John McCain dead at 81 after brain cancer battle

KABC

Saturday, August 25, 2018

John McCain, the six-term Arizona senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee, died Saturday at the age of 81, more than a year after he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

WASHINGTON -- John McCain, the six-term Arizona senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee, died Saturday at the age of 81, more than a year after he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

The son and grandson of Navy admirals, McCain was a former Navy pilot and was held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for more than five years. He was elected to Congress in the early 1980s and elected to the Senate in 1986, replacing retiring Barry Goldwater. McCain gained a reputation as a lawmaker who was willing to stick to his convictions rather than go along with party leaders, a streak that drew a mix of respect and ire.
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McCain underwent surgery in July 2017 to remove a blood clot in his brain after being diagnosed with an aggressive tumor called a glioblastoma, the same type of tumor that killed Sen. Edward M. Kennedy at age 77 in 2009.

SEE ALSO: Meghan McCain, Donald Trump and others remember John McCain

McCain rebounded quickly, however, returning to Washington and entering the Senate in late July to a standing ovation from his colleagues. In a dramatic turn, he later cast a deciding vote against the Republican health care bill, earning the wrath of Trump, who frequently cites McCain's vote at campaign events.

PHOTOS: John McCain through the years

Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with Sen. John McCain after administering the Senate oath of office during a mock swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017.AP

U.S. Rep. John McCain III, R-Ariz., holds a photo of a marker in Hanoi at Truc Bach Lake where he parachuted after being shot down as a Navy pilot in the Vietnam War.AP

Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama shake hands at the conclusion of the presidential debate on Friday, Sept. 26, 2008.AP

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., leaves a closed-door session on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 1, 2017.AP

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., waves to supporters before speaking at a town hall-style meeting on May 29, 2008, in Greendale, Wisc.AP

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., arrive for an anti-tobacco rally on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, May 20, 1998.AP

U.S. Sens. John McCain and Russell Feingold, co-recipients of the 1999 Profile in Courage Award, shake hands at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston on Monday, May 24, 1999.AP

Presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks to senior citizens in Sun City, Ariz. on Wednesday, June 2, 1999.AP

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain signs papers at the Secretary of State's office in Concord, N.H., to get his name on the presidential primary ballot in 1999.AP

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, asks a question of Ashton Carter, President Barack Obama's choice to head the Defense Department, as he testifies on Capitol Hill on Feb. 4, 2015.AP

Sen. John McCain and Sen. Hillary Clinton take part in the official dedication of the Center for the Intrepid at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Monday, Jan. 29, 2007.AP

Sen. John Kerry gives Sen. John McCain his pilot's helmet on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 2, 1992.AP

President Bush is presented with the International Republican Institute's Freedom Award by Sen. John McCain at the IRI Freedom Dinner in Washington in 2005.AP

Sen. John McCain delivers the keynote address during the Columbia College commencement, Tuesday, May 16, 2006, in New York.AP

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a former POW in Vietnam, confer during a meeting of the committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Aug. 4, 1992.AP

Congressman John Murtha and Sen. John S. McCain walk with other members of the official election observer delegation sent to Panama on May 6, 1989.AP

U.S. Navy Commander John S. McCain, a guest of the South Vietnamese government, visits the Holt orphanage in Saigon, Vietnam, on Oct. 30, 1974.AP

John S. McCain III is escorted by Lt. Cmdr. Jay Coupe Jr., public relations officer, on March 14, 1973, to Hanoi's Gia Lam Airport.AP

U. S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., testifies in a Los Angeles courtroom Friday, Oct. 26, 1991, during the trial of former Lincoln Savings and Loan head Charles Keating.AP

Sen. John S. McCain III joined a group of GOP congressmen in asking Gov. Evan Mecham to resign his office, Jan. 16, 1988, at the state capital in Phoenix.AP

President Bush and Sen. John McCain, R-Az., right, share a word while on stage before addressing the troops at Fort Lewis, Wash., Friday, June 18, 2004.AP

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain and his wife Cindy, smile as confetti falls on them at the end of town hall meeting in Peterborough, N.H., on Jan 30, 2000.AP

Vice President Dick Cheney receives the 2001 Freedom Award by the International Republican Institute present to him by Sen. John McCain in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2001.AP

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., sits in his chief of staffs' office on March 22, 2001, in Washington.AP

Arizona Sen. John McCain testifies before the Senate Ethics Committee Friday, Jan. 4, 1991 at Capitol Hill.AP

Senator John McCain speaks with a soldier from the Panamanian Defense Forces Sunday, May 7, 1989, in Panama City after he voted.AP

John McCain holds a photo of a monument that the Vietnamese have erected in Hanoi on Friday, Jan. 11, 1985.AP

McCain's condition worsened last fall and he had been in Arizona since December. McCain was a long-term survivor of melanoma, a deadly skin cancer. Doctors classified his brain cancer as a "primary tumor," meaning it wasn't related to his former malignancies.
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McCain ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, then won it in 2008 before losing the general election to then-Sen. Barack Obama.

He returned to the Senate, determined not to be defined by a failed presidential campaign in which his reputation as a maverick had faded.

When Republicans took control of the Senate in 2015, McCain, the scion in a decorated military family, embraced his new influence as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, pushing for aggressive U.S. military intervention overseas and eager to contribute to "defeating the forces of radical Islam that want to destroy America."

Asked how he wanted to be remembered, McCain said simply: "That I made a major contribution to the defense of the nation."

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He was a frequent target of criticism from President Donald Trump, especially for his vote against a Republican replacement for "Obamacare," the health care law approved under President Barack Obama.
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Trump signed a military policy bill in August named for McCain, but in a sign of their testy relationship, the president made no mention of McCain's name in remarks at a signing ceremony.

The senator had been away from the Capitol since December. Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey will name a replacement to serve out the remainder of McCain's term - through the 2020 election. The GOP currently holds a bare 51-49 Senate majority.

McCain was married twice, most recently to Cindy McCain in 1980. He had seven children (both adopted and biological) from his two marriages, including daughter Meghan McCain, a prominent political commentator and co-host of "The View." He is also survived by his 106-year-old mother, Roberta McCain.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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