Date of Birth: August 29, 1936

Place of Birth: Panama Canal Zone (then under US control)

Race:  Caucasian

Religious Affiliation: Baptist

Education
B.S., US Naval Academy 1958

Family
Spouse: married his second wife Cindy Hensley, 1980
Children: adopted sons from his first wife Douglas and Andrew, (with first wife Carol, married 1965, divorced 1980) Sidney, born 1980, Meghan and Bridget, born and adopted 1991, John IV, James

Experience

Current position
US Senator from Arizona, 1986-current

Past Public Service Positions
US House of Representatives for Arizona’s First District, 1983-1987
US Navy, pilot

Why I Got Into Politics

Sen. McCain wrote about the importance of public service in an Oct. 2001 Washington Monthly article “Putting the ‘National’ in National Service.”
 
“Success, wealth, celebrity gained and kept for private interest---these are small things. They make us comfortable, ease the way for our children, and purchase a fleeting regard for our lives, but not the self-respect that, in the end, matters most. Sacrifice for a cause greater than self-interest, however, and you invest your life with the eminence of that cause.

“Americans did not fight and win World War II as discrete individuals. Their brave and determined energies were mobilized and empowered by a national government headed by democratically elected leaders. That is how a free society remains free and achieves greatness. National service is a crucial means of making our patriotism real, to the benefit of both ourselves and our country.”