John McCain is the father of seven children - three of them adopted. The story of his daughter, Bridget McCain, is especially touching and tells us a lot about what kind of people John and Cindy McCain are. Photos and a video are below.
First of all, let’s get the seven kids straight. Doug and Andy are the two children that he adopted when he married their mother, Carol - his first wife. He and Carol then had Sidney. After his divorce from Carol, he and second wife, Cindy, adopted Bridget from Mother Teresa’s orphange in Bangladesh. He and Cindy are the biological parents of Meghan, Jack and Jimmy.
Meghan McCain kissing sister, Bridget McCain
The story of Bridget McCain goes like this:
[Cindy McCain] visited Mother Teresa’s orphanage in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where she saw 160 newborn girls who had been abandoned. The nuns handed her a small baby with a cleft palate so severe that she couldn’t be fed. Another baby, also just a few weeks old, had a heart defect. Worried they would die without medical attention, Cindy applied for medical visas to take the girls back to the United States. But the country’s minister of health refused to sign the papers. “We can do surgery on this child,” an official told her. Cindy, frustrated, slammed her fist on the table. “Then do it! What are you waiting for?” The official, stunned, simply signed the papers. “I don’t know where I got the nerve,” Cindy said.
When she arrived in Phoenix, she carried the baby with the cleft palate off the plane. Her husband met her at the airport. He looked at the baby. “Where is she going,” he asked her. “To our house,” she replied. They adopted the little girl and named her Bridget. Family friends adopted the other little girl.
It is telling that you don’t hear the McCain’s bragging about their humanitarian efforts. You don’t see them trying to make a big deal out of having a multi-racial family. Bridget McCain is their daughter. Period. I like that. People are people are people.
Scholastic has a kid reporter interview with Bridget McCain in which she talks about being just a regular girl. Great reading - click the link to read it for yourself.
Bridget McCain with Scholastic Kid Reporter, Jacob Schroeder
The McCain Family, 1999
Video of Meghan McCain telling about Bridget McCain
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Excellent post!
I will link to it from Silverbacks in a couple of days.
Thanks for sharing with us.
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Thanks, Mushy! I just thought it was a good story to bring up.
June 28th, 2008 at 1:25 am
June 28th, 2008 at 5:07 am
July 25th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
[...] words with concrete action. He has already literally lifted a child in Bangladesh from poverty. I wrote about Bridget McCain a few weeks ago. Bridget McCain is the adopted daughter that the McCains lifted from poverty from [...]
July 26th, 2008 at 3:11 am
August 20th, 2008 at 11:40 am
such a nice piece. mccain is not a show off. obama certainly is.
August 23rd, 2008 at 11:54 pm
August 25th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
all this would be lovely if the mccains attempted to deceive the voters by claiming that mother theresa herself had begged cindy mccain to adopt the two babies.
those false claims have only recently been scrubbed from the mccain campaign website.
you would think that after what was done to bridge mccain by the bush campaign in 2000 that they would resist callously using her themselves.
but, hey, mccain was a POW, so if he wants to be president enough that he is willing to make the sacrifice of bridget’s well being we should all just shut up and pretend it ain’t so.
August 30th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
August 30th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Definitely nice of McCain. I am bengali from bangladesh. Now if he can only share that compassion with the our soldiers and millions of people in Iraq who don’t want to hurt us and leave the country instead of helping W and Cheney make more money off oil (check their stocks!), I’ll vote for him.
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:56 am
Families are involved in campaigns. The Obama campaign “uses” their daughters, too…if you want to call it that. Be fair. There has been very little coverage about Bridget McCain, so I hardly think you can accuse the McCains of sacrificing their daughter’s well being for the sake of the campaign. However, she is part of the family (and and families are always part of campaigns), so (obviously) she’s going to get some attention.
John McCain is not in cahoots with W & Cheney. As a republican Bush & Cheney are, of course, backing him. BUT, W & John McCain have a long track record of butting heads. Claims that McCain is just another George W Bush are ludicrous, especially since the two of them haven’t been the best of friends in the past. They’ve not had a wholly amicable relationship and they disagree on a lot of major issues. McCain isn’t a “typical” republican, by any means. That’s how he got the nickname “maverick” - he’s different. If he becomes pres, he’ll shake things up in Washington just like he has been doing for years.
Obama, on the other hand, is just more of the same old Washington. 98% of the time he votes right along with his party. What about that embodies change? Nothing. He’s going to do the same old stuff the democratic congress has been doing lately - with very poor approval ratings by the American people. Obama’s message of change is superficial. The only thing unique about Obama is that he’s grossly inexperienced.
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I do not understand why Barack Obama is calling too much attention to himself. Hes black, and thres never been a black canidate even close to being a presidential canidate so of course hell get attention. Glad that Bridget got adopted, but honestly what does this prove?
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Although I am hardcore democrat, this story has really made me start thinking about McCain family. As much I always wanted to do such an act, I do not think I have that level of goodness in me.
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:23 pm
It’s interesting to note that he left his first wife after she was injured in an accident and married his current wife one month later. . . Also, his eldest daughter lives in Canada. How’s that for patriotism.
September 6th, 2008 at 8:01 am
The McCains are obviously wonderful people. Obama is all words with no action behind the words. I don’t really care if Mother Teresa was at the orphanage or not-who cares. It is not an important part of the story of a wonderfully compassionate well off family who took in a dirt poor very ill child and loved her and made her a complete part of their family!! These are the type of people I want running the country!!
Obama talks in circles and he will lead us to doom!!
September 6th, 2008 at 9:55 am
September 7th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Reading Bidget McCain story,seeing her video as a baby, I am sure now,we need a First Lady like Cindy McCain.
Thanks.
September 11th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Why will Bidget inherit less than her siblings when her mom dies? Don’t Cindy and John love her as much as their other children? Or do they really think of her in the same way they think of Kathleen Hensley Portalski and Carol McCain?
September 11th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
To sin-D-john: Do you have solid references for your allegations? I have neither read nor heard anthing about Bridget inheriting less than the other siblings. Sounds like a good rumor, though - especially for someone looking for dirt on the McCains.
I’ve read the stories about her sister, and I can only decide that since Cindy was raised as an only child, she did not have the opportunity to develop a relationship with this half-sister. The fault for that go to Cindy’s parents - not to Cindy.
It’s funny you talk about Cindy not being honest or “nice†to her family. Guess if she had left Bridget to die rather than adopting her that would have been okay. And all those houses the left likes to talk about - most of them are houses that the McCains provide for their extended family. Cindy has done enormous things for her family - including Carol McCain’s children from her first marriage that John McCain adopted - and for people around the world who are needy. I think you’re barking up the wrong tree here.
And how about Obama’s brother in Kenya - and the Kenyan school that Obama promised to help?
September 12th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
The McCain’s are very warm and compasionate people. Need to see more people adopting Indian children.
September 13th, 2008 at 7:10 am
September 13th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Where is Bridget in the 2-page photo spread in the current issue of People magazine. All the Palins (minus Track) are there and only blond Meghan.
September 13th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Where is Bridget in the 2-page photo spread in the current issue of People magazine? The Palins are there, minus Track, but only blond Meghan McCain.
September 14th, 2008 at 6:29 am
Barbara Gee: Who knows where Bridget is. Perhaps she is in school. Perhaps she is out with some friends. Do you have a point in asking the question? Were all seven of the McCain children there? It sounds to me that you’re trying to imply that there’s some nefarious reason that Bridget is not in the photo spread. The McCains treat her like their other children. They proudly introduced her and her six siblings to the nation during the RNC. She’s in family pictures. You’re trying to imply something that simply isn’t there.
September 16th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
September 17th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
I think it is wonderful that CINDY MCCAIN brought Bridget home. John McCain had nothing to do with it. He even asked where she was going to stay. It is a good thing that Cindy is such a strong woman. Hooray for Cindy.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:12 am
John McCain is the kind of person that would welcome a baby Cindy brought into the home wholeheartedly - based on Cindy’s word. That speaks volumes for John and Cindy’s relationship and for each of them individually.
September 21st, 2008 at 9:37 pm
If John McCain wins the election, it will be a plus point for Bangladesh because she would be the first adopted child to become first-daughter of White House! It will motivate not only Bangladeshis but also foreigners and under-privileged children throughout the world. What Mr. and Mrs. McCain have can be called, great mind with great personality!! The question is how helpful will she be to Bangladesh and to McCain to win the election.
God bless the family
-Yasir Arafat (Sam) New York City
September 27th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Yeah for Cindy! She has a good heart. She should run for President, not her hubby.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:22 pm
To Mary-Kay Gamel: Let’s see . . . you’re a “professor” at UCSC - and I’m supposed to believe this story? That’s hilarious. I don’t believe the story for a second. However, even if for argument’s sake, I wanted to believe John McCain FELT the way you described, he is much too intelligent and politically savvy to voice such outrageous things. Nice try, “Mary-Kay Gamel.”
October 31st, 2008 at 8:57 pm
November 1st, 2008 (5 weeks ago) at 7:17 pm
November 4th, 2008 (4 weeks ago) at 3:05 pm