Cindy McCain

Cindy Hensley McCain (born May 20, 1954) is the chair of Hensley & Co. which is one of the largest Anheuser-Busch beer distributors in the United States, owning 68% of the company. She founded the American Voluntary Medical Team which organized trips by medical personnel to disaster-struck or war-torn third-world areas. Cindy McCain is best known as the spouse of Arizona Senator and 2008 Presidential candidate John McCain. She first met McCain in April 1979 at a military reception in Hawaii. John McCain was serving as the U.S. Navy liaison officer to the United States Senate. They married May 17, 1980 at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix. They signed a prenuptial agreement and today keep there finances apart and file separate income tax returns.

In 1989, she had suffered an addiction to opioid painkillers, which she initially took to alleviate pain following two spinal surgeries for ruptured discs. She took drug treatment and ended her addition in 1992. During the United States presidential election, 2000, Cindy McCain was chosen to serve as chair of the Arizona delegation for the Republican National Convention. In 2001, she became active in Operation Smile, a not-for-profit medical service, by joining ts board of directors, and traveling with them to Morocco, Vietnam, and India. Cindy McCain also sits on the board of directors for CARE and HALO Trust. She suffered a stoke in April 2004. Although she mostly recovered, she still suffers from some short-term memory loss and difficulties in writing as a result. With her husband a current Presidential candidate, she says as first lady she will not sit in on cabinet meetings, but will continue her involvement in overseas non-profit organizations. In February 2008, Cindy McCain criticized Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama, for saying, "and let me tell you something: For the first time in my adult lifetime I am really proud of my country." McCain replied: "I am proud of my country. I don't know about you — if you heard those words earlier — I am very proud of my country."

External links

• Cindy McCain's biography at John McCain.com