John McCain

John Sidney McCain III (English: John Sidney McCain III, often translated as McCain in Taiwan, August 29, 1936 - August 25, 2018), was an American soldier, politician, Republican figure, and neoconservative. He represented Arizona as the state's senator during his lifetime. He ran for President of the United States on behalf of the Republican Party in 2008. Before his death, McCain was one of the few Vietnam War veterans in the U.S. Senate. His experience on the front lines of the war and his resistance in prisoner of war camps made him respected regardless of party affiliation. McCain was born into the prominent McCain family in the Panama Canal Zone. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958 and was awarded the rank of U.S. Navy officer. He became a naval pilot, flying attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he nearly died in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. In October 1967, while performing a mission to bomb Hanoi during Operation Rolling Thunder, McCain's plane was shot down and he was seriously injured and captured by the North Vietnamese Army. He remained imprisoned until 1973, tortured and refusing offers of early release, and the injuries he sustained left him permanently disabled. In 1981, McCain retired as a Navy captain and moved to Arizona. In 1982, McCain was elected to the House of Representatives and served two terms. Four years later, he was elected to the Senate and served six terms. McCain generally adheres to conservative principles, but has also been called a "maverick" for daring to go against the party's stance on certain issues, such as LGBT rights, gun control and campaign finance reform. His stance on these issues is more moderate than that of the party's base. In the 1980s, McCain was involved in a political influence scandal as a member of the "Keating Five" and was investigated, but ultimately exonerated. He has since made regulating political campaign finance one of his signature focuses, culminating in the passage of the McCain-Feingold Act of 2002. McCain, along with Russ Feingold, received the 1999 John F. Kennedy Courage Award. He is also known for his work to restore diplomatic relations with Vietnam in the 1990s. McCain served as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee from 1997 to 2001 and from 2003 to 2005, during which time he opposed "pork barrel" spending and earmarks. He was a member of the bipartisan "Gang of Fourteen", a group that fought to alleviate