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John McCain

Republican senator from Arizona

John McCain is running for president for the second time, after his first attempt eight years ago. He has served more than 20 years as a senator from Arizona. For more information on McCain's campaign, see below.

BORN: Panama Canal Zone, Aug. 29, 1936
RAISED: Family moved many times because his father was in the military, but his hometown is Alexandria, Va.
HOME: Phoenix
FAMILY: Married Carol Shepp, 1965, divorced in 1980. Their children: daughter Sidney and Shepp's sons Doug and Andy from previous marriage. Married Cindy Hensley, 1980. Their children: Megan, John Sidney IV and James. Adopted daughter Bridget from a Bangladesh orphanage.
RELIGION: Episcopalian
EDUCATION: U.S. Naval Academy, 1958; National War College, 1974
MILITARY: Navy, 1958-1981; prisoner of war in Vietnam, 1967-1973.
CAREER: naval aviator, 1958-1980, director of Navy Senate Liaison office, 1977-1981; U.S. senator 1987-present.
PERSONAL: He made a guest appearance in 2006 on the TV show "24," which happens to be his favorite. He likes pizza topped with onions and pepperoni. His favorite movie is "Viva Zapata," but the one he cites the most often is "Weekend At Bernie's." His favorite author is Ernest Hemingway and his political hero is Theodore Roosevelt. His daughter Sidney works in the music industry in Ontario, Canada, and his son Doug is a pilot with American Airlines. His youngest child is 16-year-old Bridget.

General Election

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2004 WH Race

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2000 WH Race

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2000 WH Polling

Caucuses and Primaries

View primary returns for each state in the race to capture the Democratic and Republican nomination for president.

Where does he stand?

Health care: Under McCain's plan, the federal government would provide tax incentives for people to buy health insurance. His proposal aims for a looser connection between employers and insurance coverage.; National Journal: Divergent Paths • McCain’s positions
Iraq: A longtime advocate of toppling Saddam Hussein, McCain supported the initial invasion and today rejects the idea of a withdrawal timetable for U.S. troops. He has been a vocal backer of the troop surge.; National Journal: The Fulcrum • McCain’s positions
Energy/Environment: Supports a cap-and-trade system that would give polluters until 2050 to cut their emissions by 60 percent of 1990 levels. Opposes ethanol subsidies and has called for 45 new nuclear power plants by 2030.; National Journal: Shades of Green • McCain’s positions
Immigration: Much identified with efforts at comprehensive immigration reform, McCain has more recently focused on increased border security. Has called for the deportation of the estimated 2 million illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds.; National Journal: Shifting Borders • McCain’s positions
Economy: McCain would make permanent President Bush's tax cuts, he has pledged to eliminate the alternative minimum tax, and he has committed to a "pay-as-you-go" approach to budgeting.; National Journal: Sharp Contrast • McCain’s positions
Ethics/Lobbying: The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (better known as “McCain-Feingold”) banned unregulated soft money from federal electoral campaigns, and McCain pledges to push for more reforms and to veto all bills with earmarks.; National Journal: Being Mr. Clean • McCain’s positions
National Security: Supports the eventual abolition of all nuclear weapons and favors further increases of 150,000 more troops to the Army and Marines. Would work to strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and increase the authority and funding of the International Atomic Energy Agency.; National Journal: Beyond Iraq • McCain’s positions
Gay Rights/Abortion: McCain has consistently opposed Roe v. Wade and says he'll appoint conservative judges. He did not support GOP efforts to pass the federal marriage amendment, but he says that federal action may later be necessary.; National Journal: Social Schisms • McCain’s positions
Trade: Calls himself an "unashamed and unabashed defender" of NAFTA, supports robust trade with China and proposes providing training for workers seeking new skills.; National Journal: Trading Gibes • McCain’s positions
Education: McCain promises "school choice for all who want it" and champions charter schools and private-school vouchers. He calls No Child Left Behind "a good beginning" but has suggested reforms to how it is funded.; National Journal: Class President • McCain’s positions

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John McCain For President: "Freedom" (11/03/08)
John McCain For President: "Crist" (10/31/08)
John McCain For President: "Obama Praising McCain" (10/31/08)
John McCain For President/Republican National Committee: "Cuts" (10/31/08)
Republican National Committee: "Surgeon" (10/30/08)

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Key Staffers

Rick Davis: Davis took over as campaign manager last July after serving as the campaign's CEO. Davis, who is close to McCain's wife, Cindy, had managed McCain's 2000 presidential campaign and was in charge of key states for Bob Dole's 1996 White House bid. In July, Davis handed over control of the campaign’s daily operations to Steve Schmidt.
Mark Salter: Salter is variously described in press accounts as McCain's alter ego, his voice, or -- more prosaically -- his principal speechwriter. But his most important role may be as brand protector. "He is somebody that knows McCain better than anyone else on the campaign," political adviser Steve Schmidt says. Salter is a behind-the-scenes force in policy debates.
Steve Schmidt: Already an influential member of McCain’s campaign team, this summer Schmidt was elevated to the role of senior adviser and given “full operational control” of day-to-day campaigning. Schmidt has been a senior aide to Vice President Cheney, helped the White House get John Roberts confirmed to the Supreme Court and directed rapid-response efforts for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign.
Charles Black: A legend in Washington, Black has worked on every Republican presidential campaign since 1976. Black's strong ties to virtually every important person in the Republican Party have helped McCain to repair the rift between his inner circle and other parts of the GOP that was caused by the 2000 presidential campaign.
Jill Hazelbaker: Hazelbaker worked on the ill-fated Senate campaign of Jeanine Pirro when she challenged incumbent Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., in 2006. She then signed on with Thomas Kean Jr.'s Senate campaign in New Jersey before jumping at the chance to serve as McCain's New Hampshire communications director.
Mike DuHaime: DuHaime was brought in during the campaign’s midsummer staff shake-up to serve as political director after having worked as an adviser to the Republican National Committee. A veteran of the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election effort, DuHaime began this year’s presidential election as campaign manager for Rudy Giuliani.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin: As domestic policy director, Holtz-Eakin has a portfolio that covers the entire range of economic and domestic policy issues, including immigration. Holtz-Eakin headed the Congressional Budget Office from 2003 to 2005 after serving as chief economist for the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bush. He attributes McCain's professed lack of knowledge about economic policy to the candidate's penchant for self-deprecation.
Phil Gramm: As a former U.S. senator, Gramm is first among supposed equals on McCain's team of economic advisers -- as a leader of the overall campaign, as one of McCain's most trusted friends, and as a veteran of economic policy-making. He was a strong supporter of the Bush tax cut in 2001, and successfully led congressional efforts in the 1980s to control spending. It is widely assumed that in a McCain presidency Gramm would be a top choice for Treasury secretary.
Kevin Hassett: Hassett was McCain's top economic adviser during his 2000 presidential campaign but has played a secondary role this year and would be unlikely to take a senior job in a McCain administration. Nevertheless, by all accounts, his stature and tenure with McCain make him a key adviser. Hassett is an expert on tax policy and a forceful supporter of the Bush tax cuts. During an era marked by bitter ideological conflicts over economic policy, Hassett has been able to work with Democrats and progressives.
Carly Fiorina: The former chairwoman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard has become McCain's chief emissary to Big Business. She also chairs ''Victory 2008,'' the Republican National Committee's fundraising arm and is a forceful advocate of loosening immigration restrictions. But her claim to fame -- she was probably the most prominent female business executive in American history -- ended in failure.
Meg Whitman: Known for her success as a world-class brand-builder, former eBay CEO Whitman is now selling the McCain brand as a national co-chairwoman of the presumptive GOP nominee's presidential campaign. Whitman left eBay in March to pursue political and philanthropic activities after a 10-year run during which she transformed the obscure Internet auction site into an online powerhouse.

Randy Scheunemann: From 1986 to 1993, Scheunemann served on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and of the House Foreign Affairs and Republican Policy committees. For the next six years, he was the national security adviser to then-Sens. Bob Dole of Kansas and Trent Lott of Mississippi, and he worked in 1996 for Dole's presidential campaign. In 2000, Scheunemann joined McCain's first presidential bid as his defense and foreign-policy coordinator.
Richard Williamson: A diplomat with an extensive portfolio, Williamson, 59, has emphasized McCain's "consultive" approach to foreign policy, contrasting it with the Bush administration's more-unilateral positions. After a major diplomacy speech by the candidate in March, Williamson noted that McCain, "for his long tenure in the Congress, has developed a dialogue with our European friends."
John Lehman: Lehman, who served on the 9/11 commission, has praised McCain for working with Sen. Joe Lieberman, I/D-Conn., to enact "a lot of the reforms our commission recommended." He also says that McCain generally agrees that the most important of those recommendations--to create a director of national intelligence--"has been a total bust." Lehman also said that McCain plans to address defense reform issues, particularly in procurement policy.
Jack Keane: A former Vice Chief of the Army, Jack Keane was one of the key architects behind revamping the strategy in Iraq and launching a 22,000-troop surge last year. Keane has warned against using too few forces, and believes the United States underestimated the situation on the ground early on in the war. A combat veteran, he has served in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and was a platoon leader and company commander in Vietnam.
Frederick Kagan: Kagan authored an influential American Enterprise Institute paper in January 2007 proposing an escalation of troop levels in Iraq, a measure soon adopted by the U.S. military and since supported vigorously by McCain. Formerly a professor of military history at West Point, Kagan is now a resident scholar at AEI.
Robert Kagan: Kagan is a senior associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as a speechwriter for then-Secretary of State George Shultz under President Reagan, and was a vocal advocate for regime change in Iraq during the Clinton administration. More recently, Kagan has been a public defender of McCain's proposals for an international "league of democracies."

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