World News – US – Roberta McCain, mother of senator and his beacon, dies at 108

John McCain credited him with his will to survive as a prisoner of war She then campaigned for him in his 2008 presidential bid

Roberta McCain, whose son, Arizona Senator John McCain, said she inspired her will to survive as a prisoner of war in Vietnam – and who, at 96, campaigned with ardor in her losing candidacy for president against Barack Obama in 2008 – died Monday at her home in Washington She was 108 years old

An adventurous world traveler who frequently carried home dislocations in the wake and perils of wartime family with an outward calm, Ms. McCain was the Navy through and through – wife and step-in-law. daughter of the admirals and mother of the naval aviator who was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 and who for five and a half years was America’s most famous prisoner of Vietnam War

For Ms. McCain and her husband, Adm John S McCain Jr, Commander of All U.S. Forces in the Pacific and in the Theater of the Vietnam War, their son’s captivity in North Vietnam was painfully endured by the prayer and by near silence in public They knew that Hanoi tortured prisoners and that Lt Cmdr McCain, as a propaganda prize, could hardly be exempted.

He came home as a war hero and, with his mother’s encouragement, began a political career as a Republican mainstay He won two terms in the House of Representatives and six terms in the Senate, and he has been to the White House twice In 2000, he lost the nomination in favor of M Bush, who went on to win the presidency; eight years later he won the nomination, but lost the election to M Obama He died in 2018

« From both parents I learned to persevere, » wrote Senator McCain in a memoir entitled « Faith of My Fathers » (1999, with Mark Salter) « But my mother’s extraordinary resilience made her the stronger of the two I have acquired some of her resilience and bliss, and that legacy has made a huge difference in my life

“Our family,” he continued, “lived on the move, rooted not in the place but in the culture of the navy. I learned from my mother not only to accept the constant disturbances in the process , but to welcome them as elements of an interesting life « 

The rebellious daughter of a wealthy Oklahoma wild animal who settled her family in Los Angeles, Ms. McCain fled and became a Navy bride in 1933 as her husband became a military prominent world, she has lived in capitals and naval bases in Europe, Asia and the Americas for nearly four decades Her children were born in Honolulu, the Panama Canal Zone and at Groton Submarine Base, Conn

As part of relentless Navy reassignment moves, his youngest son Joe had attended 17 schools by the time he finished ninth grade During World War II, Mrs. McCain, living in Hawaii, rarely saw her husband, a submarine commander whose dangers during months-long patrols in the Pacific were the subject of war legends and family nightmares. p>

« Our mothers run our households, pay the bills and manage most of our education For long periods at a time they have to be both mother and father They move us from base to base They look after our needs religious, educational and emotional They mediate our quarrels, discipline us and protect us « 

After World War II, when her husband became the Navy’s chief information officer and congressional liaison, the McCains kept a home on Capitol Hill Senators, officials, and senior Pentagon officials were frequent visitors to their home, which later became the Capitol Hill Club

« My mother’s charm has proven to be as effective with politicians as it has with naval officers, » Senator McCain recalls in her memoir

Her husband was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1958 Her stepfather, John S McCain Sr, was also an admiral, who commanded Western Pacific air forces and carriers during WWII

In the early 1960s, the family lived in New York City when Admiral McCain was attached to the United Nations, and in London when he commanded US naval forces in Europe. During the commands of the flagship theater of the Pacific and Vietnam, from 1968 to 1972, Mrs. McCain often accompanied him to Saigon, where he conferred with Gen Creighton Abrams, the military commander of Vietnam.She also joined him on missions in Thailand, Japan and the Philippines

“My mother always traveled with my father,” wrote Senator McCain “If the Navy had allowed it, I’m sure she would have accompanied him on maritime service, and found the world to be alternately exciting and dullness of men at sea a useful and interesting way of spending time »

After her husband’s death in 1981, Ms McCain and her identical twin sister Rowena took long road trips through Europe, the Middle East and Asia Once, when she s refused a rental car in Paris because of her age, she went out and bought a car While on road trips in the United States, she racked up numerous speeding tickets and was once clocked over 100 miles per hour, her son said.

In his later years she encouraged the political career of her son Retired from the Navy in 1981, he was elected in 1982 to the House of Representatives, where he served four years, then to the Senate in 1986, winning five re-elections, the last in 2016 She played no role in her candidacy for the presidency in 2000

But she joined Senator McCain’s 2008 “Straight Talk Express” campaign.She sometimes stole the show with scathing comments about her son’s political enemies, and she once wrongly accused a rival, Gov Mitt Romney from Massachusetts for her involvement in a scandal that rocked the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City She and her son have apologized

Roberta Wright was born in Muskogee, Okla on Feb January 7, 1912, one of five children of Archibald and Myrtle (Fletcher) Wright She was a freshman at the University of Southern California in 1931 when she met Ensign McCain, a recent graduate of the Naval Academy

Her parents disapproved of their dating, but the couple fled and got married in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1933 They had three children, Jean Alexandra, John Sidney III and Joseph Pinckney II

Mrs. McCain is survived by her son John; 10 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and seven great-great-grandchildren Her daughter, Jean Alexandra McCain Morgan, died last year

On Ms. McCain’s 100th birthday in 2012, a crowd of relatives and friends gathered at the Capitol Hill Club, her former home, for a cake topper and a slideshow of her scenic past She was pictured with Lord Mountbatten , the last viceroy of India; John Paul Getty, industrialist and collector; Bob Hope; Ambassador Clare Boothe Luce; Madame and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek; and others

After Senator McCain’s death in August 2018, Ms McCain was unable to attend her son’s memorial service in Phoenix But she led her family to attend a memorial in Washington, where the senator lay in state in the Capitol rotunda She also attended his funeral at the Washington National Cathedral, where Mr. Obama and former President George W Bush gave high praise, and was present for a private service and burial ceremony at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

« We still have, to this day, » Senator McCain said of his mother in her memoir, « heated discussions on politics and politics »

John McCain, Roberta McCain, Cindy McCain, Meghan McCain, Republican Party