John McCain Cheated on His Wife and Broke the Hearts of the Reagans

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 8:53am

A bit of Republican history to keep Edwards's idiocy in proper perspective.

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Los Angeles Times

McCain's broken marriage and fractured Reagan friendship

The nature and timing of his divorce from Carol Shepp alienated key friends -- and his version doesn't always match that in court documents.

By Richard A. Serrano and Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
July 11, 2008

Outside her Bel-Air home, Nancy Reagan stood arm in arm with John McCain and offered a significant -- but less than exuberant -- endorsement.

"Ronnie and I always waited until everything was decided, and then we endorsed," the Republican matriarch said in March. "Well, obviously this is the nominee of the party." They were the only words she would speak during the five-minute photo op.

In a written statement, she described McCain as "a good friend for over 30 years." But that friendship was strained in the late 1970s by McCain's decision to divorce his first wife, Carol, who was particularly close to the Reagans, and within weeks marry Cindy Hensley, the young heiress to a lucrative Arizona beer distributorship.

The Reagans rushed to help Carol, finding her a new home in Southern California with the family of Reagan aide Edwin Meese III and a series of political and White House jobs to ease her through that difficult time.

McCain, who is about to become the GOP nominee, has made several statements about how he divorced Carol and married Hensley that conflict with the public record.

In his 2002 memoir, "Worth the Fighting For," McCain wrote that he had separated from Carol before he began dating Hensley.

"I spent as much time with Cindy in Washington and Arizona as our jobs would allow," McCain wrote. "I was separated from Carol, but our divorce would not become final until February of 1980."

An examination of court documents tells a different story. McCain did not sue his wife for divorce until Feb. 19, 1980, and he wrote in his court petition that he and his wife had "cohabited" until Jan. 7 of that year -- or for the first nine months of his relationship with Hensley.

Although McCain suggested in his autobiography that months passed between his divorce and remarriage, the divorce was granted April 2, 1980, and he wed Hensley in a private ceremony five weeks later. McCain obtained an Arizona marriage license on March 6, 1980, while still legally married to his first wife.

Until McCain filed for divorce, the Reagans and their inner circle assumed he was happily married, and they were stunned to learn otherwise, according to several close aides.

"Everybody was upset with him," recalled Nancy Reynolds, a top aide to the former president who introduced him to McCain.

[REST OF ARTICLE AT LINK]


LA Times: McCain's broken marriage and fractured Reagan friendship

[Auggie27]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 10:18am

And watching McCain field the first question about Edwards, the deer was suddenly in a new or old set of headlights. What may seem a gift to the Republicans could turn out to be the opposite, as it places the finger-wagging topic of "adultery" on the table again, a subject that clearly can make Mr. McCindy squirm.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 10:22am

Is this REALLY something that people take into consideration when electing a public official? Sad.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 10:24am

That's wonderful, coming from Nancy Reagan.

...or should I say the SECOND Mrs. Reagan?

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 10:37am

I love the fact that the ad on the right hand side of this thread is encouraging me to donate $25 to the McCain "Campaign for Victory."

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 10:40am

Every politician has a skeleton or 2 in his closet. They mirror real people in real life.

This has been going on since time began & will continue. I find the moral outrage from Democrats when a Republican does is quite humorous . It is not so humorous when it bites one of their own in the ass. At least Mc Cain's did not cost someone her life.

One previous poster said they would not take this into account when voting. It comes to the matter of trust. When someone would cheat on his cancer stricken wife, I cannot see how anyone would vote for him no matter what. You could never trust him again in anything. This is a guy who while cheating on her used her illness to further his campaign. This guy is a real sterling individual.

The only thing he is sorry about is that he got caught.

Updated On: 8/9/08 at 10:40 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 10:55am

When someone would cheat on his cancer stricken wife, I cannot see how anyone would vote for him no matter what.

Wasn't it NEWT GINGRICH who first had the idea to cheat on his cancer-stricken wife and serve her divorce papers on her while she was getting chemo?

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 11:03am

"When someone would cheat on his cancer stricken wife, I cannot see how anyone would vote for him no matter what. You could never trust him again in anything. This is a guy who while cheating on her used her illness to further his campaign. This guy is a real sterling individual."

Replace 'cancer stricken' with 'disabled in car accident' and you have a fair comparison to how John & Cindy McCain got together.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 1:42pm

the irony of course is that the la times ran that story while simultaneously surpressing anything about edwards.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 4:59pm

No that's not the irony.

The irony is that lousy John McCain is all the The Party of Reagan could rustle up as a candidate in 2008.

Posted: 8/9/08 at 8:02pm

I'm just saying....Let he who is without sin and all....

[roquat]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 9:08pm

Exactly. How is any of this our business? Is this really modern journalism--hound a politician about a suspected affair until he lies on camera, then report that lie as evidence of "lack of character"? Would Edwards have gotten any more respect if he'd admitted the affair the first time he was asked in public? How exactly does a candidate's marital troubles bear on how he/she would handle the responsibilities of the Presidency? And didn't we go over this ground all too painfully and pointlessly with Ms. Lewinsky?

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 10:30am

Oh, please. The Reagans had no hearts to break.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 4:24pm

Nancy Davis Reagan was two months pregnant with Patti when she and Ronnie walked down the aisle.

Posted: 8/11/08 at 4:47pm

And our "Family Values" president Ronald Reagan is the only president to be divorced.