John McCain Biography

John McCain was born on August 29 at the Coco Solo Air base in the then American-controlled Panama Canal Zone. His parents were Admiral John Sydney McCain Jr, and Roberta McCain. Both his father and grandfather were admirals and his father rose to command all the U.S. Naval Forces in the Pacific.

McCain Spent his childhood moving between naval bases in America and abroad. He graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1958 where he trained as a Navy pilot. When the Vietnam War began, he volenterred for combat duty and began flying carrier-based attack planes on low-altitude bombing runs against the North Vietnamese.

He married Carol Shepp in 1965. He adopted her two children from a previous marriage, and they had a daughter in 1966. The couple divorced in 1980, and John married Cindy Lou Hensley in 1980. They had four children.

He started his political career in 1977. In 1982 he was elected to office in the House of Representitives, and served there until 1987. He currently serves as a member of the U.S. Senate.