Line #17 UsefulNotes/JohnMcCain


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/john_mccain_official_portrait_2009.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:''"I've got to give you some straight talk."'']]
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4	->''"Your character is not tested on occasions of public scrutiny or acclaim. It is not tested in moments when the object of your actions is the regard of another. Your character is what you are to yourself, not what you pretend to be to yourself or others."''
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6	John Sidney [=McCain=] III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and U.S. Navy officer who served as both a U.S. senator for UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}} [[LongRunner from 1987 until his death in 2018]]. He previously served as a U.S. representative for two terms.
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8	[=McCain=] was the son and grandson of famous Navy [[FourStarBadass four star admirals]]. His grandfather, the original John Sidney [=McCain=], started out as a surface warfare officer, then earned [[UsefulNotes/NavalAviation aviator wings]] later in his career to qualify for command of an aircraft carrier, and ended [=WW2=] as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command. He was the man who accepted the Japanese surrender onboard the USS Missouri. [[DownerEnding He died soon after]]. [=McCain=]’s father, John Sidney Jr., was a submariner during [=WW2=] and became commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. He too passed away soon after that war ended. [=McCain=] attended the [[MilitaryAcademy U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis]] like his father and grandfather, and like them, also graduated near the bottom of his class. His first son [[note]](Or the first boy that he fathered, he had adopted his first wife Carol’s two sons from a previous marriage)[[/note]] John Sidney [=McCain=] IV followed his forefathers into the Naval Academy and became a U.S. Navy helicopter pilot.
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10	He served as a naval aviator in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, where he was shot down. He spent five and a half years at "Hanoi Hilton", the infamous HellholePrison for American [=POWs=] and was subjected to ColdBloodedTorture to the point that he could never again raise his hands above his shoulders. He was offered early release due to his father’s status as [=CincPac=] but he refused, knowing full well that it would play into Communist propaganda about [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney money]] and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections influence]]. After returning to the U.S. upon the end of American involvement in Vietnam in 1973, [=McCain=] underwent lots of physical therapy to try to qualify to fly high performance jets again. He qualified enough to be given command of an A-7 Corsair flight training squadron and improved its safety record by a lot. But after he failed his next flight physical, [=McCain=] couldn’t get an at sea command billet, which put the brakes on his naval career. He was promoted to captain and was assigned to the U.S. Senate as the Navy’s liaison officer. He was offered a final promotion to rear admiral lower half, but declined in order to enter politics.
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12	A staunch conservative, [=McCain=] still stood out for his willingness to reach across the aisle on issues like health care, immigration, and America's [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique own troublesome interrogation methods]], leading him to be known as "Maverick". He started out as a boilerplate conservative in the House of Representatives from 1982 to 1986 and from 1986 onwards in the Senate. [=McCain=]’s first Senate term [[OldShame was marred by his involvement in the Keating Five banking scandal]], but escaped with only a censure. After winning re-election in 1992, [=McCain=] rehabilitated his career by working with Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russ Feingold on campaign finance reform. His trademark legislation, the Bipartisan Campaign finance Reform Act (or BRCA) was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2010.
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14	[=McCain=] sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, but lost in a heated primary contest[[note]]How [[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/us/politics/19mccain.html heated?]] Bush campaign aides spread rumors that [=McCain=]’s wife, Cindy, was a drug addict and his daughter, Bridget, who was adopted from Bangladesh, was his illegitimate mixed-race child. [=McCain=] was still angered by it during his next run for president in 2008.[[/note]] to Texas Governor UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush, who won the general election.
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16	[=McCain=] won the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, but entered the race at a significant disadvantage due to general dissatisfaction over the [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush Bush administration's]] handling of the economy (the Great Recession began in September 2007) and the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Coupled with this was [=McCain=]'s Democratic opponent, Senator UsefulNotes/BarackObama, running one of the most dynamic campaigns in decades with famous posters and a simple slogan ("Change"). [=McCain=] chose UsefulNotes/SarahPalin as his running mate after his advisors torpedoed his first choice of Sen. Joe Lieberman [[note]](a Democrat-turned-independent and abortion rights supporter who was the Democrat's vice presidential nominee in 2000, and a selection that likely would have infuriated the Republican base)[[/note]], a move that ultimately backfired when Palin became more popular with the Republican base, and [=McCain=] later stated he [[https://thehill.com/homenews/news/386392-mccain-i-regret-picking-palin-as-my-vice-presidential-nominee/ regretted]] selecting her. [=McCain=] and Palin decisively lost to Obama and his running mate UsefulNotes/JoeBiden.
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18	[=McCain=] spent his last few years in the Senate as one of the loudest Republican critics of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, in part due to Trump [[ItsPersonal disparaging his military service]] during his primary run. [=McCain=] notably cast the deciding vote to kill a repeal of key parts of President Obama's Affordable Care Act.
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20	[=McCain=] died in 2018 after a battle with glioblastoma exactly nine years after his late friend Senator UsefulNotes/TedKennedy died of the same disease in 2009.
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22	[=McCain=] was married to Carol Shepp from 1965 until they divorced in 1980, and to Cindy Hensley from 1980 until his death, and had seven children, including daughter Meghan, a commentator and co-host of ''Series/TheView''. Long considered political royalty in Arizona, the state branch of the Republican Party censured Cindy [=McCain=] after she endorsed UsefulNotes/JoeBiden, John [=McCain=]'s longtime colleague and friend in the Senate, rather than Trump in the 2020 election, a move that many attribute to a string of Republican losses in the once solid-red state in recent years.
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24	----
25	!!Books he had written
26	* ''Faith of My Fathers'' with Mark Salter
27	* ''Worth Fighting For'' with Salter
28	* ''Why Courage Matters'' with Salter
29	* ''Character Is Destiny'' with Salter
30	* ''Hard Call'' with Salter
31	* ''Thirteen Soldiers'' with Salter
32	* ''The Restless Wave'' with Salter
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34	!!Media
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36	[[AC: Film]]
37	* ''Literature/GameChange'': Creator/EdHarris plays [=McCain=] in the film adaptation.
38	* He makes a brief cameo in ''Film/WeddingCrashers'' AsHimself.
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40	[[AC:Live Action Television]]
41	* He makes a brief cameo as a CTU staffer in one episode in the fifth season of ''Series/TwentyFour''.
42	* He appeared in an episode of ''Series/FindingYourRoots''.
43	* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''
44	** Creator/DarrellHammond impersonated him numerous times, particularly during the 2008 election.
45	** [=McCain=] himself hosted in 2002 and made guest appearances during the election (alongside Creator/TinaFey's impersonation of his running mate Sarah Palin) and they re-aired the episode he hosted after his death.
46	* Long before his political career began, [=McCain=] was a one-time champion on ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' in 1965.
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48	[[AC:Video Games]]
49	* In ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'', he becomes a POW during the South African Civil War (this timeline's equivalent of Vietnam). If the Second South African Civil War breaks out, he leads his fellow [=POWs=] to escape and form OFN Forces South Africa.

Context UsefulNotes / JohnMcCain