NPR

From A POW Prison, John McCain Emerged A 'Maverick'

McCain was shot down during the Vietnam War and was held captive and tortured for years. The ordeal helped fuel his political career.
John McCain is treated in a Hanoi hospital during the Vietnam War in November 1967.

John McCain, a titan in the U.S. Senate, was a consistent conservative, though unafraid to buck Republican Party leadership on issues ranging from campaign finance reform to the GOP-led effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

He died Saturday at age 81.

While the Arizona senator and two-time presidential candidate will be remembered for his self-proclaimed "maverick" persona, it was his military bloodlines and 5 1/2 years as

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