John McCain, U.S. Senator

John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman who served as the senior United States Senator from Arizona, a seat to which he was first elected in 1986. He was the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 election, which he lost to Barack Obama. (Wikipedia)

He was buried next to his friend Charles Larson in the United States Naval Academy Cemetery on September 2, 2018.

Obituary

From John McCain, senator and former presidential candidate, dies at 81 By Stephen Collinson, CNN Updated 10:59 PM EDT, Sat August 25, 2018

(CNN) Whenever America was in a fight during his long lifetime, John McCain was in the thick of it.
McCain, who has died at the age of 81, was a naval bomber pilot, prisoner of war, conservative maverick, giant of the Senate, twice-defeated presidential candidate and an abrasive American hero with a twinkle in his eye.
The Arizonan warrior politician, who survived plane crashes, several bouts of skin cancer and brushes with political oblivion, often seemed to be perpetually waging a race against time and his own mortality while striving to ensure that his five-and-a-half years as a Vietnam prisoner of war did not stand as the defining experience of his life.
McCain, who was divorced from his first wife, Carol, in 1980, is survived by his wife, Cindy, and seven children, including three sons who continued the family tradition of serving in the armed forces and a daughter, Meghan, who is a presenter on ABC's "The View." His mother, Roberta, aged 106, is also still living.

Legacy

In his May 2018 memoir, “The Restless Wave,” McCain wrote that he hated to leave the world, but had no complaints.

"It's been quite a ride. I've known great passions, seen amazing wonders, fought in a war, and helped make peace," McCain wrote. "I've lived very well and I've been deprived of all comforts. I've been as lonely as a person can be and I've enjoyed the company of heroes. I've suffered the deepest despair and experienced the highest exultation.
"I made a small place for myself in the story of America and the history of my times."

Family

• Parents: John S. McCain Jr. (January 17, 1911 – March 22, 1981) and Roberta Wright (born February 7, 1912)
• Siblings: Joe McCain, Sandy McCain

Married:

1. Carol Shepp on Jul 1965 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was born in 1938, the daughter of Joseph and Mary Shepp. McCain adopted her two young children Douglas and Andrew. He and Carol then had a daughter named Sidney. They divorced in April 1980.
2. Cindy Lou Henley on 17 May 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. She was born in 1954, the daughter of Jim Hensley and Marguerite Johnson. In 1984, McCain and Cindy had their first child together, daughter Meghan, followed two years later by son John Sidney (Jack) IV, and in 1988 by son James (Jimmy). They adopted Bridget from Bangladesh in 1991.

In August 1999, McCain's memoir Faith of My Fathers, co-authored with Mark Salter, was published ... According to one reviewer, it describes "the kind of challenges that most of us can barely imagine. It's a fascinating history of a remarkable military family."

John McCain’s ancestry was English, Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish/Irish, and distant Welsh. A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2016) stated that John’s genetic ancestry was 99.4% European, 0.5% Native American, 0.1% North African. A clip from that show: “War Stories: John McCain” Season 3 Episode 6 | 3m 21s

Sources

• Bresnahan, John and Austin Wright. "John McCain, towering senator and GOP 'maverick,' dies." Politico, published 25 August 2018. < https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/25/john-mccain-obituary-lega... > Accessed 25 August 2018.
• Collinson, Stephen. "John McCain, senator and former presidential candidate, dies at 81." CNN, published 25 August 2018. < https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/25/politics/john-mccain-obituary/index.... > Accessed 25 August 2018.
• Dickinson, Tim. "John McCain, Legendary Republican Senator, Dead at 81." Rolling Stone, published 25 August 2018. < https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/john-mccain... > Accessed 25 August 2018.
• "John McCain." Ethnicelebs, published 27 September 2017. < http://ethnicelebs.com/john-mccain > Accessed 25 August 2018.
• "John McCain." Wikipedia, revision of 25 August 2015. < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain > Accessed 25 August 2018.
• "John Sidney McCain, Jr." FindAGrave, published 25 January 2000. < https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8315/john-sidney-mccain > Accessed 25 August 2018.
• Reitwiesner, William Addams. "Ancestry of John McCain." William Addams Reitwiesner Genealogical Services. < http://www.wargs.com/political/mccain.html > Accessed 25 August 2018.
• Tumulty, Karen. "John McCain, 'maverick' of the Senate, presidential candidate and war hero, dies at 81." The Hartford Courant, published 25 August 2018. < http://www.courant.com/nation-world/ct-senator-john-mccain-dies-201... > Accessed 25 August 2018.
• Urquhart, Margaret. "Descendants of William Fenner." Genealogy.com, last revised 17 February 2014. < http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/u/r/q/Margaret-molly-W-U... > Accessed 15 February 2016.

External Resources

• Official site
• US Senate site
• Ethnicity of John McCain
• Genealogy of John McCain
• Genealogy focusing on father's side
• Find-A-Grave