A few things you might not have known about John McCain:

• Born: Aug. 29, 1936, Panama Canal Zone, Panama
• Education: U.S. Naval Academy, BS 1958; National War College, attended 1973-1974
• Military Service: Navy, 1958-1981. Awarded the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, 2 Bronze Star Medals, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross
• Career: Navy officer; Senate Navy liaison; beer distributor
• Political career: U.S. House, 1983-87; U.S. Senate, 1987-current; sought the Republican nomination for president in 2000
• Religion: Episcopalian
• Family:
• Married Carol Shepp, 1965; divorced in 1980. Their children: daughter Sidney and Shepp’s sons Doug and Andy from a previous marriage, whom McCain adopted
• Married Cindy Hensley, 1980. Their children: Meghan, John Sidney IV and James. Adopted daughter Bridget from a Bangladesh orphanage
• Tunes on his iPod: Naval and maritime songs, a gift from the United States Merchant Marine Academy’s graduating class of 2007
• Political hero: Theodore Roosevelt
• Favorite movie: “Viva Zapata”
• Favorite television show: “24″
• Favorite stump speech joke: “Two men were standing in the prison chow line. One turns to the other and says, ‘The food was better in here when you were the governor.’”
• Favorite food: Shrimp, and pizza topped with pepperoni and onions
• Food most frequently found on his campaign bus: Doughnuts
• Most common warning to reporters: “You’re going to wind up in rehab from eating all those sugar doughnuts.”
• Most common line on the stump: “I would be happy to take whatever questions, comments or insults you might have.”
• Favorite saying: “As Chairman Mao used to say, it’s always blackest before it’s totally black.”
• Favorite author: Ernest Hemingway
• Favorite book: “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
• Books he has written with Mark Salter:
• “Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember”
• “Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir”
• “Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them”
• “Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life”
• “Worth the Fighting For: the Education of an American Maverick, and the Heroes who Inspired Him”