英語名人堂：約翰·麥凱恩
麥凱恩生于美國控制的巴拿馬運(yùn)河區(qū)域，父親小約翰·席德尼·麥凱恩(John Sidney McCain Jr.)和祖父老約翰·席德尼·麥凱恩(John Sidney McCain Sr.)皆曾晉階至美國海軍上將，并共同成為編號(hào)DDG-56的阿利·伯克級(jí)驅(qū)逐艦“約翰·席德尼·麥凱恩號(hào)”(USS John S. McCain)的冠名緣由。麥凱恩在維吉尼亞州的亞歷山德里亞圣公會(huì)中學(xué)和安那波利斯的美國海軍學(xué)院接受教育。他接著擔(dān)任海軍的飛行員，在越戰(zhàn)執(zhí)行戰(zhàn)斗任務(wù)，被俘并拘禁了長達(dá)五年半的時(shí)間，也使他成為全國知名人物。
獲釋回國后，麥凱恩在1982年當(dāng)選亞利桑那州第一選區(qū)的聯(lián)邦眾議員，并在1986年當(dāng)選該州聯(lián)邦參議員。他目前已經(jīng)連任至第四屆參議員任期了。
麥凱恩在2000年美國總統(tǒng)選舉中曾經(jīng)角逐共和黨的提名，但被喬治·沃克·布什擊敗。2007年宣布參加2008年美國總統(tǒng)選舉并在初選中迅速擊敗黨內(nèi)對(duì)手成為共和黨總統(tǒng)候選人，最終在與民主黨的奧巴馬參議員的對(duì)決中落敗。
John McCain is the United States Senator for Arizona and the Republican Party’s nominee for U.S. President in the 2008 election. He had a distinguished military career and won a Purple Heart medal in Vietnam. He entered politics in 1981 and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986. He is a conservative who has his own views on key issues.
McCain was born in 1936 in Panama to a U.S. naval officer. In 1951, his family returned to the USA and he attended a private school. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain entered the military. He loved boxing and showed many leadership skills during his training. He graduated from his naval academy in 1958.
McCain's combat duty began in 1967 when he was 30 years old. He was assigned to be a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. His plane was shot down on his twenty-third bombing mission. Badly injured, he was taken to the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison and tortured. He spent almost six years there, two in solitary confinement. He returned to America as a hero.
McCain retired from the Navy in 1981 and set his sights on a political career. He spent four years in local politics in Arizona before becoming the state’s Senator in 1986. He won re-election by large majorities in 1992, 1998, and 2004. He has worked to restore relations with Vietnam during his time in office. Three of his sons have entered the military.
