John S . McCain , Sr . John Sidney " Slew " McCain Sr . ( August 9 , 1884 – September 6 , 1945 ) was a U . S . Navy admiral . He held several command assignments during the Pacific campaign of World War II . McCain was a pioneer of aircraft carrier operations who in 1942 commanded all land - based air operations in support of the Guadalcanal campaign , and who ultimately in 1944 – 1945 aggressively led the Fast Carrier Task Force , in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II . His operations off the Philippines and Okinawa , and air strikes against Formosa and the Japanese home islands , caused tremendous destruction of Japanese naval and air forces in the closing period of the war . He died four days after the formal Japanese surrender ceremony . He was the father of Admiral John S . McCain , Jr . ; they became the first father - son pair ever to achieve four star admiral rank in the U . S . Navy . He was the grandfather of U . S . Senator from Arizona and 2008 Republican presidential nominee Captain John S . McCain III , and the great - grandfather of John S . McCain IV . All four graduated from the United States Naval Academy . Early life , education and family . McCain was born in Carroll County , Mississippi , the son of plantation owner John Sidney McCain ( b . Mississippi , 1851 – d . 1934 ) and wife Elizabeth - Ann Young ( b . Mississippi , 1855 – d . 1922 ) , who married in 1877 . His grandparents were William Alexander McCain ( b . 1812 , North Carolina - 1863 ) and Mary Louisa McAllister , who were married in 1840 . He attended the University of Mississippi for two years , where he joined the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity , and then decided to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point , where his brother William Alexander McCain was enrolled . To practice for its entrance exams , he decided to take the ones for the United States Naval Academy ; when he passed those and earned an appointment , he decided to attend there instead . In doing so , he would leave behind his Mississippi plantation and adopt the Navy ' s itinerant life . At the Naval Academy , his performance was lackluster . He failed his annual physical on account of defective hearing , but the condition was waived due to the great need for officers . When he graduated in 1906 , he ranked 79 out of 116 in his class , and the yearbook labeled him " The skeleton in the family closet of 1906 . " He married Catherine Davey Vaulx , who was eight years his senior ( b . Fayetteville , Arkansas , January 9 , 1876 – d . San Diego , California , May 29 , 1959 ) , on August 9 , 1909 at Colorado Springs , Colorado . Early career and World War I . Soon after earning his commission , McCain sailed aboard the Great White Fleet ' s world cruise from 1907 to 1909 , joining the battleship for the last stretch home . His next assignment was to the Asiatic Squadron , after which the Navy ordered him to the naval base at San Diego , California . During 1914 and 1915 he was executive officer and engineering officer aboard the armored cruiser USS " Colorado " , patrolling off the Pacific coast of then - troubled Mexico . In September 1915 , he joined the armored cruiser USS " San Diego " , flagship for the Pacific Fleet . With U . S . entry into World War I , McCain and " San Diego " served on convoy duty in the Atlantic , escorting shipping through the first dangerous leg of their passages to Europe . Based out of Tompkinsville , New York , and Halifax , the " San Diego " operated in the weather - torn , submarine - infested North Atlantic . McCain left the " San Diego " in May 1918 , two months before she was sunk , when he was assigned to the Bureau of Navigation . Interwar period . In the 1920s and early 1930s , McCain served aboard the , the , and the . His first command was the USS " Sirius " . In 1935 , McCain enrolled in flight training . Graduating at 52 in 1936 , he became one of the oldest men to become a naval aviator and from 1937 to 1939 he commanded the aircraft carrier the . In January 1941 , after promotion to rear admiral , he commanded the Aircraft Scouting Force of the Atlantic Fleet . Physically short in stature and of rather thin frame , McCain was known for being gruff and very profane ; he liked to drink and gamble . He also showed courage and was regarded as a natural , inspirational leader of men . In the words of one biographical profile , McCain " preferred contentious conflict to cozy compromise . " World War II . After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941 , the Navy appointed McCain as Commander , Aircraft , South Pacific in May 1942 . As COMAIRSOPAC , he commanded all land - based Allied air operations supporting the Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands and south Pacific area . Aircraft under McCain ' s command , including the Cactus Air Force , located at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal , were key in supporting the successful effort to defend Guadalcanal from Japanese efforts to retake the island during this time . In October 1942 , the Navy ordered him to Washington , D . C . to head the Bureau of Aeronautics . In August 1943 , he became Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air with the rank of vice admiral . McCain returned to combat in the Pacific in August 1944 with his appointment as commander of a carrier group in Marc Mitscher ' s Task Force 58 ( TF 58 ) , part of Raymond Spruance ' s Fifth Fleet . In this role , McCain participated in the Marianas campaign , including the Battle of the Philippine Sea , and the beginning of the Philippines campaign . At the Battle of Leyte Gulf , Admiral William Halsey left in pursuit of a decoy force , leaving Rear Admiral Clifton " Ziggy " Sprague ' s Task Unit 77 . 4 . 3 ( usually referred to by its radio callsign , " Taffy 3 " ) to continue supporting forces ashore , defended by only a light screen of destroyer s and destroyer escort s . Taffy 3 came under attack from a much heavier Japanese force , under Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita , provoking the Battle off Samar . Sprague promptly began to plead for assistance from Halsey who was responsible for protecting the northern approach to the landing site . Halsey had contemplated detaching a battle group , Task Force 34 ( TF 34 ) , but chose to bring all available battle - groups north to pursue the Japanese carrier force . Hearing Sprague ' s pleas ( including messages in plain language , not even bothering to encrypt them , as the situation grew desperate ) , Admiral Nimitz sent Halsey a terse message , codice _ 1 . Halsey was infuriated ( not recognizing the final phrase as padding , chosen for the anniversary of the Charge of the Light Brigade , until a communications officer shortly thereafter explained and cleared it up for him . ) and sent McCain ' s Task Group 58 . 1 ( TG 58 . 1 ) to assist . McCain had been monitoring the original pleas for help and , recognizing the seriousness of the situation , had turned around without awaiting orders . His ships raced downwind towards the battle , briefly turning into the wind to recover returning planes . At 10 : 30 , a force of Helldiver s , Avenger s , and Hellcat s was launched from , , and at the extreme range of 330 miles ( 610 km ) . Though the attack did little damage , it strengthened Kurita ' s decision to retire . On October 30 , 1944 McCain assumed command of Task Force 38 ( TF 38 ) . He retained command of the fast carrier task force that he led through the Battle of Okinawa and raids on the Japanese mainland . While conducting operations off the Philippines , McCain , as Chief of Staff of Third Fleet , participated in Halsey ' s decision to keep the combined naval task force on station rather than avoid a major storm , Typhoon Cobra ( later known also as " Halsey ' s Typhoon " ) which was approaching the area . The storm sank three destroyers and inflicted heavy damage on many other ships . Some 800 men were lost , in addition to 146 aircraft . A Navy court of inquiry found that while Halsey committed an error of judgment in sailing into the typhoon , it stopped short of unambiguously recommending sanction . Death . By war ' s end in August 1945 , the stress of combat operations had worn McCain down to a weight of only 100 pounds . He requested home leave to recuperate but Halsey insisted that he be present at the Japanese surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay on September 2 , 1945 . Departing immediately after the ceremony , McCain died just 4 days later of a heart attack at his home in Coronado , California on September 6 , 1945 . His death was front page news . McCain Sr . was buried at Arlington National Cemetery . McCain was posthumously promoted to full admiral in 1949 , based upon a resolution of the U . S . Congress . This followed a recommendation of Secretary of the Navy Francis P . Matthews , who said that McCain ' s combat commendations would have earned him the promotion had he not died so soon after the war . During his career McCain was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and two Gold Stars in lieu of subsequent awards . Family heritage . His grandfather , William Alexander McCain ( b . North Carolina , 1812 – d . 1864 ) , died while serving as a private in Company I , 5th Mississippi Cavalry Regiment , Confederate States Army . Archive files indicate he deserted on February 15 , 1864 , and was later held as prisoner in Memphis . He died in a hospital on April 26 , 1864 . During his life , he owned a plantation in Carroll County , Mississippi known alternately as " Teoc " ( the Choctaw name for the creek it was located upon ) and " Waverly " , as well as 52 slaves ( some of whose descendants share the surname and call themselves the " black McCains " ) . He was married in 1840 to Mary Louisa McAllister ( b . Alabama , 1812 – d . 1882 ) . William ' s son , the first John Sidney McCain , known as J . S . McCain ( which may explain the apparent discrepancy in Senator John S . McCain being the III , rather than the IV ) , served as Sheriff and , later , President of the Board of Supervisors of Carroll County . McCain ' s older brother , another William Alexander McCain , also attended the University of Mississippi before transferring to the United States Military Academy . William A . McCain would eventually retire with the rank of Brigadier General , and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for actions in World War I , as well as the Oak Leaf Cluster during World War II . An uncle , Henry Pinckney McCain ( b . Mississippi , 1861 – d . 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 , is named for him . His son , John S . McCain , Jr . was a submarine commander in World War II and later served as CINCPAC , Commander in Chief Pacific Command , during the Vietnam War . His grandson , John S . McCain III was a U . S . Navy pilot during the Vietnam war , and was shot down and spent over five years as a P . O . W . in the infamous " Hanoi Hilton " and other North Vietnamese camps . After his release , he was elected to the U . S . House of Representatives and the United States Senate from Arizona . He ran for President in 2000 ( losing the Republican nomination to George W . Bush ) and then again in 2008 where he won the Republican Party ' s nomination only to lose in the general election to Barack Obama . John S . McCain , III wrote a book , " Faith of My Fathers , " concerning his navy family and his own experiences as a midshipman at Annapolis , a naval aviator and prisoner of war . John S . McCain III claims a royal connection on his campaign website : " McCain ’ s family roots in Europe are Scots - Irish . His great - aunt was a descendant of Robert the Bruce , an early Scottish king . McCain ' s roots in America date to the American Revolution . John Young , an early McCain ancestor , served on Gen . George Washington ' s staff . " John Young ' s ancestry has been traced to John Lamont , Baron McGorrie ( the " red baron of Inverchaolain and Knockdow " ; 1540 – 1583 ) . Great - grandson John Sidney " Jack " McCain IV attended and graduated from the U . S . Naval Academy in 2009 . Another great - grandson , James Hensley " Jimmy " McCain , enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2006 . He finished a tour of duty in the Iraq War in 2008 . Another , Douglas McCain , served as a Navy A - 6E Intruder carrier pilot before turning to commercial aviation . Namesakes . McCain Field , the operations center at Naval Air Station Meridian , Mississippi was named in his honor . The guided - missile destroyer ( in service 1953 – 1978 ) was named for him , and the destroyer ( in service 1994 – present ) was named for both of the Admirals John S . McCain . McCain was a would - be author who wrote fiction that was never published , including some adventure stories under the name Casper Clubfoot .