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McCain leads Republican race
08/02/2008 14:46 - (SA)
Washington - Senator John McCain emerged as the all-but-certain Republican nominee for US president with the pullout on Thursday of rival Mitt Romney.
Here are some facts about McCain:
If elected, McCain, who turns 72 in August, would be the
oldest person to assume the US presidency.
From a celebrated Navy family, McCain is the son and
grandson of four-star admirals and he followed in their
footsteps by attending the US Naval Academy.
On his 23rd combat mission over Vietnam in 1967, he was
shot down. He spent five-and-a-half years in captivity, including two in
solitary confinement, along with frequent beatings and torture.
In the Senate, he has been a critic of harsh interrogation
techniques such as "waterboarding" or simulated drowning.
McCain was seen as a maverick in his campaign for the
2000 Republican presidential nomination when he gave then-Texas
Governor George W Bush a scare by winning the first-in-the-nation
primary state of New Hampshire by 18 percentage points. But he
lost to Bush in South Carolina after bitter state primary
campaigns.
McCain has vigorously supported the unpopular Iraq war as
many Americans are weary of the conflict and eager to get US
troops home. McCain has criticised the way the war was
conducted initially, saying the United States should never go
to war without a comprehensive plan for success.
First elected to the US House of Representatives in
1982, McCain won the first of four terms in the Senate in
1986.
In Congress, McCain has been a pro-business conservative,
free-market advocate and abortion foe, but he has voted against
the Republican majority on several high-profile bills. He has
made campaign finance reform a signature concern, which led to
the passage of the McCain-Feingold Act in 2002.
He was among five senators investigated for taking
contributions from savings and loan financier Charles Keating.
In 1991, the Senate ethics committee cleared McCain of any
wrongdoing, except using poor judgment.
- Reuters
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