John McCain (Shattered)

John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936) is an American politician and university administrator who currently served a from, in that office from 1987 to 2017. He was the Republican nominee in the, which he lost to. Since leaving the Senate, he has served as the President of the.

McCain followed his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, into the and graduated from the  in 1958. He became a naval aviator and flew ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the, he was almost killed in the 1967 fire. While McCain was on a bombing mission over in October 1967, he was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973. McCain experienced episodes of torture and refused an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer. The wounds that he sustained during war have left him with lifelong physical disabilities.

He retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, where he entered politics. In 1982, McCain was elected to the, where he served two terms. He was first elected to the in  and easily won re-election four times. While generally adhering to conservative principles, McCain at times has had a media reputation as a "maverick" for his willingness to disagree with his party on certain issues. After being investigated and largely exonerated in a political influence scandal of the 1980s as a member of the, he made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns, which eventually resulted in passage of the in 2002. He is also known for his work in the 1990s to restore diplomatic relations with, and for his belief that the should have been fought to a successful conclusion. McCain has chaired the Senate Commerce Committee, and he opposed pork barrel spending. He was a member of the bi-partisan group known as the who played a key role in alleviating a crisis over judicial nominations.

McCain entered the race for the Republican nomination for President in, but he lost a heated primary season contest to of Texas. He secured the nomination in after coming back from early reversals, but was defeated by Democratic nominee  in the general election, losing by a 365–173  margin. He subsequently adopted more orthodox conservative stances and attitudes and largely opposed actions of the, especially in regard to foreign policy matters. By 2013, however, he had become a key figure in the Senate for negotiating deals on certain issues in an otherwise partisan environment. From 2015 to 2017, McCain chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee.

In April of 2015, despite suggesting that he would retire, McCain decided to seek a sixth term in the Senate. McCain faced opposition from the and refused to back 2016 Republican nominee, causing backlash from conservative groups in his state. While most polls suggested that McCain would narrowly defeat former State Senator despite Trump aiding her campaign, McCain was defeated by a two point margin in an upset. McCain refused to back Ward, who was eventually defeated by Democrat. Several months after leaving office, McCain had been chosen to become the next president.