McCain, John /məˈkeɪn/ BrE AmE
(1936–) an American politician who became a Republican ↑ senator for Arizona in 1987. In 2000 he wanted to be the Republican ↑ candidate in the election for President, but was defeated by George W. Bush. Together with Senator Russ Feingold, he succeeded in getting Congress to introduce a new law called the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 which controls the way in which money can be paid to politicians in order to support their election ↑ campaign s . During the Vietnam War he spent more than five years in a PRISONER-OF-WAR camp. In 2008 he was the Republican candidate in the election for President.