McCain, John Sidney III (1936– )

US Republican politician, senator for Arizona since 1987. A former navy pilot, McCain was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart for his bravery during the Vietnam War, when he was shot down and held as a prisoner of war for five and a half years 1967–73. He was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1982, representing Arizona, and to the Senate in 1986. He is viewed as a ‘maverick’ Republican, who is conservative on military and social issues but supports more investment in healthcare and education, and is against tobacco. He was defeated by George W Bush when he unsuccessfully contested the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, but appeared a front runner for the nomination in 2008.

Born in the Panama Canal Zone, the son and grandson of prominent US Navy admirals, McCain also pursued a military career. After graduating from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1958, he became a navy pilot and twice narrowly escaped death in 1967 when a missile struck his Skyhawk plane when aboard the USS Forrestal, and when he was shot down over Vietnam. He returned to the USA in 1973. His injuries prevented him from resuming active service, but he remained as naval liaison in the Senate, before entering politics in 1981.