U.S. Sen. John McCain

Staff Report

U.S. Sen. John Sidney McCain III died at 4:28 p.m. today at his home in Arizona. He was 81.

According to a statement from his office, McCain had suffered from a malignant brain tumor for which he had been treated periodically with radiation and chemotherapy since its discovery in 2017. Following the diagnosis, he took a reduced role in the United States Senate. McCain’s family announced Friday that he would no longer seek treatment for his cancer to prolong his life; he died today, four days before his 82nd birthday.

McCain graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958 and followed his father and grandfather—both four-star admirals—into the U.S. Navy. He became a naval aviator and flew ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. While McCain was on a bombing mission over Hanoi in October 1967, he was shot down, seriously injured and captured by the North Vietnamese.

McCain was a prisoner of war until 1973. He experienced episodes of torture and refused an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer. The wounds that he sustained during war left him with lifelong physical disabilities. He retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, where he entered politics.

In 1982, McCain, a Republican, was elected to the United States House of Representatives where he served two terms. He entered the U.S. Senate in 1987 and won reelection five times, the last bring in 2016.

McCain leaves behind his wife of 38 years Cindy, seven children and five grandchildren.