Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) has passed away at age 81 after battling terminal brain cancer. He was one of the most recognized and longest serving members of Congress known for his maverick style and straight talk." During his 35-year tenure he often voted against his own party upsetting the GOP faithful.
McCain graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958 and became a navy pilot. While on a bombing mission in Vietnam in 1967 he was shot down over Hanoi. He was seriously injured and captured by the North Vietnamese. His captors tortured him throughout the five years he was in captivity leaving him with lifelong physical disabilities.
After he was released to return to the U.S. he met Cindy Hensley a beer heiress he fell in love with. But he was still married to his first wife Carol. According to The Los Angeles Times he continued living with Carol for nine months after he started dating Cindy. A year after he met Cindy he filed for divorce from Carol. In his book Worth the Fighting For he wrote my marriages 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." He called it his greatest moral failure."
McCain called the breakup of his first marriage his greatest moral failure."
McCain saw there was an open congressional seat in Arizona and moved to the state in 1981. When a voter accused him of being a carpetbagger McCain responded
Listen pal. I spent 22 years in the Navy. My father was in the Navy. My grandfather was in the Navy. We in the military service tend to move a lot. We have to live in all parts of the country all parts of the world. I wish I could have had the luxury like you of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place like the First District of Arizona but I was doing other things. As a matter of fact when I think about it now the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi.
Congressional Career
McCain served in the U.S. House from 1983 to 1986. He then ran successfully for the U.S. Senate. He replaced Arizonas legendary Barry Goldwater who had retired. After being investigated in the Keating Five Savings and Loan scandal McCain authored the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill in 2002. It helped improve his tarnished reputation after the financial scandal. But in 2010 the Supreme Court gutted much of it. Its decision in Citizens United v. FEC overturned the prohibition on corporations and unions from funding issue-oriented advertisements during election seasons. Likely due to his military background McCain was one of the Senates hawks when it came to military action. Understandably he opposed using torture during military interrogations. McCain ran for president in 2000 but lost in the primaries to George W. Bush. He ran again in 2008 and won the nomination but decisively lost the general election to Barack Obama. In naming Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate he became the first Republican candidate to choose a woman.Controversial Record
He waffled back and forth on issues like illegal immigration talking tough during primary elections but championing open borders once safely past the primary. In 2005 he partnered with Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy to draft legislation that would create a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. This earned him derision from conservatives especially in his home state who nicknamed him McAmnesty." During the 2000s the chairman of the Maricopa County Republican Party wore a lapel pin everywhere with McCains name crossed out. The party voted to censure him over illegal immigration. The American Conservative Union rated him a low 81.63 percent conservative voting record. McCain claimed to be pro-life but he was a staunch advocate for government funded embryonic stem cell research. In 2008 Arizona Right to Life endorsed Mike Huckabee for president not McCain. A CNN poll in December 2017 found that only 48 percent of Republicans had a favorable view of McCain. In contrast 68 percent of Democrats viewed him favorably. McCain made the deciding vote on last years attempted Obamacare repeal preventing it from passing. He greatly angered conservatives and President Trump who ran on a platform of repealing Obamacare. He has been a fierce critic of the president also angering conservatives. When he obtained the Trump dossier he turned it over to the FBI instead of telling Trump about it. Of course there are two sides: Trump criticized McCain while he was campaigning for president saying he wasnt a war hero. McCains daughter Meghan has followed her dad into politics writing three books and landing a regular spot on The View. She is also a maverick Republican frequently criticizing conservatives.
He said he didnt want the president attending his funeral.
McCain wrote a final book this year The Restless Wave. In it he says he wished he hadnt picked Sarah Palin. He wished he had chosen Joe Lieberman a Democrat who became an Independent. He criticizes Trump writing Flattery secures his friendship criticism his enmity." He said he didnt want the president attending his funeral.