Personal Life

Name: John Sidney McCain III

Date Of Birth: August 29th, 1936

Nationality: American

Political Party: Republican

Residence: Phoenix, Arizona

Religion: Baptist (Grew up Episcopalian)

Spouse(s): Carol Sheep (Married 1965, Divorced 1980), Cindy Lou Hensley (Married 1980)

Children: Douglas (born 1959, adopted 1966), Andrew (born 1962, adopted 1966), Sidney (born 1966), Meghan (born 1984), John Sidney IV “Jack” (born 1986), James “Jimmy” (born 1988), Bridget (born 1991, adopted 1993)

Military Service

Service/Branch: United States Navy

Years of Service: 1958-1981

Rank: Captain

Battles/Wars: Vietnam War

Two days after the Forrestal fire, McCain told a reporter, “now that I’ve seen what the bombs and the napalm did to the people on our ship, I’m not so sure that I want to drop any more of that stuff on North Vietnam.” After flying 22 more bombing missions without incident, McCain’s plane was hit over central Hanoi. He broke both arms and one leg after being hit and ejectedfrom his plane. He fell into Truc Bach Lake unconscious, and nearly drowned.

After regaining consciousness, he was surrounded by an angry mob. They spat on him, kicked him, and had his clothes torn off. His shoulder was broken with the butt of a rifle and his left foot and abdominal area were bayoneted before he was taken to Hoa Loa Prison, sarcastically nicknamed the “Hanoi Hilton” by American POWs and notorious for its cruel treatment of prisoners. Although near death, the North Vietnamese refused him treatment unless he gave them military information, and in fact beat him further. McCain only offered his name, rank, serial number and date of birth. A prison doctor visited McCain and pronounced him untreatable and close to death.

On learning of his father’s rank, McCain was taken to a hospital, and his capture announced. The news made front page headlines in the New York Times and Washington Post. His captors continued beating McCain in the hospital, coercing his ship and squadron name, and their intended bombing target. When pushed to give the names of his squadron members, he gave the names of the National Football League’s Green Bay Packer’s offensive line. (Haha, I love it!)

After six weeks in the prison hospital, his hair turned its now-famous white. He was discharged to another prison, where his cellmates included future Medal of Honor recipient Bud Day. The cellmates did not expect him to live more than a week, but were able to nurse him out of critical condition. McCain spent the next two years in solitary confinement.

In 1968, McCain’s father was named Commander in Chief of the Pacific Command, including all US forces in Vietnam. Sensing a publicity coup, and a way to break the morale of the rest of the GIs by showing the elite were willing to be treated preferentially, McCain was immediately offered a chance to return home. MCcain turned it down, deferring to the Code of Conduct principle of ‘first in, first out.’ He wanted everyone taken before him released as well.

McCain was rewarded with increasingly savage torture methods that involved being bound by rope into agonizing positions, and being beaten every two hours, while simultaneously suffering from dysentery. After this treatment became a daily ritual, McCain attempted suicide but was stopped by prison guards.

Four days into the torture, McCain signed and taped a false propaganda statement that confessed to being a ‘black criminal’ and an ‘air pirate.’ McCain purposely used stilted language and identifiable Communist jargon to indicate to Americans his statement was forced. McCain regretted the statement, but later noted that he had simply ‘reached his breaking point.’

Two weeks later, the North Vietnamese tried to extract another confession from McCain. This time he refused, and received multiple beatings per weeks because of this. On one of these occasions, a sympathetic prison guard secretly loosened McCain’s rope bindings for the night. Months later, on Christmas Day, this same guard secretly drew a cross in the dirt next to McCain. McCain often relates this story as a testimony to his faith and humanity.

On Christmas Eve 1968, the North Vietnamese staged a false church service as a media event for photographers and film cameras. McCain famously defined his captors instructions to be quiet and loudly yelled ‘Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck you, you son of a biiitch!’ and flipped off the camera whenever it was pointed at him.

McCain refused to meet with any anti-war peace activists that came through Hanoi, including those led by David Dellinger, Tom Hayden and Rennie Davis. In October of 1969, the treatment of POWs improved after mass media awareness of the conditions the soldiers were being subjected to. McCain continued to refuse to see anti-war activists and North Vietnamese sympathizers, stating to one ‘I told him I had no remorse about what I did, and that I would do it over again if the same opportunity presented itself.’

All told, McCain was held as a POW for five and a half years, and he was released on March 15th, 1973. Had he taken the offer for early release, he would have avoided five of those years.

To this day, McCain cannot lift his arms over his head from the injuries sustained during this period.

Photo of John McCain (middle), being pulled from Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi

John after his return from Vietnam

Hands down, John McCain has the best record and most experience of any candidate in either party on issues of national security. McCain’s years of experience as an officer in the United States Navy sets him apart from all the other candidates. While others tout their executive political or business experience, it is the executive experience on the field of battle which is most impressive. No other candidate has exhibited the personal courage and heroism under fire that John McCain has. Further, McCain’s compelling personal story, including the more than five years he spent as a prisoner of war in a North Vietnamese prison, make him uniquely situated to understand the horrors of war and what is necessary to defeat a ruthless enemy.

To me, national security was the overriding issue of the 2008 campaign. While the war in Iraq has receded somewhat from the headlines, that battle, and its place in the larger war against radical Islamic terrorism, should not be forgotten in the election. John McCain understands the threat we face and what it will take to defeat it. It is the very strategy that McCain has been championing since 2004 that has finally brought us a measure of hope for the situation in Iraq. I believe that the way in which the conflict in Iraq is conducted over the next few years will have far-reaching impacts on the ability of the United States to protect itself in the future. If we are forced to tuck tail and run from Iraq, it will be a victory for all enemies of the United States and will force our nation to be on defense against terrorism going forward. However, if we are able to exit Iraq in an honorable way that allows the US military to preserve it’s dignity and permits the Iraqi people to have some semblance of stability, it will enable the United States to continue to be on offense against terrorism wherever it may threaten us. Frankly, of all the candidates on either side, I believe it is John McCain who can do the most to prevent a permanent US presence in Iraq. I believe the Democrat strategy of immediate withdrawal would only result in US forces returning to Iraq in subsequent years, only this time under the direction of UN Peacekeepers rather than US Military Commanders. That would be a tragic mistake.

I have no doubt that to hear the words “President John McCain” would strike nothing but fear into the hearts of the Putins, Ahmadinejads, and Kim Jong Ils of the world. I believe that it is that respect and fear that will be a great asset to the United States in our foreign relations with both our friends and our enemies.

An article that I found, written by J. Christian Obenshain.

While John McCain has earned a reputation as a political maverick over the years, a look at his record also shows him to be among the most consistently conservative candidates in the Republican field. He has always been pro-life. He has always fought vigorously against government waste and runaway spending. He has always supported the individual right to bear arms. He has always supported a free-market economy and strongly supports choice and competition in fields such as education and health care. To put it simply, John McCain has a long and consistent record on most of the key issues to Republican voters.

Granted, John McCain has also sometimes made a habit of sticking his finger in the eye of the Republican establishment. That much can not be ignored and is certainly the reason why so many loyal Republicans have been slow to fully embrace McCain. Still, I think that even looking at the areas where McCain has diverged from GOP orthodoxy should not disqualify him.

First, his opposition to the Bush tax cuts. McCain acknowledges that the tax cuts have helped the economy and has pledged not to repeal them. In fact, it is thought that his opposition to them was based on sound conservative philosophy in that they were not tied to any reductions in spending. Unfortunately, McCain’s fears about spending have proven true as the Bush administration has done little to reign in Congressional largesse. While the tax cuts have been good for our economy, one wonders how much stronger a position we would be in economically if conservative spending cuts had accompanied them as McCain desired.

Second, McCain’s support for campaign finance reform laws. This is certainly an area of concern and it is hard to look at the present campaign and think that these laws have been anything but a dismal failure. However, it is equally hard to think that these laws have really done any long-term damage to the Republic or that they will remain unchanged as voter frustration with political campaigns seems as reliable as their hatred of the IRS. On this issue again, McCain’s heart was in the right place as a conservative in attempting to remove special interest money and influence from the election process and return it more to the people. Unfortunately, I think that the actual effect of McCain-Feingold has largely been the opposite of its intent. I am hopeful that McCain himself can be persuaded to reform his reforms.

Third, is McCain’s role in the Gang of 14 compromise on Judicial nominations. While it is unfortunate that good Judges were kept from getting a fair hearing on the floor of the Senate, I think that the deal ultimately worked largely in the GOPs favor and preserved a legislative maneuver that the now GOP minority will probably be grateful for. Personally, as a former Senate staffer, I think the Gang of 14 criticism is overblown and that these types of issues are really too much “inside-baseball” for most voters to care about. I also think it says more about the ineptitude of Bill Frist and the Bush administration that such a compromise was necessary than it does about the Senators who actually reached across the aisle to get something done.

Fourth, is McCain’s role in the immigration debate of this past summer. While it is disconcerting to many Republicans to see McCain constantly having his name attached to names like “Kennedy” and “Feingold”,  the ability to find common ground with even the most liberal members of the Senate speaks to McCain’s personal credibility and character. While McCain may be more moderate on immigration than I, I respect the fact that he has acknowledged that the public will does not exist to reform our immigration practices until the government proves to the American people that it can control the border effectively. This is an important acknowledgement given the fact that so many Americans on both sides are frustrated with the perceived lack of competence in the present administration. The idea that we must restore American confidence in government to do anything before attempting any grandiose reform projects is an important one for our next President to comprehend and address.

Again, while I disagree with McCain on this and other matters of policy, what I respect about him is his willingness to tell us what we don’t want to hear. Even if we disagree with him, we will always know where he stands. Further, McCain’s variations from GOP orthodoxy seem, in comparison, much less severe than those of either Giuliani (who would alienate social conservatives) and Huckabee (who would alienate economic conservatives). I believe that McCain would do a much better job than either of those two in holding together the Reagan Republican coalition. I also believe that Republicans will agree with a President John McCain much more than they will disagree with him.

On healthcare, McCain supports importation of cheaper prescriptions from outside the USA breaking the monopolistic strangle-hold big pharma has on the drug market. McCain is also a champion of healthcare delivery initiatives designed to lower the cost and increase availability of healthcare to Americans of all socio-economic strata. Last, he has proposed a tax-break to address the current bias toward employer sponsored healthcare plans.

How important is healthcare as an issue this election? A recent article by the prestigous Commonwealth Fund, and cited by Dr. Louise Chang at WebMD, indicates as many as nine of ten potential voters see healthcare reform as a key concern this election season.

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