The late Arizona Senator John McCain was well known for his long career in Congress and
his two attempts at the presidency.
Most people are probably also aware of McCain's five-year stint in a Vietnamese prison camp,
where the naval aviator refused to use his family name as a bargaining chip and instead
demanded the release of other soldiers ahead of him.
The details of McCain's political and personal life are an interesting tapestry that explain
why the statesman earned his famous reputation as a maverick.
Senator McCain died at 81 on August 25th, 2018 at his home in Arizona as a result of
brain cancer.
But while McCain's influential life has been well-documented, there are still elements
of his story that are less familiar to the general public.
Here's a closer look at the untold truth of John McCain.
John Punk McNasty
John McCain's fiery personality was already evident during his high school days, and it
earned him two pretty cool nicknames.
His classmates dubbed him "Punk," while his close friends gave McCain an altogether different
nickname that, unfortunately, didn't stick around for his political career: "McNasty."
The name reportedly came from his time on the wrestling team, but it would also be a
fitting title for the start of McCain's military career.
From Punk to Hunk
After high school, McCain followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by
enrolling in the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
But McCain had trouble adapting to academy life, reportedly fighting with upperclassmen,
and earning more than 100 demerits each year for refusing to clean his quarters, shine
his shoes, or show up on time for formation.
He graduated near the bottom of his class, which turned out to be something of a family
tradition as well.
"God only knows how I graduated from the Naval academy."
Where the young McCain really excelled was with the ladies.
His fellow cadets reportedly called him "John Wayne McCain" and often turned to him for
advice when it came to the opposite sex.
During his early years in the Navy, McCain was stationed in Pensacola , Florida, where
he reportedly earned a reputation for throwing raucous beach parties.
Author Robert Timberg, who wrote John McCain: An American Odyssey, detailed McCain's exploits
in the Sunshine State:
"He dated everyone from schoolteachers to the strippers at Trader John's [sic], the
fabled airdale raunch bar, often returning to base just in time to change clothes and
drag himself out to the flightline."
In fact, while stationed in Florida, McCain got involved with a local exotic dancer:
"Her name was Marie the Flame of Florida."
And it wasn't just her name that captured McCain's heart:
"She reached into her purse and took out a switchblade and began to clean her fingernails."
Afterwards, McCain wrote in his book Faith of My Fathers, he took the "worldly, lovely
Flame of Florida to dinner."
Eventually, McCain settled down and started dating Philadelphia model Carol Shepp.
They married in 1965, and adopted two sons.
But just over a year later, on the heels of their daughter Sidney's birth, he was shipped
off to Vietnam to serve as a bomber pilot.
It would be nearly six years before he returned, and their marriage would only last for a few
more years after that.
Serious about protecting his family
Despite their failed marriage, Carol never acted bitterly toward McCain, and he returned
the favor.
He was extremely gracious to her in the divorce, reportedly giving her their beach house in
Florida and agreeing to pay all of her medical bills for life, along with alimony and child
support.
In fact, during his first Congressional run following their divorce, she warned him about
a political opponent approaching her for dirt to use against him.
With that tip in hand, things turned "McNasty" following a political debate.
In his book, Worth the Fighting For, McCain wrote, "When the debate ended, I walked over
to the opponent who had attempted to mine some little nasty opposition research from
my failed marriage and told him with as much steel as I'm capable of demonstrating, 'If
you ever try to hurt anyone in my family again, I will personally beat the s—- out of you.'"
The Bush campaign's dirty trick
In 1999, McCain announced his run for presidency against front-runner George W. Bush in the
Republican primaries.
When McCain began upsetting Bush in key places, such as New Hampshire, things got ugly fast.
In the days leading up to the South Carolina primary, activists who were allegedly friendly
to the Bush campaign circulated a rumor that McCain fathered a child out of wedlock.
Not just any child: a, quote, "Negro child."
Soon, fliers appeared depicting the McCain family with a dark-skinned child.
The Bush campaign denied being involved in the campaign, but the rumors and their racist
implications gained traction.
McCain lost in South Carolina, and Bush went on to win the presidency.
But what very few people knew at the time was that the child in those campaign fliers
was actually John and Cindy McCains' adopted daughter, Bridget, who Cindy met on a 1991
relief mission in Bangladesh via Mother Teresa's nuns.
The fliers used McCain's own daughter to smear the candidate.
Battling cancer, and the president
One of President Donald Trump's biggest campaign promises was to repeal the Affordable Care
Act, better known as Obamacare, but that ended up being easier said than done.
In late July 2017, McCain flew to Washington just days after the surgery that revealed
his brain cancer.
At first, it seemed like McCain would vote the party line to pass something called a
"skinny repeal" of the healthcare system.
Its passage would still be a political win for the Trump administration.
And then the "Maverick" came out.
According to CNN, McCain surprised the president and his party by joining Alaska Senator Lisa
Murkowski and Maine Senator Susan Collins in voting no on the skinny repeal and preventing
the bill's passage.
It was a devastating blow to Trump's agenda, and it restored McCain's reputation as a fierce
independent.
A true Maverick
Despite a personal and political life that was no stranger to controversy, there's no
denying Senator McCain was a dedicated public servant who deeply loved his country.
Whether it was surviving in a Vietnamese prison camp or going against his own political party,
he wasn't afraid to stay the course when the chips were down.
The long-time senator also demonstrated a willingness to put partisan politics aside
for general decency.
During his presidential run against Obama, a woman at one of McCain's campaign rallies
said she didn't trust Mr. Obama because "he's an Arab."
McCain didn't let that false and racially charged comment sit.
"No ma'am, no ma'am.
He's a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on
fundamental issues."
Following McCain's passing, former President Obama was among the many voices who responded
to the news with great reverence, saying,
"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."