Early years and military career
Family
John Sidney McCain the third was born on August 29 at the US Air Force Base "Coco Solo" near the city of Colon in Panama (at that time the US leased the Panama Canal Zone). McCain's father, John Sidney "Jack" McCain, Jr. (-), was a US Naval officer who served in World War II (as a submarine officer) and completed his service with the rank of four-star admiral. Awarded with Silver and Bronze Stars. Mother - Roberta McCain, nee Wright (born in). John McCain's grandfather, John S. McCain, also held the rank of four-star admiral, was one of the founders of the carrier-based strategy of the US Navy, and participated in battles in the Pacific theater of World War II.
As a child, John traveled a lot with his parents due to the frequent transfers of his father on business (New London, Connecticut; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, other military bases in the Pacific. At the end of World War II, the McCain family moved to Virginia , where John entered St. Stephen's School in the city of Alexandria, having studied there until.V - McCain attended a private Episcopal school, where he achieved particular success in wrestling... Due to his father's frequent moves, in total, McCain studied at about 20 different schools. In childhood, he was distinguished by an energetic character, irascibility and aggressiveness, the desire to win in competition with peers.
From childhood, McCain belonged to the Episcopal Church of the United States, but moved to the Baptists (the Baptist Church of Phoenix in Arizona, which is part of the Southern Baptist Convention, which adheres to the conservative views of the largest Protestant denomination in the United States), to which his second wife belongs.
Education, early military service, and first marriage
Following in his father's footsteps, after leaving school, McCain entered the Naval Academy in Annapolis, was released in 1958. Every year, John received at least 100 reprimands and was frequently reprimanded for breach of discipline and failure to comply with military regulations, from unpolished boots to inappropriate remarks about superiors. At the same time, with a height of 1 meter 70 cm and a weight of 58 kg, he distinguished himself as a capable lightweight boxer. McCain only got good grades in the subjects that interested him: history, English literature, and public administration. Nevertheless, out of 899 graduates in 1958, John McCain scored 894th.
McCain (bottom right) with the pilots of his squadron
Involvement in the Vietnam War
Captivity
The Vietnamese pull the downed McCain from the lake in the center of Hanoi
During the interrogation, in accordance with the American military regulations, he gave only brief information about himself - by the name of the Vietnamese established that they had captured the son of a high-ranking American officer. After that, he was given medical assistance, and his capture was officially announced. He spent six weeks in the hospital, during this period a French television journalist was admitted to him, he was visited by prominent Vietnamese figures who considered McCain a representative of the American military-political elite. In December 1967, having lost 26 kg and turned gray (he later received the nickname "White Tornado"), McCain was transferred to a prisoner of war camp in Hanoi, where his comrades took care of him.
Political career
congressman
With the active support of his father-in-law, McCain got involved in the political life of the United States and already in November was elected a member of the US House of Representatives from the first constituency of Arizona as a Republican. Two years later, he was easily re-elected for another two-year term. McCain generally supported the political and economic course of President Ronald Reagan. However, he voted against the presence of US Marines in Lebanon, who were part of the multinational force, as he saw no prospects for a US military presence in that country. This vote, which went against the interests of the Republican administration, is associated with the beginning of McCain's reputation as an individualist politician. A month after this vote, American Marines suffered significant casualties in the bombing of the Beirut barracks, proving McCain right.
During his tenure in the House of Representatives, McCain specialized in Indian issues and participated in the passage of the Indian Economic Development Act, signed in. That same year, he visited Vietnam for the first time since his captivity, along with the legendary journalist Walter Cronkite.
Senator
Since 1987, McCain has served on the Senate Armed Services, Commerce, and Indian Affairs committees. In - and -2007 he was chairman of the committee on Indian affairs, in 1997- and -2005 - chairman of the committee on trade. Since January 2007 - Senior Minority Representative on the Armed Services Committee.
McCain and the Campaign Finance Problem
At the beginning of his tenure in the Senate, McCain was involved in a high-profile political scandal related to the activities of the banker Charles Keating, who was one of his political sponsors in 1982-1987 (in total, Keating financially supported the election campaigns of five US senators - the Keating Five , ). In addition, McCain and his family made at least nine trips at Keating's expense - he later returned their cost, which was more than $ 13 thousand. When Keating began to have financial problems, McCain repeatedly met with financial regulators (overseeing US savings banks) in order to to help Keating. Support from McCain, like other senators, did not lead to any results, except for moral damage to them (later Keating's financial company went bankrupt, he himself spent five years in prison, although he was able to pay off most of the victims). Although McCain was not accused of illegal actions, the Senate ethics committee reprimanded him in connection with this story; he himself admitted the fallacy of his conduct in this matter.
After the Keating affair, McCain began to actively criticize the influence of big money on American politics. By 1994, he, along with Senator Russell Finegold (D-Wisconsin), drafted a bill to limit political campaign contributions to corporations and other organizations - including in order to avoid a repeat of situations like the Keating case. The McCain-Feingold bill met with strong opposition from prominent figures in both major US parties, but met with support in the media and the public. In 1995, the first version of this legislation was introduced in the Senate, but failed the following year, the same thing happened again in 1998 and 1999. The McCain-Feingold Act was passed only in (it became known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act) after the scandalous case of Enron, increased public attention to the problem of corruption. The legislation is considered McCain's major accomplishment during his senatorial career; he also raised his profile as a "political maverick".
John McCain was very fond of the song "Take a chance on me" by ABBA. He promised that if he won, "Take a chance on me" would sound in all the elevators of the White House. He is also known to listen to the song at high volume before important public performances. He even approached ABBA members for permission to use the song as their official campaign anthem, but the group asked for too much money. It's possible that ABBA just didn't want their music to be associated with the Republicans.
Other aspects of activity in the Senate
In the early 1990s, McCain, along with another Vietnam veteran, Senator John Kerry, worked on the problem of American servicemen missing in Vietnam, in connection with which he repeatedly visited the country again. McCain's activities contributed to the normalization of US-Vietnamese relations. During the same period, his relationship with Kerry improved - McCain previously perceived him sharply negatively due to Kerry's participation in the anti-war movement after returning from Vietnam.
As chairman of the trade committee, McCain advocated increasing taxes on cigarettes to fund anti-tobacco campaigns, reduce the number of teenage smokers, increase health research, and offset the health care costs associated with the effects of smoking. At the same time, he received the support of the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton, but broke up with the majority of senators from his own party - as a result, his initiative was not implemented.
Fidel Castro spoke very harshly about McCain in a number of articles specially dedicated to him under the general title "Republican Candidate", where, in particular, he refuted McCain's claims that Cubans tortured American prisoners of war in Vietnam.
One of his pre-election proposals, McCain announced the need to create a "new UN, without Russia and China", in his opinion, it is necessary to create a new organization that would determine the policy of the "democratic part of the world community" - it could be the "League of Democracies", uniting in within its framework "more than a hundred democracies" .
Political views
McCain is in favor of strengthening the US military potential, increasing the size of the US military and for the deployment of a missile defense system (ABM). In his view, "an effective missile defense system is critical as an insurance against potential threats posed by possible strategic rivals such as Russia and China."
He is a supporter of the liberalization of immigration laws (with some restrictions) and action to prevent global warming - in these matters, his position diverges from the point of view of the conservative majority of the Republican electorate. Unlike most party colleagues, he voted in the Senate against a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage, and in favor of federal funding for a stem cell research program. At the same time, his position on a number of other iconic issues - such as abortion, the death penalty, welfare issues - is distinctly conservative.
McCain and V. V. Putin's trolling
John McCain is known for his extremely negative attitude towards the strengthening, in his opinion, of the authoritarian regime in Russia and the policies of the second Russian President Vladimir Putin; according to the Russian newspaper Izvestia, McCain is sometimes referred to as the "chief
American Republican politician, senator from Arizona since 1987. Previously, from 1983 to 1987, a member of the House of Representatives. Veteran of the Vietnam War, has military awards. From 1967 to 1973 he was in Vietnamese captivity. One of the main contenders for the Republican Party presidential nomination in the 2008 elections.
John Sidney McCain III was born on August 29, 1936 at the American naval base Coco Solo in the Panama Canal Zone. After graduating from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia in 1954, he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather: both of them were admirals in the US Navy. In 1958 he graduated from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis (Maryland). His academic success was rather modest: in the course progress rating, he occupied one of the last lines.
In 1958, McCain joined the Naval Air Service. Took part in the Vietnam War. In 1967, North Vietnamese air defense forces shot down McCain's plane over Hanoi. The young officer was taken prisoner in a POW camp known as the Hanoi Hilton. There he spent five and a half years - until 1973, being humiliated and tortured. His life was saved only by the fact that McCain's father, Admiral John McCain Jr. (John S. McCain Jr.), commanded American forces in the Pacific, and the Vietnamese became aware of this. The prisoner of war was offered early release, but he refused. Under torture, McCain signed a confession that the Vietnamese command used for propaganda purposes: "I am a dirty criminal who committed an act of air piracy. I almost died, but the Vietnamese people saved my life, thanks to the Vietnamese doctors." Weakened from torture, McCain tried to commit suicide, but the guards interrupted this attempt. One of the consequences of McCain's captivity was his premature gray hair - later, because of it, he, rapidly involved in the political life of the United States, was nicknamed the White Tornado.
Upon his return to the United States, McCain took up the position of Naval Senate Liaison Officer. In 1974 (according to other sources, in 1973) he graduated from the National Military College in Washington. He retired in 1981. He has several military awards: the Order of the Bronze Star, the Cross for Distinguished Flying, the Order of Military Merit, the Order of the Purple Heart, and the Order of the Silver Star.
After a brief stint with his father-in-law, the beer baron James Hensley, McCain embarked on a political career. In 1982, as a member of the Republican Party, he was elected from Arizona to the House of Representatives, and then, in 1986, to the Senate. A few years later, McCain's political career nearly ended ingloriously: he became one of the Keating Five, a group of senators who tried to illegally lobby for the interests of the Arizona financial tycoon Charles Keating. The Senate investigation was limited to convicting McCain of "short-sightedness."
In 1996, McCain participated in the presidential campaign of his friend - the Republican candidate Bob Dole (Bob Dole), and two years later decided to try his hand at the presidential race. In 2000, he took part in the Republican primaries, but lost to Texas Governor George W. Bush. McCain managed to win a decisive victory in the first round of the primaries - in the state of New Hampshire, but the further pre-election struggle with the Bush team turned out to be beyond the senator's strength. A wave of defamatory rumors hit him: it was that McCain himself was allegedly mentally ill, and his black adopted daughter was allegedly his own child from a prostitute. Presumably, the source of such rumors were strategists who worked for McCain's opponent, in particular the "architect" of Bush's victories Karl Rove (Karl Rove). The senator was not saved from defeat even by his military past, which he used as a trump card throughout his political career.
Another factor that scared Republican voters away from McCain was such qualities as his insistence on independence from the party line and the choice of political moves that were unconventional for Republicans. The senator has long been disliked by pro-Republican lobbyists. He gained notoriety as a proponent of electoral law reform, pushing for greater transparency in the flow of funding directed to candidates by various pressure groups. In 2002, together with Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, he pushed for legislation to limit corporate, union, and law firm contributions to political parties. In 2005, McCain initiated a lawsuit against well-known lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Jack Abramoff). Abramoff confessed in court to trying to bribe officials, and this served as an impetus for a new campaign to limit the practice of lobbying.
In the 2004 election, McCain reportedly supported the incumbent's candidacy, thanks to the efforts of Rove and McCain's top aide, John Weaver. Bush's opponent, Democratic Senator John Kerry, has signaled that he would like to see McCain as his vice president, but McCain has remained loyal to the party.
The Arizona senator has been known as one of the leading hawks ever since the Kosovo conflict, when he chided the Bill Clinton administration for not acting decisively against the Serbian government. McCain not only opposed the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, but also called for an increase in the contingent in that country. At the same time, McCain criticized the administration's policy on suspected terrorist prisoners. In October 2005, he introduced a bill banning the practice of torture in American prisons. The document was sustained in a spirit that is traditional not for Republicans, but for Democrats. Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley tried to reason with the senator, but McCain remained adamant. In December 2005, his bill was passed by Congress.
With the 2008 presidential election approaching, McCain emerged as a potential Republican favorite. In June 2006, according to the popularity rating, he left behind the likely Democratic candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton: 46-47 percent of the respondents were ready to vote for McCain, and 40-42 percent for Clinton. In the case of a confrontation with another Democrat - former Vice President Albert Gore (Albert Gore) - McCain's advantage could be even more significant: 51 percent to 33.
McCain, with his controversial reputation among his fellow party members, had to present himself in a new capacity: he declared himself a staunch conservative, began to give eulogies to Bush and forged relationships with some of his former rival's influential advisers and sponsors. McCain tried to draw attention to his strengths in terms of party discipline: he voted for a ban on abortion, against gun control, for the use of the death penalty, supported the missile defense program. He endorsed the Bush administration's tax cuts, which he opposed in 2001 and 2002. In addition, McCain tried to enlist the support of religious conservatives with whom he had not gotten along before, in particular the famous televangelist Jerry Falwell (Jerry Falwell). However, observers say it will not be easy to overcome the accumulated contradictions between McCain and his party - he is one of the few Republican senators who voted against a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and in favor of federal funding for a stem cell research program.
In light of McCain's possible victory in 2008, his attitude towards Russia is especially interesting: the senator has gained a reputation as one of the main "Russophobes" of the United States. He criticized the political course of the Russian leadership and the leadership of Russia's allied Belarus, as well as Bush's "pro-Russian" position. McCain argued that Russia - a country with very little "glimpse of democracy" and cooperating with Iran - should not be allowed into the club of the leading developed countries, the G8. In 2006, the senator urged Bush to boycott the G8 summit in St. Petersburg. McCain is known as a defender of anti-Russian regimes in the former USSR. In 2005, together with Hillary Clinton, he nominated Viktor Yushchenko and Mikhail Saakashvili for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2006, McCain assured the Georgian leadership that the United States would certainly protect this Caucasian country from Moscow's imperial ambitions.
Since 2005, McCain has chaired the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and also serves on the Armed Services, Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committees. It was assumed that if the Republicans won the midterm elections in November 2006, McCain in January 2007 could head the Committee on Armed Services, but the victory went to the Democratic Party - the Democrats won a majority in both houses of Congress. Shortly after the election, it became known about the creation of an exploratory committee to prepare for McCain's participation in the 2008 presidential race - thus the first step was taken towards the official nomination of a senator for the presidency.
In 2006, McCain ranked tenth in the list of the richest US senators, his fortune amounted to $ 29 million. His main source of income is the beer company owned by his wife Cindy Hensley McCain. McCain has co-authored several books with his assistant Mark Salter. One of them, the autobiography Faith of My Fathers, was published before the 1999 presidential election and became a bestseller.
John McCain is married for the second time. He has seven children: four sons and three daughters. At the same time, two of the sons are the children of his first wife adopted by him, and one of the daughters is the notorious black orphan from Bangladesh. The senator has four grandchildren. One of McCain's sons, Jim, is serving in the US Marine Corps and may become one of the US troops in Iraq. The senator worries about his son, but does not intend to change his attitude towards the war.
Moscow, July 20 - Vesti.Ekonomika. US Senator John McCain has repeatedly found himself in the spotlight thanks to his caustic and frankly boorish comments about our country and its representatives.
Not so long ago, John McCain, on Fox News Sunday, commenting on the recent meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US President Donald Trump, said that the Russian minister "has nothing to do in the Oval Office."
The US senator also called Lavrov a "propagandist and henchman" of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
For such statements, McCain has long earned himself the reputation of a Russophobe among Russian politicians.
Dmitry Novikov, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said that Senator McCain is an ardent Russophobe and an old veteran of the Cold War, and no one expects anything from him except insults against Russia, but his attacks only confirm the correctness of the foreign policy course. his words to the Russian media.
John McCain in Kyiv in December 2013.
Andrey Klimov, deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, for his part, said that McCain is a "half-crazy figure" and not entirely adequate, probably from the consequences of captivity during the Vietnam War.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that John McCain evokes nothing but pity and noted that he criticizes Russian leaders because of the excess of poison.
Below we present 10 curious facts about the most famous Russophobe.
1. John McCain was born into a military family.
McCain's grandfather and father were admirals in the United States Navy. John McCain followed in their footsteps and graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1958 as a carrier-based pilot.McCain's father, John Sidney "Jack" McCain, Jr. (1911-1981), was a US Naval officer who served in World War II (as a submarine officer) and completed his service as a four-star admiral. Awarded with Silver and Bronze Stars.
John McCain's grandfather, John S. McCain, also held the rank of four-star admiral, was one of the founders of the US Navy's aircraft carrier strategy and fought in the Pacific theater of World War II.
2. At the academy, McCain was not well-behaved.
John McCain in his youth.
Following in his father's footsteps, after graduating from high school, McCain entered the Naval Academy in Annapolis, graduating in 1958.
Every year, John received at least 100 reprimands and was often punished for breach of discipline and non-compliance with military regulations, from unpolished boots to inappropriate remarks about superiors.
McCain got good marks only in those subjects that interested him: history, English literature and public administration.
Of the 899 graduates of 1958, John McCain scored 894th.
3. McCain took part in the Vietnam War
At the end of 1966, McCain was transferred to serve on the aircraft carrier Forrestal, and already in the spring of 1967, Forrestal was transferred to the Pacific Ocean to participate in Operation Rolls of Thunder - the code name for the bombing campaign of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam by US aircraft in time of the Vietnam War.4. McCain almost died in a fire.
On July 29, 1967, during a fire at the Forrestal, McCain almost died. The planes were ready to take off when a Zuni rocket spontaneously launched from an F-4 aircraft opposite McCain's plane.According to one version, it hit the fuel tank of McCain's own plane, according to another, into the next one. A fire broke out that spread to the rest of the aircraft. As a result of the fire, bombs suspended from aircraft began to explode.
The crash killed 134 and injured 62 US Navy sailors. More than 20 aircraft were irretrievably lost. McCain was hit by shrapnel in the legs and chest.
5. During the Vietnam War, McCain was captured.
John McCain after his release from captivity.
On October 26, 1967, McCain, as part of a group of 20 aircraft, flew to bomb a power plant in the center of Hanoi and was shot down by an S-75 anti-aircraft missile. The pilot ejected and landed in a lake in the center of Hanoi.
In doing so, he broke both arms and a leg and was severely beaten by Vietnamese soldiers. In this state, McCain was placed in the main prison of Hanoi.
During the interrogation, in accordance with the American military regulations, he gave only brief information about himself - by the name of the Vietnamese established that they had captured the son of a high-ranking American officer.
After that, he was given medical assistance, and his capture was officially announced. He spent six weeks in the hospital. In December 1967, McCain was transferred to a POW camp in Hanoi, where he was cared for by fellow prisoners.
In March 1968 he was placed in solitary confinement. In total, McCain spent 1967 days (5 and a half years) in captivity and was released on March 15, 1973, after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords between the USA and the DRV.
6. After captivity, McCain moved on crutches.
According to McCain, while in captivity, he was subjected to systematic beatings. The fractures received in these days have led to the fact that McCain has lost the ability to raise his hands above his head.In 1973-1974 underwent a course of very exhausting and painful physical therapy, after which he was again able to do without crutches and restore his pilot's qualifications.
7. John McCain was a two-time US presidential candidate.
In 2000, McCain participated in the presidential primaries from the Republican Party, becoming the most serious competitor of George W. Bush.He managed to win in New Hampshire, Arizona, Michigan and the states of New England - Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont.
The liberal part of the Republicans came out on his side, and conservative Protestant figures, whom McCain criticized as "self-proclaimed leaders", actively acted against him.
During the election campaign against McCain, "dirty technologies" were used, designed for the conservative part of the Republican voters - for example, before the psychologically important primaries in South Carolina, a rumor was spread that McCain had an illegitimate daughter from an African-American relationship.
This rumor was connected with the fact that he adopted a girl from Bangladesh, but in the time remaining before the primaries, McCain did not have time to tell voters the truth.
On February 28, 2007, McCain announced the start of his 2008 presidential election campaign, becoming one of the most well-known candidates to American voters.
At the start of the 2008 election campaign, McCain won the primaries in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida, which made him the leading candidate among the Republicans.
On September 24, McCain announced the suspension of his campaign due to the need to overcome the mortgage and financial crisis.
8. John McCain is a father of many children.
In 1964, he met Philadelphia model Carol Shepp, whom he married on July 3, 1965. McCain adopted her two sons from her first marriage, Doug (3 years old) and Andy (5 years old). In September 1966, their daughter Sidney was born.Shortly after McCain's return from captivity, he separated from his wife, but already on May 17, 1980, he remarried Cindy Lou Hensley.
In 1984, their daughter Megan was born, in 1986 - the son of John Sidney IV ("Jack"), like his father, who was educated at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, in 1988 - the son of James, in 2006 enrolled in the Marine Corps and at the end of 2007 sent to serve in Iraq.
In 1991, the couple took into the family a three-month-old girl from Bangladesh, who was in the orphanage of Mother Teresa and needed treatment in the United States - she was named Bridget. After going through all the formalities, she was adopted in 1993.
9. Doctors diagnosed McCain with a brain tumor.
On July 14, surgeons at a medical center in Phoenix, Arizona, successfully performed surgery to remove a five-centimeter blood clot from McCain's left eye. The 80-year-old senator is currently doing well but will be out of business for at least the next week, media reported.A specialist who participated in the operation, which lasted more than three hours, told CNN that the legislator was diagnosed with glioblastoma associated with the formation of a blood clot. According to the doctor, the tumor was removed.
10. McCain advocates the legalization of same-sex marriage.
John McCain is a supporter of the liberalization of US immigration laws and the legalization of same-sex marriage, but advocates a ban on abortion and against the abolition of the death penalty. Leads the fight for the prohibition of torture in American prisons.1. Family, early years and military career
2. Participation in the Vietnam War and captivity
3. Political career.Congressman and
4. McCain and the issue of campaign finance
Other aspects of activity in the US Senate
5. 2000 presidential candidate
6. Election campaign-2008
7. Political views
8. McCain and Russia
9. Hobbies of John Sidney McCain.
John McCain III- senior senator United States from Arizona since 1987. Member of the Republican political party since 1982. The main candidate for the Republican presidential elections USA 2008, where he was defeated by Democrat Barack Obama.
Name at birth: McCain III
Occupation: American, Republican Senator
Birthplace: Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone
Father: John S. McCain Jr.
Mother: Roberta Wright McCain
Spouse: Carol Shepp (div. 1980)
Cindy Lou Hensley (Women 1980)
Children: Douglas (born 1959, adopted 1966), Andrew (born 1962, adopted 1966), Sydney (born 1966), Megan (born 1984), John Sidney IV "Jack" (born 1986), James "Jimmy" (born 1988), Bridget (born 1991, adopted 1993)
Awards and titles
silver star
"Legion of Honor"
bronze star
Medal "Purple Heart"
Distinguished Service Cross
POW medal
National Defense Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Order of Victory named after St. George (Georgia, 2006)
Family, early years and military career
John McCain the third was born on August 29, 1936 at the air force base USA"Coco Solo" near the city of Colon in Panama (at that time the US-leased Panama Canal Zone). McCain's father, John Sidney "Jack" McCain Jr. (1911–1981), was a US naval officer who fought in World War II. wars(as a submarine officer), who completed his service with the rank of four-star admiral. Awarded with Silver and Bronze Stars. Mother - Roberta McCain, nee WRIGHT(born in 1912). McCain III's grandfather, John S. McCain, also held the rank of four-star admiral, was one of the founders of the carrier-based strategy of the US Navy, participated in battles in the Pacific theater fighting World War II.
As a child, John traveled extensively with his parents due to his father's frequent transfers on business (New London, Connecticut; Pearl Harbor, state Hawaii, other military bases in the Pacific. At the end of World War II, the McCain family moved to Virginia, where John entered St. Stephen's School in Alexandria, studying there until 1949. In 1951-1954, McCain attended a private Episcopal school, where he achieved particular success in wrestling. Due to his father's frequent moves, McCain attended about 20 different schools in total. In childhood, he was distinguished by an energetic character, irascibility and aggressiveness, the desire to win in competition with peers.
From childhood, McCain belonged to the Episcopal Church of the United States, but in 2007 he switched to the Baptists (the Phoenix Baptist Church in Arizona, which is part of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest conservative Protestant denomination in the United States), to which his second wife belongs.
Following in his father's footsteps, after leaving school, McCain entered the Naval Academy in Annapolis, from which he graduated in 1958. John received at least 100 reprimands annually and was often reprimanded for violation of discipline and non-compliance with military regulations, from unpolished boots to inappropriate remarks about bosses. At the same time, with a height of 1 meter 70 cm and a weight of 58 kg, he distinguished himself as a capable lightweight boxer. McCain got good marks only in those subjects that interested him: history, English literature and public administration. Nevertheless, out of 899 graduates of 1958, John Sidney McCain scored 894th.
In 1958-1960, he trained for a year and a half on the Douglas A-1 Skyrader attack aircraft at the Pensacola Naval Aviation Base in Florida and Corpus Christi in Texas. During this time, he earned a reputation as a "party person", drove a Chevrolet Corvette, dated a stripper nicknamed "Maria the Flame of Florida" and, as McCain himself later noted, "wasted his youth and health." John was an air scorcher and rarely sat up to read the flight manual. While training in Texas, the engine on McCain's plane failed and the plane crashed to the ground on landing. The pilot escaped with minor injuries. In 1960, McCain graduated from flying school and became a ground attack pilot in the Naval Aviation.
From 1960 he served on the aircraft carriers Intrepid and Enterprise in the Caribbean. He served on the Enterprise during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the naval blockade of Cuba in October 1962. While serving in Spain, McCain inadvertently hit power lines in flight, and this incident caused him to be transferred to Meridian Naval Base in Mississippi, where he became an instructor.
In 1964, he met Philadelphia model Carol Shepp, whom he married on July 3, 1965. McCain adopted two of her sons from her first marriage (with classmate John) - Doug (3 years old) and Andy (5 years old). In September 1966 their daughter Sydney was born.
In December 1965, McCain had another accident. During the flight, the engine caught fire, John successfully ejected, but the plane crashed. McCain asked his superiors to transfer him from an instructor position to combat service. At the end of 1966 he was transferred to the aircraft carrier Forrestal. McCain continued his military service in the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft. By March 1967, his father had already become Commander-in-Chief of the US Naval Forces in Europe and was serving in London.
Participation in the Vietnam War and captivity
In the spring of 1967, Forrestal was transferred to the Pacific Ocean to participate in Operation Rolling Thunder. McCain, like his colleagues, expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the list of targets was limited, so that they had to be hit many times, with no guarantee that these targets were significant for winning the war. At the same time, American pilots had to overcome the air defense system created with the participation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ().
On July 29, 1967, McCain nearly died in a Forrestal fire. An unguided rocket accidentally fired hit his plane, which was preparing to take off from the deck. He managed to escape by jumping onto the deck. The ensuing fire killed 134 and injured 62 US Navy sailors. More than 20 aircraft were irretrievably lost. McCain was hit by shrapnel in the legs and chest. After the Forrestal was sent for repairs, on September 30, 1967, McCain was transferred to the aircraft carrier Oriskany in the 163rd assault squadron. In total, until the end of October 1967, he made 22 sorties, including targets in the Haiphong and Hanoi regions.
On October 26, 1967, McCain, as part of a group of 20 aircraft, flew to bomb a power plant in the center of Hanoi and was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile (later former Soviet officer Yuri Trushechkin announced his participation in his downing). The pilot ejected and landed in the lake, nearly drowning; he broke both arms and a leg and was severely beaten by Vietnamese soldiers: his shoulder was shattered and he was wounded twice. In this state, McCain was placed in the main prison of Hanoi - they refused to send him to the hospital, believing that he would die anyway.
During interrogation, in accordance with the American military regulations, he gave only brief information about himself - by the name of the Vietnamese established that they had captured the son of a high-ranking American officer. Only after that he was provided with medical assistance, and his captivity was officially announced. He spent six weeks in the hospital, this time a French television journalist was admitted to him, he was visited by prominent Vietnamese figures who considered McCain a representative of the American military-political elite. In December 1967, having lost 26 kg and turned gray (he later received the nickname "White Tornado"), McCain was transferred to a prisoner of war camp in Hanoi, where his comrades took care of him.
In March 1968 he was placed in solitary confinement.
In July 1968, his father became Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Fleet and, by extension, Commander of the US Navy in the Vietnam War. Then, for propaganda purposes, the North Vietnamese authorities offered to release McCain before his comrades, but he said that he would only accept if the American military personnel who had been captured before him were also released. Vietnamese officials informed the American representative at the Paris peace talks, Averell Harriman, about McCain's refusal to release him.
In August 1968, McCain was subjected to constant beatings (every two hours) in an effort to break his will. At the same time, he was ill with dysentery, and the guards prevented him from committing suicide. After four days of such "interrogations", he wrote a short "confession" of his criminal activities against the Vietnamese people - while using uncharacteristic communist jargon to show that this document was obtained through torture. New fractures received these days have led to the fact that McCain has lost the ability to raise his hands above his head. He later recalled: “I learned what we all learned there: each person has his own limit. I have achieved mine." However, his mistreatment did not stop there - he continued to be beaten (two or three times a week) for refusing to sign a new "confession". He recalled that every morning the warden came to him and demanded that the prisoner bow to him, and in response to refusal, stabbed him in the temple. In addition, they tried to force McCain to give out military information - after another beating, he announced that he agreed to give the names of his squadron mates, after which he listed the list of Green Bay Packers football players to the Vietnamese. In the same period he refused on principle to meet with American anti-war activists who visited Hanoi, in order to prevent him from being used for propaganda purposes against his country.
In the summer of 1969, one of the Americans released from captivity reported on the torture to which he was subjected. Thereafter, the treatment of prisoners of war improved. In October 1969, McCain was transferred to the Hoalo Prison, known ironically to American pilots as the Hanoi Hilton. There, he continued to refuse to meet with American anti-war activists and journalists who sympathized with North Vietnam.
The prisoner of war was offered early release, but he refused. Under torture, McCain signed a confession that the Vietnamese command used for propaganda purposes: "I am a dirty criminal who committed an act of air piracy. I almost died, but the Vietnamese people saved my life, thanks to the Vietnamese doctors." Weakened from torture, McCain tried to commit suicide, but the guards interrupted this attempt. One of the consequences of McCain's captivity was his premature gray hair - later, because of it, he, rapidly involved in the political life of the United States, received the nickname White tornado.
In total, McCain spent 1967 days (5 and a half years) in captivity and was released on March 15, 1973 after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords between the United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
After repatriation from captivity, McCain remained in military service. A photograph of him meeting with President Richard Nixon on September 14, 1973 at a reception at the White House became widely known (McCain was still on crutches at the time).
In 1973-1974, he attended the National War College (Washington, DC) and underwent a course of very debilitating and painful physical therapy, after which he was again able to do without crutches and restore his pilot's qualifications. In late 1974, he was assigned to a training squadron stationed at Cecil Field Naval Air Station near Jacksonville. state Florida, and then became its commander. Improvement in the combat readiness of this unit was associated with his organizational skills. In 1977, McCain became a naval liaison officer for the American US Senate- he later called this experience "a real entrance to the world of politics." In 1981, realizing that the consequences of injuries and injuries would not allow him to reach the admiral rank (like his grandfather and father), he left active service with the rank of captain of the 1st rank. During his military service, he was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Honor, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.
Soon after repatriation McCain from captivity, he broke up with his wife, who back in 1969 got into a severe car accident, after which she largely lost her attractiveness. McCain took responsibility for the downfall of his first marriage; he later wrote about his own selfishness and immaturity at the time and how he could not avoid confessing his guilt by referring to his Vietnamese captivity. On April 2, 1980, the couple officially divorced; at the same time, McCain left his former wife at home in Virginia and Florida, and also continued to finance her treatment.
Already on May 17, 1980, he entered into a new marriage with Cindy Lou Hensley, a teacher from Phoenix, Arizona and the daughter of a local big businessman James Willis Hensley (his wife inherited a huge beer company). In 1984 they had a daughter, Megan, in 1986, a son, John Sidney IV (“Jack”), like his father, who was educated at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, in 1988, a son, James, who entered the Marine Corps in 2006 and at the end 2007 sent to serve in Iraq. In 1991, the couple took into the family a three-month-old girl from Bangladesh, who was in Mother Teresa's shelter and needed treatment in the United States - she was named Bridget. After going through all the formalities, she was adopted in 1993.
By return in the United States, McCain took up the position of liaison officer for the Navy with chamber of the us congress. In 1974 (according to other sources, in 1973) he graduated from the National Military College in Washington. He retired in 1981. Has several military awards: Order of the Bronze Star, Cross for Flying Combat Merit, Order of Military Merit, Order of the Purple Heart, Order of the Silver Star.
Political career. congressman and senator
congressman After a brief stint in his father-in-law's organization, "beer baron" James Hensley, McCain embarked on a political career. With the active support of his father-in-law, McCain joined the political life of the United States and in November 1982 he was elected a member of the US House of Representatives from the first congressional district of Arizona as a Republican. Two years later, he was easily re-elected for another two-year term. McCain generally supported the political and economic course president Ronald Wilson Reagan. However, he voted against the presence of US Marines, who were part of the multinational force, in Lebanon, as he saw no prospects for a US military presence in that country. This vote, which ran counter to the interests of the republican administration, is associated with the beginning of the folding reputation McCain as an individualist politician. A month after that vote, US Marines suffered heavy casualties in the bombing of the Beirut barracks, proving McCain right. A few years later, McCain's political career almost ended ingloriously: he became one of the Keating Five, a group of senators who tried to illegally lobby the interests of the Arizona financial tycoon Charles Keating. The Senate investigation was limited to convicting McCain of "short-sightedness."
During his tenure in the House of Representatives, McCain specialized in Indian affairs and was involved in the passage of the Indian Economic Development Act, signed in 1985. In the same year, he visited Vietnam for the first time since captivity with the legendary journalist Walter Cronkite.
Senator. In November 1986, McCain was elected US Senator from Arizona, replacing the former Republican nominee for the post. president in 1964 by Barry Goldwater. In these elections, he received 60% of the votes. Officially, his term of office began in January 1987. He was re-elected to the US Senate in November 1992 (56%), November 1998 (69%) and November 2004 (77%, and even the majority of Arizona Democratic voters voted for McCain this time).
Since 1987, McCain has served on the House Armed Services, Commerce, and Indian Affairs committees. From 1995-1997 and 2005-2007 he was Chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, from 1997-2001 and 2003-2005 he was Chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee. trade. Since January 2007 - Senior Minority Representative on the Armed Services Committee.
Since 1993, McCain has been chairman of the board of directors of the International Republican Institute.
At the beginning of his tenure in the US Senate, McCain was involved in a high-profile political scandal related to the activities of the banker Charles Keating (Charles Keating, en), who was one of his political sponsors in 1982-1987 (in total, Keating financially supported the election campaigns of five US senators - Keating Five, en). In addition, McCain and his family made at least nine trips at Keating's expense - he later returned their cost, which was more than $ 13 thousand. When Keating began to have financial problems, McCain repeatedly met with financial regulators (overseeing US savings banks) in order to to help Keating. Support from McCain, like other senators, did not lead to any results, except for moral damage to them (later financial organization Keatinga went bankrupt, he himself spent five years in prison, although he was able to pay off most of the victims). Although McCain was not charged with illegal actions, the House Ethics Committee reprimanded him in connection with this story; he himself admitted the fallacy of his conduct in this matter.
After the Keating affair, McCain began to actively criticize the impact of big money on the American economy. politics. By 1994, he, along with Senator Ross Feingold (D-Wisconsin), developed a bill to limit political campaign contributions to corporations and other organizations, in part to avoid a repeat of situations like the Keating case. The McCain-Feingold bill met with strong opposition from prominent figures in both leading political parties United States, but met with support in the media and society. In 1995 the first version of this law was introduced to the US Senate, but failed the following year, the same thing happened again in 1998 and 1999. Law McCain-Feingold was passed only in 2002 (it became known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act) after the controversial Enron case, which raised public attention to the problem of corruption. The legislation is considered McCain's major accomplishment during his senatorial career; he also raised his profile as a "political maverick".
McCain III was very fond of the song Take a Chance on Me by ABBA. He promised that in case of victory, Take a chance on me would sound in all elevators of the US Presidential Residence (White House). He is also known to listen to the song at high volume before important public performances. He even approached the members of Abba for permission to use the song as their official campaign anthem, but the group asked for too much money. Maybe Abba just didn't want their music to be associated with the Republicans.
Other aspects of activity in the US Senate
In the early 1990s, McCain, along with another Vietnam veteran, Senator John Kerry, worked on the problem of American servicemen missing in Vietnam, in connection with which he repeatedly visited this country. McCain's activities contributed to the normalization of US-Vietnamese relations. In the same period his relationship with Kerry improved - previously McCain perceived him sharply negatively due to Kerry's participation in the anti-war movement after repatriation from Vietnam.
As chairman of the committee for trade McCain advocated increasing taxes on cigarettes to fund anti-tobacco campaigns, reduce the number of teen smokers, increase health research, and offset the health care costs associated with the effects of smoking. At the same time, he received the support of the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton, but broke up with the majority of senators from his own political party As a result, his initiative was not implemented.
He is a supporter of the liberalization of immigration legislation(with some restrictions) and action to prevent global warming - in these matters, his position diverges from the point of view of the conservative majority of the Republican electorate. Unlike most of his political party colleagues, he voted in the US Senate against a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and in favor of federal financing stem cell research programs. At the same time, his position on a number of other iconic issues - such as abortion, the death penalty, welfare issues - is distinctly conservative.
McCain and Russia
In the light of McCain's possible victory in 2008, his attitude towards the Russian Federation is especially interesting: he won reputation one of the main "Russophobes" of the United States. He criticized the political course of the Russian leadership and the leadership of the allied Russian Federation of Belarus, as well as Bush's "pro-Russian" position. McCain argued that the Russian Federation - country, in which "glimpses of people's power" are extremely weak and which cooperates with Iran - should not be allowed into the club of leading developed countries, the "Big Eight". In 2006, the senator urged Bush to boycott the G8 summit in St. Petersburg. McCain is known as a defender of anti-Russian regimes in the former USSR. In 2005, together with Hillary Clinton, he nominated Viktor Yushchenko and Mikhail Saakashvili for the Nobel Prize. prizes peace. In 2006, McCain assured the Georgian leadership that the United States would certainly protect this Caucasian country from Moscow's imperial ambitions.
John Sidney McCain is known for his extremely negative attitude towards the policies of the second Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2003, he stated that "American foreign policy must reflect the sobering conclusion that a Russian government that does not share our most basic values cannot be a friend or partner and risks, by its own conduct, placing itself in the ranks of an enemy." In his opinion, "a creeping coup against the forces popular government and market capitalism in the Russian Federation threatens the foundations of US-Russian relations and creates the specter of a new era of “cold peace” between Washington and Moscow.” Playing on George W. Bush's famous remark about "Putin's soul", after meeting with the Russian president in Slovenia, McCain said: "When I looked into Putin's eyes, I saw three letters: KGB."
In 2005, McCain and Senator Joseph Lieberman submitted a draft resolution to the US Senate demanding that the Russian Federation be suspended from the G8. In the same year, he became one of the initiators of the adoption by the US House of Congress of a resolution accusing Russian authorities that the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev was "politically motivated." The demand to exclude the Russian Federation from the G8 McCain expressed in the future:
Today we see the Russian Federation led by a cabal of former spies. They try to intimidate their democratic neighbors like Georgia, they try to play on addiction Europe from Russian black gold and gas. We need to reconsider the Western view of the revanchist Russian Federation. The first step is to expand the G8 to include market-leading people's power— Brazil and India, and exclude the Russian Federation.
McCain's point of view on the processes taking place in the post-Soviet space is also directly opposite to the position of the Kremlin. So, he actively criticizes the activities of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, in connection with which in 2004 he was banned from entering this country, according to McCain himself, his supporters and part of the media hostile to the current Belarusian leadership. Belarusian authorities they argue that this step was a symmetrical response (not only in relation to McCain, but also to a number of other American officials) to similar US measures against the President of the Republic of Belarus and other representatives of the leadership of Belarus. In 2005, McCain, along with Senator Hillary Clinton, nominated Mikheil Saakashvili and Viktor Yushchenko for the Nobel Peace Prize. The application said: "Awarding these two people with the Nobel Peace Prize will not only celebrate their historic role in Georgia and Ukraine, but will also give hope and inspiration to all those who seek freedom in other countries where it does not exist."
John Sidney McCain III is
In 2007, McCain was a supporter of a bill to support Georgia's and Ukraine's efforts to join NATO.
On August 26, 2008, McCain stated: "After Russia illegally recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Western countries should think about the independence of the North Caucasus and Chechnya, which was subjected to bloody violence by the Russian Federation."
In October 2008, McCain's headquarters sent a request for financial support (amount to choose from: from a few dollars to 2000) of his election campaign to the Permanent Mission of Russia to the UN. In response to this, the Russian Permanent Mission issued a press release on 18 October stating: “We have received a letter from Senator McCain III requesting a financial contribution to his presidential campaign. In this regard, we would like to reiterate that neither Russian officials, nor the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN, nor the Russian government finances political activities in foreign states.” According to representatives of McCain's campaign headquarters, we are talking about a simple computer glitch.
In 2006, McCain ranked tenth on the list of the richest US senators, his fortune was 29 million. dollars. The main source of his income is beer firm owned by his wife Cindy Hensley McCain. McCain has co-authored several books with his assistant Mark Salter. One of them, the autobiography Faith of My Fathers, was published before the 1999 presidential election and became a bestseller.
McCain III is married for the second time. He has seven children: four sons and three daughters. At the same time, two of the sons are the children of his first wife adopted by him, and one of the daughters is the notorious black orphan from Bangladesh. The senator has four grandchildren. One of McCain's sons, Jim, is serving in the US Marine Corps and could become one of the US troops in Iraq. The senator worries about his son, but does not intend to change his attitude towards the war.
Interests of John Sidney McCain
In his youth, McCain performed in the ring - he boxed well in lightweight. Among his hobbies were fishing, American football, basketball and baseball. In his circle of friends, John became famous as "a virtuoso in cooking barbecue."
McCain loves animals very much. He has an English spaniel named Sam, two turtles - Cuff and Link, an Oreo cat, a ferret, three parrots and aquarium fish.
From food, he prefers chocolate ice cream and pizza.
McCain has always been interested in cars: as a trainee he drove a Chevrolet Corvette, and now he owns an executive Cadillac.
Music and films. McCain prefers rock and roll. Of all the representatives of this trend, he singles out Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry and Roy Orbison. Favorite actors are Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe, and favorite director is Clint Eastwood. Favorite films are Viva Zapata!, Letters from Iwo Jima and Only Girls in Jazz.
Of the TV shows, McCain likes only Seinfeld, a comedy series that ran from 1989 to 1998, and 24, a thriller series that premiered in 2001.
Books. McCain's favorite book is Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. The current presidential candidate is also known as a writer: he has already published four books - "The Faith of My Fathers" (1999), memoirs "It's Worth the Fight" (2002), "Why Courage Matters" (2004) and "Character is Destiny" (2005). McCain is currently working on a book on Afghanistan.
Wikipedia
US presidential candidate John Sidney McCain III- John McCain was born on August 29, 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone, which at that time was controlled by the United States. In 1958, he graduated from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis (Maryland) and entered the service in the naval aviation. Served in... Encyclopedia of newsmakers
John Sidney McCain- Republican John McCain is declared the winner of the Washington state midterm elections on February 10. US Senator John Sidney McCain III was born on August 29, 1936 at the American naval base Coco Solo in the Panama Canal Zone ... Encyclopedia of newsmakers Wikipedia
McCain
McCain, John- John McCain John McCain Birth name: John Sidney McCain Occupation: American ... Wikipedia
When an American Senator John McCain and, the square responded with jubilation. Although, in fact, the Ukrainian opposition should by all means keep McCain out of Ukraine, since his support, as a rule, does not bode well for those to whom it is addressed.
A slob from a good family
John Sidney McCain III's launching pad in life was just perfect. He was born on August 29, 1936 at the US Air Force Base in Panama. His father and grandfather served in the US Navy to the rank of admiral, and therefore it is not surprising that John went on a military path after school.
McCain, relying on the help of influential relatives, entered the prestigious US Naval Academy, mastering the profession of a carrier-based pilot.
John did not want to study, showing all the habits inherent in the "golden youth". However, there was also parental guilt - while dad made his way to the admiral's rank, the family constantly changed their place of residence, so young Johnny changed as many as 20 schools.
At the academy, cadet McCain proved himself in the most disgusting way - during his studies, he had more than a hundred official penalties for violating the Charter, violating the uniform, non-compliance with military discipline, and rudeness towards the command.
Any other cadet after that would have flown out of the walls of the educational institution, but the authority of the father and grandfather was covered by the sins of the slob.
However, McCain was not completely hopeless: he established himself well as a lightweight boxer, knew English literature and history well.
As a result, out of 899 graduates of the 1958 academy, McCain had the 894th result.
The Pensacola Nightmare
The young pilot was sent to undergo training at the famous American air base Pensacola in Florida, where McCain revealed himself in all its glory. The command turned pale when they learned about how a drunken McCain drives around at breakneck speed in his car, scaring away respectable townsfolk, in the company of a local striptease star. The young pilot spent more time at the counters of numerous bars than in the cockpit.
McCain himself, in his biography, later honestly writes that at that time he "was in vain ruining his youth and health."
When McCain was transferred from Pensacola to the Corpus Christi base in Texas, his former commanders did not hide their happiness. And in Texas, they very soon understood the reason for the emotions of their colleagues - at one of the training sessions, McCain crashed the plane, escaping with minor bruises.
The loss of state-owned equipment was attributed to engine failure, although it was no secret to anyone that the pilot did not care about the instructions and flew as God would put it on his soul. The aviation world has known many talented aviation hooligans like Valery Chkalov, but the problem is that McCain did not possess such talent.
However, in 1960, John McCain became the pilot of the carrier-based attack aircraft carrier Intrepid. A little later, he was transferred to the aircraft carrier Enterprise, which in 1962 participated in the blockade of Cuba during the Caribbean crisis.
Wise commanders did not allow McCain to roam during that period, otherwise the Third World War could well have become a reality.
John McCain. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
The pilot who brings bad luck
When international tension eased a little, McCain was sent to serve somewhere quieter - in Spain. But the command did not take into account that you can’t take your eyes off this pilot, otherwise he will find tension even where it’s calm. McCain actually found it by blowing down a power line in mid-flight. By some miracle, the plane did not crash, and no one knew what the Spaniards left without electricity thought of McCain, because they were very polite Spaniards.
The investigation of the accident showed that the pilot was the culprit of the incident. McCain was rushed to the United States, where he was assigned as an instructor at Naval Air Station Meridian in Mississippi.
In the quiet of America, McCain started a family by marrying a divorced top model with two children. Soon the couple had a daughter.
John would live in silence, and wait for a promotion, but for some reason he continued to think that great military feats await him. In fact, McCain’s “exploits” simply shook the command: six months after the wedding, he managed to crash another plane. As before, expensive equipment was turned into a heap of trash, but the pilot survived.
Therefore, when McCain asked for military service, he was released with joy. In 1966, McCain became a ground attack pilot on the USS Forrestal. Here dust particles were literally blown off the pilot, because his father by that time commanded the US Naval Forces in Europe.
However, in 1967, the Forrestal was sent to the shores of Vietnam, where the United States intended to bomb the North Vietnamese government to refuse assistance to the communist rebels in the South of the country.
Vietnamese "trophy"
July 29, 1967 on the aircraft carrier "Forrestal" there was a major fire caused by a spontaneous launch of an aviation missile. She landed in the fuel tank of McCain's attack aircraft, after which an explosion occurred on the deck and a severe fire began. From the attack aircraft, of course, there were horns and legs, but McCain was not next to him.
As a result of the fire on the aircraft carrier, more than 130 people died, while our hero, according to tradition, was slightly injured. The Forrestal was sent for repairs, and the recovered McCain was sent to the aircraft carrier Oriskani to bomb Hanoi.
Surprisingly, John McCain managed to make as many as 22 bombing sorties, until he finally met her - the Soviet S-75 anti-aircraft missile. The meeting was short, but bright: the attack aircraft turned into scrap metal, and the pilot with broken legs fell into the waters of the lake in the middle of Hanoi.
McCain was pulled out of the water by the Vietnamese as a trophy, after which he was held captive until March 1973.
After serving five and a half years in Vietnamese camps, McCain returned to his homeland as a hero and was received personally. President Richard Nixon. By a strange coincidence, shortly after this meeting, Nixon was waiting for a "watergate" and a shameful resignation.
The Indian Specialist
McCain continued to dream of admiral's shoulder straps, however, with his track record, it was difficult to count on this even with a good pedigree.
In addition, while he was in captivity, his wife had an accident, after which her model appearance was badly damaged. McCain, after returning from Vietnam, realized that their marriage was a mistake, and a few years later the couple divorced.
Realizing that the military career had come to a standstill, John McCain decided to go into politics. The Republicans just needed a die-hard anti-communist with a good biography, and McCain, who went through the "Vietnamese Gulag", was just the right fit.
But in American politics, one cannot count on a successful career without serious financial resources. John McCain provided such a resource by marrying Cindy Lou Hensley, daughter of a major businessman, owner of a brewing company.
In 1982, 46-year-old John McCain was elected Congressman from Arizona. Four years later, he moved to the US Senate.
True, party colleagues very quickly felt that entrusting McCain with the most important issues was fraught with serious consequences. So for most of his Senate career, McCain served on the Indian Affairs Committee. What the Indians thought about this, no one ever found out, because they were very polite Indians.
McCain and African Americans
In 2000, John McCain decided to run for president. As a result, in the Republican "primaries", to the dismay of voters, a struggle unfolded between McCain and George W. Bush. Perhaps for the first time, Americans were able to understand what a genuine choice of the lesser of two evils means.
I must say that the "aura of the loser" haunts McCain even when he does good deeds. The politician and his second wife adopted a girl from Bangladesh, but this fact was not widely advertised. As a result, during the "primaries" in ultra-conservative South Carolina, the Bush Jr. team launched a rumor that McCain had an illegitimate daughter from an African American.
Some believe that this story was the decisive factor in Bush Jr.'s 2000 Republican nomination, not McCain's.
In 2008, John McCain nevertheless became a candidate for US President from the Republican Party, but even his supporters frankly admitted that the chances in the fight against the black Democrat Barack Obama he has a little. And so it happened.
It can be said that African Americans stood in the way of Republican John McCain to the White House twice: a virtual mistress and a real democrat.
Harbinger of Defeat
It seems that it was presidential ambitions that led McCain to turn his attention to international politics, especially to the post-Soviet space, from the beginning of the 2000s. The specter of a Russian anti-aircraft missile obviously haunted him, causing a violent desire to fight against Russia's "imperial ambitions".
McCain put forward demands for the exclusion of Russia and China from the UN, and the creation of a "new, democratic organization" in its place. In 2005, he demanded that Russia be excluded from the G8. In 2004 he got so fed up Alexander Lukashenko that he simply banned McCain from entering the country. In response, the senator promised to fight "the last dictator in Europe." Judging by the results, Lukashenko clearly wins on points.
Having been beaten up in Belarus, McCain switched to Ukraine, where he supported the leaders of the Orange Revolution in every possible way. Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko, which he even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. As a result, Yushchenko completely disappeared from the political life of Ukraine, and Tymoshenko spends time behind bars.
John McCain. A photo: www.globallookpress.com
McCain was also an ardent supporterMikhail Saakashvili. Encouraged, among other things, by McCain, the President of Georgia went to regain control over South Ossetia and Abkhazia with the help of military force, which led to the final loss of the latter. Today Saakashvili's political weight is comparable to Yushchenko's political weight.
When McCain began to actively support the armed opposition in Syria, Bashar al-Assad's supporters realized that they had a chance to win.
Loser
McCain regularly finds himself in ridiculous situations. In 2008, his campaign headquarters asked for money for an election campaign at the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN.
When in 2013 Vladimir Putin wrote an article in The New York Times. Apparently, the senator is sure to this day that nothing has changed in Russia since his time in captivity in Vietnam.
In December 2011, John McCain began to threaten Vladimir Putin with the Russian version of the "Arab Spring". Is it any wonder after that that the protests after the parliamentary elections ended in nothing - "McCain's aura" can work real miracles.
John McCain once said of Vladimir Putin: "When I looked into Putin's eyes, I saw three letters: KGB." If you look closely at the senator himself, then on his forehead you will see the inscription loser. And if John McCain came to the Kyiv Maidan, the audience can disperse - this guy brought defeat in more difficult cases.
