McCain family

The McCain family is a prominent American naval family. Its member include Admirals John S. McCain Sr. (1884–1945) and John S. McCain Jr. (1911–1981), who were the first father-and-son pair to achieve four-star admiral rank in the U.S. Navy, and John S. McCain III (1936–2018) who served in the Vietnam War and as a Congressman and United States Senator from Arizona.

Family heritage
William Alexander McCain (1817–1863) lived in Carroll County, Mississippi. During his life, he owned a 2000 acre plantation there known alternately as "Teoc" (the Choctaw name for the creek it was located on) and "Waverly", as well as 52 slaves (some of whose descendants share the surname and call themselves the "black McCains").

John S. McCain Sr. (1884–1945) was an admiral in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was posthumously promoted to the rank of admiral. His older brother, another William Alexander McCain, attended the University of Mississippi before transferring to West Point. He retired with the rank of brigadier general, and was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal for actions in World War I and an Oak Leaf Cluster during World War II. An uncle, Henry Pinckney McCain (1861–1941), also attended West Point and later retired from the Army as a major general. Camp McCain, a World War II training base and current Mississippi National Guard training site, located in Grenada County, Mississippi, was named for him.

John S. McCain Jr. (1911–1981), was a submarine commander in World War II and later served as a Commander in Chief Pacific Command (CINCPAC) during the Vietnam War. He and his father were the first father-and-son pair to achieve four-star admiral rank in the U.S. Navy. His son John S. McCain III (1936–2018), also served in the Vietnam War and spent five years as a prisoner of war in the "Hanoi Hilton" and other North Vietnamese camps from 1967 to 1972. Following his retirement from the Navy, he served as both a Congressman and Senator from Arizona. He ran for President twice, in 2000 and in 2008. Another grandson, Joe McCain, attended the US Navy Academy but served in the US Navy as an enlisted man.

John Sidney "Jack" McCain IV attended and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2009 and is a naval aviator. Jack McCain IV was awarded his diploma at Annapolis by President Barack Obama, the man who defeated his father in 2008. Jack McCain IV is married to Captain Renee Swift-McCain (USAF Reserve). Another great-grandson of John S. McCain Sr., James Hensley "Jimmy" McCain, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2006. He finished a tour of duty in the Iraq War in 2008. A third, Douglas McCain, served as a Navy A-6E Intruder carrier pilot before turning to commercial aviation.