Cindy Hensley McCain

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Cindy McCain is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the wife of United States Senator John McCain. She serves as Chairperson of her family's business, Hensley & Company,^[1]^[2] and previously founded the American Voluntary Medical Team in 1988, leading many medical missions to developing and war-torn countries during the Team's seven-year existence. In 2000, McCain was active in her husband's unsuccessful campaign for President of the United States. That same year, she was chosen as the Chairwoman of the Arizona delegation to the Republican National Convention. She serves on the Board of Directors for several non-profit philantropies, including CARE, Operation Smile, and the HALO Trust.^[3]

1 Early life
2 Family and personal life
3 Substance abuse
4 References

[edit] Early life

McCain grew up in Arizona, the daughter of James and Marguerite Hensley, who founded Hensley & Company,^[4] one of the largest Anheuser-Busch distributors in the nation.^[2] She attended Madison Meadows Elementary and Central High School in Phoenix.

McCain received her undergraduate degree in Education and a masters in Special Education from the University of Southern California.^[3] After graduating from USC, she began her teaching career at Agua Fria High School in Avondale, Arizona.

[edit] Family and personal life

In 1980, she married John McCain, a divorced war hero almost 20 years her senior, who at the time was the U.S. Navy liaison officer to the United States Senate. Then-Sen. Bill Cohen, R-Maine, was his best man; then-Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colo., was a groomsman. Two years later, John McCain was elected to the House; four years after that, he joined Cohen and Hart in the Senate.

She is the mother of four children: Meghan, John IV (Jack), James (Jimmy), and Bridget. She is step-mother to the three children from John McCain's first marriage, Doug, Andy and Sidney. McCain's son James enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2006, and began recruit training in September 2006.^[5]

In 1988, Cindy McCain founded the Arizona Voluntary Medical Team, or AVMT, a non-profit organization that organized trips for doctors and nurses to third-world countries where disaster had struck -- Micronesia, Nicaragua, Bangladesh and El Salvador. While at Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh, Cindy met two young girls that she decided needed to be brought to the US for medical treatment. She decided to adopt one of the young girls, Bridget and helped coordinate the adoption of the other little girl named Mickey for Wes Gullett, a family friend.^{[citation needed]}

McCain suffered a stroke in April 2004 due to high blood pressure, but appears to have made a full recovery.^[6]

[edit] Substance abuse

Some information in this section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

In August 1994, Cindy McCain admitted that she had been addicted to painkillers such as Percocet ever since she had back surgeries in 1989. She reached an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's office that included financial restitution and treatment for her addiction. When Cindy McCain publicly revealed her addiction she said that she hoped it would give other addicts courage in their struggles.

"Although my conduct did not result in compromising any missions of AMVT (her charity organization), my actions were wrong, and I regret them," she said in a statement. A few weeks later, the Variety Club of Arizona had to cancel its Humanitarian of the Year Award dinner in her honor because of poor ticket sales.

Since then, McCain has kept a comfortable distance from the media. She continues her charity work, traveling around the world, and founding another nonprofit in 1995 -- the Hensley Family Foundation, which donates money for children's programs in Arizona and the rest of the country.