August 26, 2018
McCain, who had suffered brain cancer, was known for his heroism in Vietnam, his independent-mindedness and recently his rebukes of Trump
John McCain, influential US senator and presidential candidate, dies aged 81
John McCain, prisoner of war, presidential candidate and one of the most influential American politicians of his generation, has died after suffering from brain cancer.
The six-term senator from Arizona, who was 81, had been absent from Washington since last December but remained outspoken to the end, railing against Donald Trump and urging defence of of the post-war liberal democratic order.
A statement from his office said: “Senator John Sidney McCain III died at 4.28pm on 25 August 2018. With the senator when he passed were his wife Cindy and their family. At his death, he had served the United States of America faithfully for 60 years.”
Amidst an outpouring of tributes, Barack Obama, who defeated McCain for the presidency in 2008, said he and his rival had shared “a fidelity to … the ideals for which generations of Americans and immigrants alike have fought, marched, and sacrificed”.
Obama added: “Few of us have been tested the way John once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did. But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own. At John’s best, he showed us what that means. And for that, we are all in his debt.”
McCain’s death will leave a void in a Republican party increasingly turning away from bipartisanship at home and engagement overseas in favour of the president’s brand of divisiveness and isolationism.
Trump, who clashed bitterly with McCain and in recent weeks had refused to mention him by name, tweeted a brief statement on Saturday. He did not praise the man. “My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain,” the president wrote. “Our hearts and prayers are with you!”
McCain’s legacy will be keenly debated. No stranger to controversy, he was a staunch supporter of President George W Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003 and his choice of Sarah Palin as running mate in his unsuccessful bid for the White House in 2008 is now seen as a harbinger of the tide of rightwing populism he came to resist.
McCain’s first brush with death came in July 1967 when, as a a navy pilot in the Vietnam war, a missile exploded near his fuel tanks, causing a ship fire that killed 134 troops. Three months later he was shot down over Vietnam, breaking both arms and a leg, and was captured by the North Vietnamese.
McCain was offered early release because his father was a four-star admiral but rejected it until his fellow PoWs were also freed. During five years in captivity, including more than two in solitary confinement, he suffered beatings and torture almost daily.
That McCain displayed rare fortitude in the “Hanoi Hilton” was common cause - until Trump mocked him during the 2016 election campaign, telling a conference in Iowa: “He’s not a war hero.” The future president, who avoided the draft five times, added: “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
McCain retired as a captain in 1981 after earning a number of decorations and ran for Congress in Arizona the following year. He switched from the House to the Senate in 1987 and forged a reputation as a military hawk - he was one of the Iraq war’s biggest champions - and maverick willing to defy the right and work across the aisle on issues such as campaign finance and immigration reform.
In 2000 he finished second to George W Bush in the Republican presidential primary after an ugly campaign. Eight years later, he beat Mitt Romney to the nomination, only to come up against a political force of nature: Obama.
John McCain, influential US senator and presidential candidate, dies aged 81
McCain’s military pedigree and independent streak won respect but his choice of the unqualified Palin as running mate – apparently designed to appeal to Christian evangelicals who deserted him in 2000 – damaged his credibility. He was swept away by a wave of optimism that carried Obama into the Oval Office but delivered a memorably gracious concession speech.
He declined to support the 2016 Republican nominee after the release of an Access Hollywood tape in which Trump boasted about groping women’s genitals. “When Mr Trump attacks women and demeans the women in our nation and in our society, that is a point where I just have to part company,” McCain said.
What might have been a gentle drift into retirement became instead a final, furious last stand as the elder statesman saw his beloved party shifting from under him. As others fell into line, McCain became one of Trump’s chief Republican critics, jabbing at what he perceived as the president’s weak response Russian aggression and self-defeating hostility to Muslims.
In February last year he travelled to Munich to reassure anxious allies: “Make no mistake, my friends: These are dangerous times, but you should not count America out, and we should not count each other out.”
In October, receiving the Liberty Medal in Philadelphia, he issued what many saw as a repudiation of Trump’s “America first” ethos: “To fear the world we have organized and led for three-quarters of a century, to abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership and our duty to remain ‘the last best hope of earth’ for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history.”
By then McCain had undergone surgery to remove a blood clot from near his left eye and was found to have an aggressive form of brain tumour known as glioblastoma. When the diagnosis was announced, Obama commented: “Cancer doesn’t know what it’s up against.”

McCain was no liberal but he opposed both Trump’s first attempt at a travel ban for six majority-Muslim nations, calling it potentially “a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism”, and the confirmation of Gina Haspel as director of the CIA because of her refusal to fully disown torture.
And on the grounds that the legislation was being rushed through Congress, he was also central to the failure of two attempts to repeal Obama’s signature healthcare legislation. In response, Trump continued to use the bully pulpit berate the senator, though not by name.
McCain spent his final months with his second wife, Cindy, at their ranch in Sedona, Arizona. He continued to issue statements and tweets, published a valedictory book and took part in an HBO documentary that some likened to starring in his own obituary.
“I’ve been tested on a number of occasions,” he told the film makers. “I haven’t always done the right thing. The important thing is not to look back and figure out all the things I should have done, and there’s lots of those, but to look back with gratitude.”
Related Stories
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Millie Bobby Brown & Jake Bongiovi Celebrate “Three Years of Bliss” Ahead of Wedding
March 24, 2024
C4Ehegcq1-A
Kate Middleton & Prince William "Enormously Touched" by Public Support
March 24, 2024
s8fig-RCjFc
Gisele Bündchen Denies Cheating on Ex-Husband Tom Brady
March 23, 2024
_SpRMagA8BM
Eminem, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg Present Dr. Dre with a Star on the Walk of Fame
March 19, 2024
4bNLs1hxVp8
Opening Remarks for the Variety Summit October 20th, 2023 Jay Penske
March 18, 2024
c6Z707iLq8E
'Everybody Was S----ing Their Pants': Nick Thune Jokes About Being Born in the '70s and Fatherhood
March 16, 2024
mm7Baf6o2d8
Gunna Says Tour Will Up Creativity in Rap, Endorses Flo Milli | TMZ
March 22, 2024
QfMU24fw-Qo
Reporter Taylor Lorenz Says Palace Botched Kate Cancer News Rollout | TMZ Live
March 22, 2024
o43ZucdiyEo
Riley Strain's Body Found After Going Missing in Nashville 2 Weeks Ago | TMZ NOW
March 22, 2024
1m1zM-4_Cs8
Kyle Richards hasn’t spoken to co-star Dorit Kemsley, denies sending her a ‘manipulative’ text
March 24, 2024
LqLZzDP1hm4
Jordan Emanuel on her connection to 'RHOSLC' star Meredith Marks, advice from Amanda Batula
March 24, 2024
5NPAwlOov1Y
Kate Middleton’s uncle Gary apologizes after slamming ‘fickle’ Meghan Markle in scathing interview
March 24, 2024
JWG9kitALZk
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
20
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
SK Brann W - Barcelona W
20
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Hacken W - PSG W
19
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
SL Benfica W - Lyon W
19
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Ajax W - Chelsea W
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Brighton - Manchester City
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
11
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Chelsea - Newcastle United
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Liverpool - Manchester City
10
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Real Madrid - Celta Vigo
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Aston Villa - Tottenham Hotspur
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Atalanta
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Fiorentina - Roma
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
AC Milan - Empoli
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.