John McCain (WFAC)

John Sidney McCain III (born 29 August 1936) is an American politician who was the 42nd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and United States Senator from Arizona from 1987 to 2000. McCain followed his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, into the United States Navy, graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958. He became a naval aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. In October 1967, while on a bombing mission over Hanoi, 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. His war wounds left him with lifelong physical limitations.

He retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, where he entered politics. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, McCain served two terms. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, winning re-election easily two 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 Keating Five, he made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns, eventually gaining passage of Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. He is also known for his work in the 1990s to restore diplomatic relations with Vietnam and opposing spending that he considered to be pork barrel. McCain won the bid for the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential election, gaining enough delegates to become the party's presumptive nominee in March 2000. In a close election, McCain was elected to the Presidency, receiving a majority of the electoral votes narrowly winning the popular vote.

Eight months into his first term as President, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred, and McCain responded with what became known as the McCain Doctrine: launching a "War on Terror", overseeing an American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Domestically, he promoted policies on the economy, health care, education, campaign finance reform and social security reform. He signed into law the Patriot Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, Medicare prescription drug benefits for seniors, and funding for the AIDS relief program known as PEPFAR. His tenure saw national debates on immigration, Social Security and electronic surveillance.

McCain was reelected president in November 2004, defeating Democratic nominee Howard Dean, and was sworn in for a second term on 20 January 2005. During his second term, McCain has promoted domestic policies related to immigration reform, spearheading and signing the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006. In foreign policy, McCain negotiated the deployment of Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) missile installations in Poland and Czechoslovakia, signed the START III arms control treaty with the Soviet Union and normalized U.S. relations with Cuba.

McCain left office in 2009, returning to his residence in Cornville, Arizona. Since then, McCain has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. His presidential library was opened in 2013. Since leaving office, McCain has been rated highly in public opinion polls of U.S. Presidents.