2008.
- "McCain tells his story to voters"
CNN (March 31, 2008). Retrieved
May 10, 2008.
- Luo, Michael and Palmer, Griff. "McCain Faces Test in Wooing Elite Donors",
The New York Times (March 31, 2008).
Retrieved May 10, 2008.
- Kuhnhenn, Jim. "Cindy McCain had $6 million income in 2006",
Associated
Press via ABC News
(May 23, 2008). Retrieved May 24, 2008.
- Shear, Michael. "A Fifth Top Aide To McCain Resigns",
The Washington Post (May 19, 2008).
Retrieved June 4, 2008.
- Kammer, Jerry. "Lobbyists on John McCain's Team Facing Some New
Rules", The Arizona Republic (May 26,
2008). Retrieved June 4, 2008.
- Pickler, Nedra. "McCain, Obama fail to agree on town halls",
Associated
Press via ABC News
(June 13, 2008). Retrieved June 16, 2008.
- Balz, Dan and
Shear, Michael D. "McCain Puts New Strategist Atop Campaign",
The Washington Post (July 3, 2008).
Retrieved August 11, 2008.
- "General Election: McCain vs. Obama",
Real
Clear Politics. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
- Boshart, Rod. "McCain says he’s underdog in Iowa during State
Fair visit", The Gazette (August 8,
2008). Retrieved August 11, 2008.
- "McCain Predicts ‘Underdog’ Win in Final 48
Hours", Fox News
(June 27, 2008). Retrieved August 11, 2008.
- Wayne, Leslie. "McCain Raised $27 Million in July",
The New York Times (August 15,
2008). Retrieved August 16, 2008.
- Barr, Andy. "Obama passes 2 million donors",
The Hill (August 14, 2008).
Retrieved August 16, 2008.
- Kuhnhenn, Jim. "Analysis: McCain tries to sow doubts about
Obama", Associated Press for USA Today (July 31, 2008).
Retrieved August 11, 2008.
- "McCain taps Alaska Gov. Palin as vice president
pick", CNN (August 29,
2008). Retrieved August 29, 2008.
- Berman, Russell. "McCain-Palin Surging in the Polls",
The
New York Sun (September 9, 2008). Retrieved December 31,
2008.
- Nagourney,
Adam. "In Election’s Wake, Campaigns Offer a Peek at What
Really Happened", The New York Times (December 9,
2008). Retrieved December 31, 2008.
- Cohen, Jon and Agiesta, Jennifer. "Perceptions of Palin Grow Increasingly Negative,
Poll Says", The Washington Post (October 25,
2008). Retrieved December 31, 2008.
- Fouhy, Beth. "Obama rejects McCain's call to delay debate",
Associated
Press for The Times-Tribune
(September 24, 2008). Retrieved September 24, 2008.
- "John McCain Statement: 'Suspending' His
Campaign", ABC
News (September 24, 2008).
- Weisman, Jonathan. "How McCain Stirred a Simmering Pot",
The Washington Post (September 27,
2008). Retrieved September 27, 2008. "In truth, McCain's dramatic
announcement Wednesday that he would suspend his campaign and come
to Washington for the bailout talks had wide repercussions."
- Stolberg, Cheryl Gay and Bumiller, Elisabeth. "A Balancing Act as McCain Faces a Divided Party
and a Skeptical Public", The New York Times (September
26, 2008). Retrieved September 27, 2008. “His greatest
contribution,” Mr. Bachus said, “was returning to Washington and
standing up for Republicans who were refusing to be
stampeded.”
- "McCain To Attend Debate, Resume Campaign",
RTTNews (September 26,
2008). Retrieved September 26, 2008.
- "Senate Passes Economic Rescue Package",
NY1 News (October 1,
2008). Retrieved October 2, 2008.
- Steinhauser, Paul. "Obama picks up second debate win, poll says",
CNN (October 8, 2008). Retrieved
October 12, 2008.
- Daniel, Douglass. "Obama backs away from McCain's debate challenge",
Associated
Press via Houston Chronicle (August 2, 2008).
Retrieved August 11, 2008).
- Drogin, Bob and Barabak, Mark Z. "John McCain compares Barack Obama's policies to
socialism", Los Angeles Times (October 18, 2008).
Retrieved December 31, 2008.
- Bumiller, Elisabeth. "In Ohio, McCain Is Everywhere Even if Joe the
Plumber Isn’t", The New York Times (October 30,
2008). Retrieved December 31, 2008.
- Smith, Ben. "McCain pollster: Wright wouldn't have worked",
The
Politico (December 11, 2008). Retrieved December 30,
2008.
- Johnson, Alex. "McCain hammers Obama on Ayers ties",
MSNBC (October 23, 2008).
Retrieved January 1, 2009.
- Rutenberg, Jim. "Nearing Record, Obama’s Ad Effort Swamps McCain",
The New York Times (October 17,
2008). Retrieved December 30, 2008.
- "Transcript: McCain concedes presidency",
CNN (November 4, 2008).
- Franke-Ruta, Garance. "McCain Takes Missouri", The Washington
Post (November 19, 2008). Retrieved November 19,
2008.
- "President – Election Center 2008",
CNN. Retrieved November 19,
2008.
- Mooney, Alexander. "McCain may face bumpy shift from White House
run", CNN (November 18,
2008). Retrieved November 21, 2008.
- Tapper,
Jake. "Obama, McCain Meet While Bill Speaks About
Hillary", ABC News
(November 17, 2008). Retrieved November 21, 2008.
- Cillizza, Chris. "McCain's Next Step: Re-Election in 2010",
The Washington Post (November 19,
2008). Retrieved November 21, 2008.
- Kirkpatrick, David D. "Obama Reaches Out for McCain’s Counsel",
The New York Times (January 19,
2009). Retrieved January 20, 2009.
- Brune, Tom. "Obama speech strong but anti-climatic",
Newsday
(January 20, 2009). Retrieved January 20, 2009.
- Hulse, Carl and Herszenhorn, David M. "Senators Reach Deal on Stimulus Plan as Jobs
Vanish", The New York Times (February 6,
2009). Retrieved February 7, 2009.
- O'Donnell, Kelly and Montanaro, Domenico.
"McCain to vote against Sotomayor",
NBC News (August 3,
2009). Retrieved August 22, 2009.
- Giroux, Greg. "McCain: Maverick No More?", CQ Politics (August 19,
2009). Retrieved August 22, 2009.
- McCain, John and others. "Only Decisive Force Can Prevail in
Afghanistan", The Wall Street Journal
(September 13, 2009). Retrieved November 17, 2009.
- Newton-Small, Jay. "John McCain: Can He Mend Fences with the
Right?", Time (October 8, 2009). Retrieved
November 20, 2009. In print magazine as "Voice in the Wilderness",
October 19, 2009.
- Lerer, Lisa. "John McCain slams 'horrendous' climate bill",
The
Politico (November 19, 2009). Retrieved November 20,
2009.
- Chart is built from current year and archive ratings found
within "Ratings of Congress", American Conservative Union,
Retrieved March 21, 2009, and "Voting Records", Americans for Democratic
Action, Retrieved March 21, 2009.
- Mayer, William. "Kerry's Record Rings a Bell",
The Washington Post (March 28,
2004). Retrieved May 12, 2008: "The question of how to measure a
senator's or representative's ideology is one that political
scientists regularly need to answer. For more than 30 years, the
standard method for gauging ideology has been to use the annual
ratings of lawmakers' votes by various interest groups, notably the
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and the American Conservative
Union (ACU)."
- "2008 U.S. Senate Votes", American Conservative Union.
Retrieved March 21, 2009. Lifetime rating is given.
- "Voting Records", Americans for Democratic
Action. Retrieved March 21, 2009. Average includes all years
beginning with 1983 in House, collected from various parts of ADA
website and calculated on spreadsheet.
- Barone, Michael and Cohen, Richard.
The Almanac of American
Politics, 2008, 95 (National Journal 2008). ISBN
0892341173. This biennially published almanac has been called "The
most important reference text on American politics... the most
comprehensive and accurate guide to the labyrinth of U.S. politics
ever assembled." (Mead, Walter. "The United States", Foreign Affairs
January/February 2006. Retrieved May 15, 2008) In 2005, the
economic ratings were 52 percent conservative and
47 percent liberal, the social ratings 64 conservative / 23
liberal, and the foreign ratings 54 / 45. In 2006, the economic
ratings were 64 / 35, the social 46 / 53, and the foreign
58 / 40.
- Robb, Robert. "Is McCain a conservative?", RealClearPolitics
(February 1, 2008). Retrieved June 18, 2008.
- Continetti, Matthew. "Not your dad's Republicans", Los Angeles
Times (March 6, 2008). Retrieved June 18, 2008.
- Kimball, Richard. "Program History", Project Vote Smart. Retrieved May
20, 2008. Also see Nintzel, Jim. "Test Study: Why are politicians like John McCain
suddenly so afraid of Project Vote Smart?", Tucson Weekly (April
17, 2008). Retrieved May 21, 2008. Also see Stein, Jonathan.
"Senator Straight Talk Won't Go on the Record with
Project Vote Smart", Mother Jones (April 7,
2008). Retrieved May 21, 2008.
- "Senator John Sidney McCain III (AZ)", Project Vote
Smart. Retrieved May 20, 2008. Non-partisan information about
McCain's issue positions is also provided online by other sources.
See, e.g., "John McCain on the Issues", OnTheIssues. Retrieved
May 18, 2008.
- "Issues", McCain's official Senate web site.
Retrieved May 21, 2008.
- Brooks, David. "The Character Factor", The New York
Times (November 13, 2007). Retrieved December 19,
2007.
- Mitchell, Josh. "Military Veterans step up for John McCain",
The
Baltimore Sun (February 5, 2008). Retrieved May 10,
2008.
- Jacobson,
Gary. "Partisan Differences in Job Approval Ratings of George
W. Bush and U.S. Senators in the States: An Exploration", Paper
presented at annual meeting of the American Political
Science Association, August 2006.
- Hunt, Albert. "John
McCain and Russell Feingold" in Profiles in Courage for Our Time, 256
(Kennedy,
Caroline ed., Hyperion 2003): "The hero is
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(March 29, 2008): "I have — although certainly not in recent years
— lost my temper and said intemperate things... I feel passionately
about issues, and the day that passion goes away is the day I will
go down to the old soldiers' home and find my rocking chair."
Retrieved May 10, 2008.
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The
New York Sun (April 21, 2008): "I am very happy to be a
passionate man... many times I deal passionately when I find things
that are not in the best interests of the American people. And so,
look, 20, 25 years ago, 15 years ago, that's fine, and those
stories here are either totally untrue or grossly exaggerated."
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Julia. "Me? A bad temper? Why, I oughta ...",
Chicago
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fuse—dashing off nasty letters, manhandling colleagues when they
oppose him—have popped up in recent profiles. Conversely, though,
we also want people in public life to be passionate and engaged. We
want them to be fiery and feisty. We like them to care enough to
blow their stacks every once in a while. Otherwise, we question the
sincerity of their convictions." Retrieved May 10, 2008.
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Thad Cochran of Mississippi, himself a past target of McCain's
sharp tongue, especially over what McCain regarded as Cochran's
hunger for pork-barrel projects in his state. Cochran landed in
newspapers early during the campaign after declaring that the
thought of McCain in the Oval Office 'sends a cold chill down my
spine.'") Retrieved April 28, 2008. McCain aide Mark Salter challenged the
accuracy of some other elements of Leahy's article; see "McCain's Temper, Ctd.", National Review
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meetings", The Hill (April 30, 2008).
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Navy
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Kathleen. "Another McCain Throws Down a Challenge",
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External links