90 Facts About Senator John McCain

1. In 1999, Senator John McCain shared the Profile in Courage Award with Senator Russ Feingold for their work towards campaign finance reform.

2. Senator John McCain hosted Saturday Night Live in 2002 and appeared in two episodes in 2008.

3. Senator John McCain made uncredited cameo appearances in Wedding Crashers and 24 and had two uncredited cameos in Parks and Recreation.

4. Senator John McCain appeared in several television shows and films while he was a sitting senator.

5. Senator John McCain loses his temper and he worries me.

6. Senator John McCain formed a strong bond with two senators, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham, over hawkish foreign policy and overseas travel, and they became dubbed the "Three Amigos".

7. Senator John McCain was known for sometimes being prickly and hot-tempered with Senate colleagues, but his relations with his own Senate staff were more cordial, and inspired loyalty towards him.

8. Senator John McCain carried physical vestiges of his war wounds, as well as his melanoma surgery.

9. Senator John McCain was a "lifelong Episcopalian" who attended, but did not join, a Southern Baptist church for at least 17 years; memorial services were scheduled in both denominations.

10. Senator John McCain is in good spirits as he continues to recover at home with his family in Arizona.

11. In October 2017, Senator John McCain praised President Trump's decision to decertify Iran's compliance with the Iran nuclear deal while not yet withdrawing the US from the agreement, saying that the Obama-era policy failed "to meet the multifaceted threat Iran poses.

12. Senator John McCain sent a representative to gather more information, who obtained a copy of the dossier.

13. In November 2016, Senator John McCain learned of the existence of a dossier regarding the Trump presidential campaign's links to Russia compiled by Christopher Steele.

14. Senator John McCain is a war hero because he was captured.

15. Senator John McCain supported the Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen against the Shia Houthis and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, saying: "I'm sure civilians die in war.

16. In 2014, Senator John McCain led the opposition to the appointments of Colleen Bell, Noah Mamet, and George Tsunis to the ambassadorships in Hungary, Argentina, and Norway, respectively, arguing they were unqualified appointees being rewarded for their political fundraising.

17. Senator John McCain was a supporter of the Euromaidan protests against Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his government, and appeared in Independence Square in Kiev in December 2013.

18. In July 2013, Senator John McCain was at the forefront of an agreement among senators to drop filibusters against Obama administration executive nominees without Democrats resorting to the "nuclear option" that would disallow such filibusters altogether.

19. Senator John McCain took the lead in criticizing a growing non-interventionist movement within the Republican Party, exemplified by his March 2013 comment that Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz and Representative Justin Amash were "wacko birds".

20. Senator John McCain staged a visit to rebel forces inside Syria in May 2013, the first senator to do so, and called for arming the Free Syrian Army with heavy weapons and for the establishment of a no-fly zone over the country.

21. Senator John McCain became one of the most vocal critics of the Obama administration's handling of the September 11, 2012, attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, saying it was a "debacle" that featured either "a massive cover-up or incompetence that is not acceptable" and that it was worse than the Watergate scandal.

22. Senator John McCain labeled the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United v Federal Election Commission decision as "uninformed, arrogant, naive", and, decrying its effects and the future scandals he thought it would bring, said it would become considered the court's "worst decision.

23. Senator John McCain was an especially vocal supporter of the 2011 military intervention in Libya.

24. Senator John McCain proceeded to easily defeat Democratic Tucson city councilman Rodney Glassman in the general election.

25. Senator John McCain led a successful filibuster of a measure that would allow repeal of the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy towards gays.

26. Senator John McCain voted against Obama's Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor—saying that while undeniably qualified, "I do not believe that she shares my belief in judicial restraint"—and by August 2009 was siding more often with his Republican Party on closely divided votes than ever before in his senatorial career.

27. Around the same time, Senator John McCain indicated that he intended to run for re-election to his Senate seat in 2010.

28. Senator John McCain was only the second US major-party presidential nominee to select a woman for his running mate and the first Republican to do so.

29. Senator John McCain introduced various policy proposals, and sought to improve his fundraising.

30. Senator John McCain clinched enough delegates for the nomination and his focus shifted toward the general election, while Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fought a prolonged battle for the Democratic nomination.

31. Senator John McCain addressed concerns about his age and past health issues, stating in 2005 that his health was "excellent".

32. Senator John McCain decided not to campaign significantly in the January 3, 2008, Iowa caucuses, which saw a win by former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee.

33. Senator John McCain was showing a resurgence, in particular with renewed strength in New Hampshire—the scene of his 2000 triumph—and was bolstered further by the endorsements of The Boston Globe, the New Hampshire Union Leader, and almost two dozen other state newspapers, as well as from Senator Lieberman.

34. Senator John McCain had fundraising problems in the first half of 2007, due in part to his support for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, which was unpopular among the Republican base electorate.

35. Senator John McCain became more willing to ask business and industry for campaign contributions, while maintaining that such contributions would not affect any official decisions he would make.

36. Senator John McCain formally announced his intention to run for President of the United States on April 25, 2007, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

37. In May 2005, Senator John McCain led the so-called Gang of 14 in the Senate, which established a compromise that preserved the ability of senators to filibuster judicial nominees, but only in "extraordinary circumstances".

38. At the 2004 Republican National Convention, Senator John McCain supported Bush for re-election, praising Bush's management of the War on Terror since the September 11 attacks.

39. Senator John McCain said that Kerry had never formally offered him the position and that he would not have accepted it if he had.

40. In May 2003, Senator John McCain voted against the second round of Bush tax cuts, saying it was unwise at a time of war.

41. Senator John McCain predicted that US forces would be treated as liberators by a large number of the Iraqi people.

42. In May 2001, Senator John McCain was one of only two Senate Republicans to vote against the Bush tax cuts.

43. Senator John McCain said of the rumor spreaders, "I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like those.

44. Senator John McCain traveled on a campaign bus called the Straight Talk Express.

45. Senator John McCain focused on the New Hampshire primary, where his message appealed to independents.

46. Senator John McCain announced his candidacy for president on September 27, 1999, in Nashua, New Hampshire, saying he was staging "a fight to take our government back from the power brokers and special interests, and return it to the people and the noble cause of freedom it was created to serve".

47. In March 1999, Senator John McCain voted to approve the NATO bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, saying that the ongoing genocide of the Kosovo War must be stopped and criticizing past Clinton administration inaction.

48. In November 1998, Senator John McCain won re-election to a third Senate term; he prevailed in a landslide over his Democratic opponent, environmental lawyer Ed Ranger.

49. In 1997, Senator John McCain became chairman of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee; he was criticized for accepting funds from corporations and businesses under the committee's purview, but in response said the small contributions he received were not part of the big-money nature of the campaign finance problem.

50. In 1993 and 1994, Senator John McCain voted to confirm President Clinton's nominees Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg whom he considered to be qualified for the US Supreme Court.

51. In 1999, Senator John McCain said: "The appearance of it was wrong.

52. Senator John McCain became embroiled in a scandal during the 1980s, as one of five United States senators comprising the so-called Keating Five.

53. Senator John McCain was a strong supporter of the Gramm-Rudman legislation that enforced automatic spending cuts in the case of budget deficits.

54. Senator John McCain succeeded longtime American conservative icon and Arizona fixture Barry Goldwater upon the latter's retirement as US senator from Arizona.

55. In 1991, Cindy Senator John McCain brought an abandoned three-month-old girl needing medical treatment to the US from a Bangladeshi orphanage run by Mother Teresa.

56. Senator John McCain won re-election to the House easily in 1984, and gained a spot on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

57. Senator John McCain supported most aspects of the foreign policy of the Reagan administration, including its hardline stance against the Soviet Union and policy towards Central American conflicts, such as backing the Contras in Nicaragua.

58. In 1983, Senator John McCain was elected to lead the incoming group of Republican representatives, and was assigned to the House Committee on Interior Affairs.

59. Senator John McCain set his sights on becoming a representative because he was interested in current events, was ready for a new challenge, and had developed political ambitions during his time as Senate liaison.

60. Senator John McCain was designated as disabled and awarded a disability pension.

61. Senator John McCain retired from the Navy on April 1, 1981, as a captain.

62. Senator John McCain served as the Navy's liaison to the US Senate beginning in 1977.

63. Senator John McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years until his release on March 14, 1973.

64. Senator John McCain refused to meet various anti-war groups seeking peace in Hanoi, wanting to give neither them nor the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory.

65. Senator John McCain received two to three beatings weekly because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements.

66. Senator John McCain was bound and beaten every two hours; this punishment occurred at the same time that he was suffering from heat and dysentery.

67. Senator John McCain refused repatriation unless every man taken in before him was released.

68. In December 1967, Senator John McCain was placed in a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live more than a week.

69. Senator John McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi.

70. Senator John McCain had lost 50 pounds, was in a chest cast, and his gray hair had turned white.

71. Senator John McCain spent six weeks in the hospital, where he received marginal care.

72. Senator John McCain was flying his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam when his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile over Hanoi.

73. Senator John McCain escaped from his burning jet and was trying to help another pilot escape when a bomb exploded; McCain was struck in the legs and chest by fragments.

74. On July 29, 1967, Senator John McCain was a lieutenant commander when he was near the center of the USS Forrestal fire.

75. At age 28 on July 3, 1965, Senator John McCain married Carol Shepp, who was a model from Philadelphia.

76. Senator John McCain began his early military career when he was commissioned as an ensign and started two and a half years of training at Pensacola to become a naval aviator.

77. Senator John McCain came into conflict with higher-ranking personnel and did not always obey the rules, which contributed to a low class rank, despite a high IQ.

78. Senator John McCain was a friend and informal leader there for many of his classmates, and sometimes stood up for targets of bullying.

79. Senator John McCain referred to himself as an Episcopalian as recently as June 2007 after which date he said he came to identify as a Baptist.

80. Senator John McCain excelled at wrestling and graduated in 1954.

81. Senator John McCain refused to support then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in 2016.

82. Senator John McCain secured the nomination in 2008 after making a comeback from early reversals, but lost the general election.

83. Senator John McCain chaired the Senate Commerce Committee and opposed pork barrel spending.

84. Senator John McCain was known for his work in the 1990s to restore diplomatic relations with Vietnam, and for his belief that the Iraq War should have been fought to a successful conclusion.

85. Senator John McCain entered the US Senate in 1987 and easily won reelection five times, the final time in 2016.

86. Senator John McCain retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, where he entered politics.

87. Senator John McCain was a prisoner of war until 1973.

88. Senator John McCain became a naval aviator and flew ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers.

89. Senator John McCain graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958 and was commissioned into the United States Navy.

90. Senator John McCain previously served two terms in the United States House of Representatives and was the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 election, which he lost to Barack Obama.