John McCain

John McCain was a U.S. senator, Navy veteran and 2008 Republican presidential nominee. McCain was raised in a military family, with his father and grandfather both serving as four-star admirals. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1958.

McCain served as a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War, and was at one point held captive as a prisoner of war in Hanoi until 1973. After retiring from the Navy in 1981, he launched his political career and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982. He won a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona in 1986 and served until his death in 2018.

During his time in the Senate, McCain was known for his work on campaign finance reform, national security and foreign policy. He co-authored the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act and frequently took bipartisan stances. He ran for president in 2000 and again in 2008, when he secured the Republican nomination and infamously chose Sarah Palin as his running mate before losing to Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

McCain married Carol Shepp in 1965 and adopted her two sons. They had one daughter, Sidney (born in 1966), before divorcing in 1980. That same year, he married Cindy Hensley. Together, they welcomed children Meghan, Jack and James, and adopted a daughter, Bridget.

He died on August 25, 2018 at the age of 81.