Czechoslovakia Československo, Česko‑Slovensko
←   ← 1918–1992 →   →
Flag since 1920 Coat of arms in 1990–1992
Motto Czech: Pravda vítězí ("Truth prevails"; 1918–1990) Slovak: Pravda zvíťazí ("Truth prevails"; 1918–1990) Latin: Veritas vincit ("Truth prevails"; 1990–1992)
Anthem Kde domov můj and Nad Tatrou sa blýska (first verses only)
Capital	Prague (Praha)
Language(s)	Czech and Slovak
Government	Republic
President
- 1918–1935	Tomáš G. Masaryk (first)
- 1989–1992	Václav Havel (last)
Prime Minister
- 1918–1919	Karel Kramář
- 1992	Jan Stráský
History
- Independence	28 October 1918
- German occupation	1939
- Liberation	1945
- Dissolution	31 December 1992
Area
- 1921	140,446 km2 (54,227 sq mi)
- 1993	127,900 km2 (49,382 sq mi)
Population
- 1921 est.	13,607,385
Density	96.9 /km2  (250.9 /sq mi)
- 1993 est.	15,600,000
Density	122 /km2  (315.9 /sq mi)
Currency	Czechoslovak koruna
Internet TLD	.cs
Calling code	+42
Current ISO 3166-3 code:        CSHH
The calling code 42 was retired in Winter 1997. The number range was subdivided, and re-allocated amongst Czech Republic, Slovakia and Liechtenstein.

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia^[1] (Czech and Slovak: Československo, Česko-Slovensko^[2]) was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992. From 1939 to 1945, the state did not de facto exist because of its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany, but the Czechoslovak government-in-exile nevertheless continued to exist during this period. In 1945, the eastern part of Carpathian Ruthenia was taken over by the Soviet Union. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Basic characteristics[link]

Form of state:

• 1918 - 1938: A democratic republic.
• 1938 - 1939: After annexation of Sudetenland by Germany in 1938, the region gradually turned into a state with loosened connections between Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian parts. A large strip of southern Slovakia and Ruthenia was annexed by Hungary, and the Zaolzie region was annexed by Poland.
• 1939 - 1945: The region split into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovak Republic. A government-in-exile continued to exist in London, supported by the United Kingdom, United States and its Allies; after German invasion of Russia, it was also recognised by the USSR. Czechoslovakia was part of Declaration by United Nations and was a founding member of United Nations.
• 1946 - 1948: The country was governed by a coalition government with Communist ministers, with the prime minister and the minister of interior. Carpathian Ruthenia was ceded to the USSR.
• 1948 - 1989: The country became a communist state with a centrally planned economy. In 1960, the country officially became a socialist republic.
• 1969 - 1990: The federal republic consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic.
• 1990 - 1992: The federal democratic republic consisted of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

Neighbours:

• Austria, 1918–1938, 1945-
• Germany, 1918–1945, 1990-
• West and East Germany 1945 - 1990
• Poland
• Soviet Union 1945 - 1991
• Ukraine (1992)
• Romania (until 1939)
• Hungary

Topography:

The country was of generally irregular terrain. The western area was part of north-central European uplands. The eastern region was composed of northern reaches of Carpathian Mountains and Danube River basin lands.

Climate:

The weather was predominantly continental, but varied from the moderate temperature of Western Europe in the west, to more severe weather of Eastern Europe and the western Soviet Union in the east.

Official names[link]

• 1918 - 1920: Republic of Czechoslovakia (abbreviated RČS)/Czecho-Slovak State,^[3] or Czecho-Slovakia/Czechoslovakia.
• 1920 - 1938: Czechoslovak Republic (ČSR), or Czechoslovakia.
• 1938 - 1939: Czecho-Slovak Republic, or Czecho-Slovakia.
• 1945 - 1960: Czechoslovak Republic (ČSR), or Czechoslovakia.
• 1960 - 1990: Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR), or Czechoslovakia.
• April 1990: Czechoslovak Federal Republic (Czech version) and Czecho-Slovak Federative Republic (Slovak version).
  • The country subsequently became the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, ČSFR, or Československo (Czech version) and Česko-Slovensko (Slovak version).

History[link]

Foundation[link]

Origins[link]

The area was long a part of the Austro Hungarian Empire until the Empire collapsed at the end of World War I. The new state was founded by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk^[4] (1850–1937), who served as its first president from 14 November 1918 to 14 December 1935. He was succeeded by his close ally, Edvard Beneš (1884–1948).

The roots of Czech nationalism go back to the 19th century, when philologists and educators, influenced by Romanticism, promoted the Czech language and pride in the Czech people. Nationalism became a mass movement in the last half of the 19th century. Taking advantage of the opportunities for limited participation in political life available under the Austrian rule, Czech leaders such as historian František Palacký (1798–1876) founded many patriotic, self-help organizations which provided a chance for many of their compatriots to participate in communal life prior to independence. At first, Palacký supported Austroslavism and worked for reorganized, federal, and Slavic-dominated Austrian Empire, which would protect Slavic peoples against Russian and German threats. The failure of the Revolution of 1848, however, crushed his hopes for Austroslavism.

An advocate of democratic reform and Czech autonomy within Austria-Hungary, Masaryk was elected twice to Reichsrat (Austrian Parliament), the first time being from 1891 to 1893 in the Young Czech Party and again from 1907 to 1914 in the Czech Realist Party, which he founded in 1889 with Karel Kramář and Josef Kaizl. With the outbreak of World War I, Masaryk began working for Czech independence in union with Slovakia. With Edvard Beneš and Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Masaryk visited several Western countries and won support from influential publicists.^[5]

Bohemia and Moravia, under Austrian rule, were Czech-speaking industrial centres, while Slovakia, which was part of Hungary, was an undeveloped agrarian region. Conditions were much better for the development of a mass national movement in the Czech lands than in Slovakia. Nevertheless, the two regions united and created a new nation.

Founding[link]

Czechoslovakia in 1928.

Czechoslovakia was founded in October 1918, as one of the successor states of Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I and as part of the Treaty of St. Germain. It consisted of the present day territories of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia. Its territory included some of the most industrialized regions of the former Austria-Hungary.

Ethnicity[link]

The new country was a multi-ethnic state. The population consisted of Czechs (51%), Slovaks (16%), Germans (22%), Hungarians (5%) and Rusyns (4%).^[6] Many of the Germans, Hungarians, Ruthenians and Poles^[7] and some Slovaks, felt oppressed, however, because the political elite did not generally allow political autonomy for minority ethnic groups. This policy, combined with increasing Nazi propaganda especially in the industrialized German speaking Sudetenland, led to unrest among the non-Czech population.

The state nonetheless proclaimed the official ideology that there are no Czechs and Slovaks, but only one nation of Czechoslovaks (see Czechoslovakism), to the disagreement of Slovaks and other ethnic groups. Once a unified Czechoslovakia was restored after World War II (after the country had been divided during the war), the conflict between the Czechs and the Slovaks surfaced again.

Linguistic map of Czechoslovakia in 1930

Interwar[link]

The period between the two world wars saw the flowering of democracy in Czechoslovakia. Of all the new states established in central Europe after 1918, only Czechoslovakia preserved a democratic government until the war broke out. The persistence of democracy suggests that Czechoslovakia was better prepared to maintain democracy than were other countries in the region. Thus, despite regional disparities, its level of development was much higher than that of neighboring states. The population was generally literate, and contained fewer alienated groups. The impact of these conditions was augmented by the political values of Czechoslovakia's leaders and the policies they adopted. Under Masaryk, Czech and Slovak politicians promoted progressive social and economic conditions that served to defuse discontent.

Foreign minister Beneš became the prime architect of the Czechoslovak-Romanian-Yugoslav alliance (the "Little Entente", 1921–38) directed against Hungarian attempts to reclaim lost areas. Beneš worked closely with France. Far more dangerous was the German element, which after 1933 became allied with the Nazis in Germany. The increasing feeling of inferiority among the Slovaks, who were hostile to the more numerous Czechs, weakened the country in the late 1930s. Many Slovaks supported an extreme nationalist movement and welcomed the puppet Slovak state set up under Hitler's control in 1939.

Munich Betrayal[link]

In 1938, Adolf Hitler demanded control of the Sudetenland. Britain, and France at the Munich Conference ceded the control in the Appeasement, ignoring the military alliance Czechoslovakia had with France. In 1939, the remainder ("rump") of Czechoslovakia was invaded by Nazi Germany and divided into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the puppet Slovak State. Much of Slovakia and all of Subcarpathian Ruthenia were annexed by Hungary. Poland occupied Zaolzie, an area with Polish minority, in October 1938.

The eventual goal of the German state under Nazi leadership was to eradicate Czech nationality through assimilation, deportation, and extermination of the Czech intelligentsia; the intellectual elites and middle class made up a considerable number of the 200,000 people who passed through concentration camps and the 250,000 who died during German occupation.^[9] Under Generalplan Ost, it was assumed that around 50% Czechs would be fit for Germanization. The Czech intellectual elites were to be removed not only from Czech territories but from Europe completely. The authors of Generalplan Ost believed it would be best if they emigrated overseas, as even in Siberia they were considered a threat to German rule. Just like Jews, Poles, Serbs, and several other nations, Czechs were considered to be untermenschen by the Nazi state.^[10]

The deportation of Jews to concentration camps was organized, and the fortress town of Terezín was made into a ghetto way station for Jewish families. On June 4, 1942, Heydrich died after being wounded by an assassin in Operation Anthropoid. Heydrich's successor, Colonel General Kurt Daluege, ordered mass arrests and executions and the destruction of the villages of Lidice and Ležáky. In 1943 the German war effort was accelerated. Under the authority of Karl Hermann Frank, German minister of state for Bohemia and Moravia, some 350,000 Czech labourers were dispatched to the Reich. Within the protectorate, all non-war-related industry was prohibited. Most of the Czech population obeyed quiescently up until the final months preceding the end of the war, while thousands were involved in the resistance movement.

For the Czechs of the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia, German occupation was a period of brutal oppression. Czech losses resulting from political persecution and deaths in concentration camps totaled between 36,000 and 55,000. The Jewish population of Bohemia and Moravia (118,000 according to the 1930 census) was virtually annihilated. Many Jews emigrated after 1939; more than 70,000 were killed; 8,000 survived at Terezín. Several thousand Jews managed to live in freedom or in hiding throughout the occupation.

On 9 May 1945 Soviet Red Army troops entered Prague.

Communist Czechoslovakia[link]

Spartakiad in 1960.

After World War II, pre-war Czechoslovakia was re-established, with the exception of Subcarpathian Ruthenia, which was annexed by the Soviet Union and incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Beneš decrees were promulgated concerning ethnic Germans (see Potsdam Agreement) and ethnic Hungarians. Under the decrees, citizenship was abrogated for people of German and Hungarian ethnic origin, who had accepted German or Hungarian citizenship during the occupations. In 1948, this provision was cancelled for the Hungarians, but only partially for the Germans. The government then confiscated the property of the Germans and expelled about 90% of the ethnic German population, over 2 million people. Those who remained were collectively accused of supporting the Nazis after the Munich Agreement, as 97.32% of Sudeten Germans voted for the NSDAP in the December 1938 elections. Almost every decree explicitly stated that the sanctions did not apply to antifascists. Some 250,000 Germans, many married to Czechs, some antifascists, and also those required for the post-war reconstruction of the country, remained in Czechoslovakia. The Beneš Decrees still cause controversy among nationalist groups in the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and Hungary.^[11]

Carpathian Ruthenia was occupied by (and in June 1945 formally ceded to) the Soviet Union. In the 1946 parliamentary election, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was the winner in the Czech lands, and the Democratic Party won in Slovakia. In February 1948 the Communists seized power. Although they would maintain the fiction of political pluralism through the existence of the National Front, except for a short period in the late 1960s (the Prague Spring) the country was characterised by the absence of liberal democracy. While its economy remained more advanced than those of its neighbours in Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia grew increasingly economically weak relative to Western Europe.

Czechoslovakia in 1969.

In 1968, when the reformer Alexander Dubček was appointed to the key post of First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, there was a brief period of liberalization known as the Prague Spring. In response, after failing to persuade the Czechoslovak leaders to change course, five other Eastern Bloc members of the Warsaw Pact invaded. Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia on the night of 20–21 August 1968.^[12] The General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Leonid Brezhnev viewed this intervention as vital to the preservation of the Soviet, socialist system and vowed to intervene in any state that sought to replace Marxism-Leninism with capitalism.^[13] In the week after the invasion there was a spontaneous campaign of civil resistance against the occupation. This resistance involved a wide range of acts of non-cooperation and defiance: this was followed by a period in which the Czechoslovak Communist Party leadership, having been forced in Moscow to make concessions to the Soviet Union, gradually put the brakes on their earlier liberal policies.^[14] In April 1969 Dubček was finally dismissed from the First Secretaryship of the Czechoslovak Communist Party. Meanwhile, one plank of the reform programme had been carried out: in 1968-9, Czechoslovakia was turned into a federation of the Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic. The theory was that under the federation, social and economic inequities between the Czech and Slovak halves of the state would be largely eliminated. A number of ministries, such as education, now became two formally equal bodies in the two formally equal republics. However, the centralised political control by the Czechoslovak Communist Party severely limited the effects of federalisation.

The 1970s saw the rise of the dissident movement in Czechoslovakia, represented (among others) by Václav Havel. The movement sought greater political participation and expression in the face of official disapproval, manifested in limitations on work activities, which went as far as a ban on professional employment, the refusal of higher education for the dissidents' children, police harassment and prison.

After 1989[link]

In 1989, the Velvet Revolution restored democracy. This occurred at around the same time as the fall of communism in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland. Within three years communist rule was extirpated from Europe.

Unlike Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, the end of communism in this country did not automatically mean the end of the "communist" name:^{[clarification needed]} the word "socialist" was removed from the name on 29 March 1990 and replaced by "federal".

In 1992, because of growing nationalist tensions, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved by parliament. On 1 January 1993 it formally separated into two completely independent countries: the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

Heads of state and government[link]

• List of Presidents of Czechoslovakia
• List of Prime Ministers of Czechoslovakia
• see also leaders of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia

Foreign policy[link]

International agreements and membership[link]

In the 1930s the nation formed a military alliance with France, which collapsed in the Munich Agreement of 1938. After World War II, active participant in Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), Warsaw Pact, United Nations and its specialized agencies; signatory of conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.^[15]

Administrative divisions[link]

• 1918 - 1923: Different systems in former Austrian territory (Bohemia, Moravia, a small part of Silesia) compared to former Hungarian territory (Slovakia and Ruthenia): three lands (země) (also called district units (obvody)): Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, plus 21 counties (župy) in today's Slovakia and two(?) counties in today's Ruthenia; both lands and counties were divided into districts (okresy).
• 1923 - 1927: As above, except that the Slovak and Ruthenian counties were replaced by six (grand) counties ((veľ)župy) in Slovakia and one (grand) county in Ruthenia, and the numbers and boundaries of the okresy were changed in those two territories.
• 1928 - 1938: Four lands (Czech: země, Slovak: krajiny): Bohemia, Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia, divided into districts (okresy).
• Late 1938 - March 1939: As above, but Slovakia and Ruthenia gained the status of "autonomous lands".
• 1945 - 1948: As in 1928–1938, except that Ruthenia became part of the Soviet Union.
• 1949 - 1960: 19 regions (kraje) divided into 270 okresy.
• 1960 - 1992: 10 kraje, Prague, and (from 1970) Bratislava (capital of Slovakia); these were divided into 109 - 114 okresy; the kraje were abolished temporarily in Slovakia in 1969 - 1970 and for many purposes from 1991 in Czechoslovakia; in addition, the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic were established in 1969 (without the word Socialist from 1990).

Population and ethnic groups[link]

Politics[link]

After WWII, a political monopoly was held by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC). Gustáv Husák was elected first secretary of the KSC in 1969 (changed to general secretary in 1971) and president of Czechoslovakia in 1975. Other parties and organizations existed but functioned in subordinate roles to the KSC. All political parties, as well as numerous mass organizations, were grouped under umbrella of the National Front. Human rights activists and religious activists were severely repressed.

Constitutional development[link]

Czechoslovakia had the following constitutions during its history (1918–1992):

• Temporary constitution of 14 November 1918 (democratic): see History of Czechoslovakia (1918–1938)
• The 1920 constitution (The Constitutional Document of the Czechoslovak Republic), democratic, in force until 1948, several amendments
• The Communist 1948 Ninth-of-May Constitution
• The Communist 1960 Constitution of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic with major amendments in 1968 (Constitutional Law of Federation), 1971, 1975, 1978, and 1989 (at which point the leading role of the Communist Party was abolished). It was amended several more times during 1990–1992 (for example, 1990, name change to Czecho-Slovakia, 1991 incorporation of the human rights charter)

Economy[link]

After WWII, the economy was centrally planned, with command links controlled by the communist party, similarly to the Soviet Union. The large metallurgical industry was dependent on imports of iron and non-ferrous ores.

• Industry: Extractive industry and manufacturing dominated the sector, including machinery, chemicals, food processing, metallurgy, and textiles. The sector was wasteful in its use of energy, materials, and labor and was slow to upgrade technology, but the country was a major supplier of high-quality machinery, instruments, electronics, aircraft, airplane engines and arms to other communist countries.
• Agriculture: Agriculture was a minor sector, but collectivized farms of large acreage and relatively efficient mode of production enabled the country to be relatively self-sufficient in food supply. The country depended on imports of grains (mainly for livestock feed) in years of adverse weather. Meat production was constrained by shortage of feed, but the country still recorded high per capita consumption of meat.
• Foreign trade: Exports were estimated at US$17.8 billion in 1985. Exports were machinery (55%), fuel and materials (14%), and manufactured consumer goods (16%). Imports stood at estimated US$17.9 billion in 1985, including fuel and materials (41%), machinery (33%), and agricultural and forestry products (12%). In 1986, about 80% of foreign trade was with other communist countries.
• Exchange rate: Official, or commercial, rate was crowns (Kčs) 5.4 per US$1 in 1987. Tourist, or non-commercial, rate was Kčs 10.5 per US$1. Neither rate reflected purchasing power. The exchange rate on the black market was around Kčs 30 per US$1, which became the official rate once the currency became convertible in the early 1990s.
• Fiscal year: Calendar year.
• Fiscal policy: The state was the exclusive owner of means of production in most cases. Revenue from state enterprises was the primary source of revenues followed by turnover tax. The government spent heavily on social programs, subsidies, and investment. Budget was usually balanced or left small surplus.

Resource base[link]

After WWII, the country was short of energy, relying on imported crude oil and natural gas from Soviet Union, domestic brown coal, and nuclear and hydroelectric energy. Energy constraints a major factor in 1980s.

Transportation and communications[link]

Society and social groups[link]

Education[link]

Education free at all levels and compulsory from age six to 15. Vast majority of population literate. Highly developed system of apprenticeship training and vocational schools supplemented general secondary schools and institutions of higher education.

Religion[link]

In 1991: Roman Catholics 46.4%, Evangelic Lutheran 5.3%, Atheist 29.5%, n/a 16.7%, but there were huge differences between the two constituent republics – see Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Health, social welfare and housing[link]

After WWII, free health care was available to all citizens. National health planning emphasised preventive medicine; factory and local health care centres supplemented hospitals and other inpatient institutions. There was substantial improvement in rural health care during the 1960s and 1970s.

Mass media[link]

During Communist rule, the mass media in Czechoslovakia were controlled by the Communist Party. Private ownership of any publication or agency of the mass media was generally forbidden, although churches and other organizations published small periodicals and newspapers. Even with this information monopoly in the hands of organizations under KSČ control, all publications were reviewed by the government's Office for Press and Information.

Sports[link]

The Czechoslovakia national football team was a consistent performer on the international scene, with 8 appearances in the FIFA World Cup Finals, finishing in second place in 1934 and 1962. The team also won the European Football Championship in 1976, came in third in 1980 and won the Olympic gold 1980.

The Czechoslovak national ice hockey team won many medals from the world championships and Olympic Games. Peter Šťastný, Jaromír Jágr, Peter Bondra, Petr Klíma, Marián Gáborík, and Pavol Demitra all come from Czechoslovakia.

Emil Zátopek, winner of four Olympic gold medals in athletics, is considered one of the top athletes in history.

Věra Čáslavská was an Olympic gold medallist in gymnastics, winning seven gold medals and four silver medals, and represented Czechoslovakia in three consecutive Olympics.

The famous tennis players Ivan Lendl, Miloslav Mečíř, Hana Mandlíková, Martina Hingis Martina Navrátilová and Daniela Hantuchová were born in Czechoslovakia.

Culture[link]

• Czech Republic, Slovakia
• List of Czechs, List of Slovaks
• MDŽ
• Jazz in dissident Czechoslovakia

Postage stamps[link]

• List of people on stamps of Czechoslovakia
• Czechoslovakia's first issue
• Czechoslovakia stamp reused by Slovak Republic after 18 January 1939 by overprinting country and value

Timeline: From creation to dissolution[link]

See also[link]

• Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968
• Velvet Revolution of 1989
• Former countries in Europe after 1815
• Effects on the environment in Czechoslovakia from Soviet influence during the Cold War
• 1968 Red Square demonstration

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Czechoslovak Republic

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Heimann, Mary. Czechoslovakia: The State That Failed (2009). negative tone stressing purported maltreatment of minorities.
• Hermann, A. H. A History of the Czechs (1975)
• Kalvoda, Josef. The Genesis of Czechoslovakia (1986)
• Leff, Carol Skalnick. National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-87 (1988)
• Mantey, Victor. A History of the Czechoslovak Republic (1973)
• Myant, Martin. The Czechoslovak Economy, 1948-88 (1989)
• Naimark, Norman, and Leonid Gibianskii, eds. The Establishment of Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe, 1944-1949 (1997) online edition
• Paul, David. 'Czechoslovakia: Profile of a Socialist Republic at the Crossroads of Europe (1990)
• Renner, Hans. A History of Czechoslovakia since 1945 (1989)
• Seton-Watson, R. W. A History of the Czechs and Slovaks (1943)
• Stone, Norman, and E. Strouhal, eds.Czechoslovakia: Crossroads and Crises, 1918-88 (1989)
• Wheaton, Bernard; Zdenek Kavav. "The Velvet Revolution: Czechoslovakia, 1988-1991". (1992)
• Williams, Kieran, 'Civil Resistance in Czechoslovakia: From Soviet Invasion to "Velvet Revolution", 1968-89', in Adam Roberts and Timothy Garton Ash (eds.), Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present (Oxford University Press, 2009)
• Windsor, Philip, and Adam Roberts, Czechoslovakia 1968: Reform, Repression and Resistance. (1969)
• Wolchik, Sharon L. Czechoslovakia: Politics, Society, and Economics (1990)
• online books and articles

External links[link]

• U.S. Library of Congress Country Studies, "Czechoslovakia" in public domain
• Soviet Invasion of 1968^{[dead link]}

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Czechoslovakia

• Orders and Medals of Czechoslovakia including Order of the White Lion (in English and Czech)
• Czechoslovakia-The First Czechoslovak Republic
• Andropov to the Central Committee, about the Demonstration in Red Square Against the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia, 20 September 1968. Andrei Sakharov KGB file, Archieve posted at the Yale University, http://www.yale.edu/annals/sakharov/documents_frames/Sakharov_008.htm
• Hungarian Language Map, border changes after the creation of Czechoslovakia
• Map
• Map

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Julie Tippetts
Julie Tippetts in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Julie Driscoll
Born	(1947-06-08) 8 June 1947 (age 65) London, England
Genres	pop music, jazz
Years active	1960s–present
Labels	Marmalade
Associated acts	Brian Auger, Keith Tippett
Website	mindyourownmusic.co.uk

Julie Tippetts (born Julie Driscoll, 8 June 1947, London, England) is an English singer and actress, known for her 1960s versions of Bob Dylan's "This Wheel's on Fire", and Donovan's "Season of the Witch", both with Brian Auger & The Trinity. Along with The Trinity, she was featured prominently in the 1969 television special 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee, singing "I'm a Believer" in a blues style with Micky Dolenz. She and Auger had previously worked in Steampacket, with Long John Baldry and Rod Stewart.

"This Wheel's on Fire" reached number five in the United Kingdom in June 1968. With distortion, the imagery of the title and the group's dress and performance, this version came to represent the psychedelic era in British music. Driscoll recorded the song again in the early 90s with Adrian Edmondson as the theme to the BBC comedy series Absolutely Fabulous, whose main characters are throwbacks to that era.

Since the 1970s Driscoll has concentrated on experimental vocal music, married jazz musician Keith Tippett and collaborated with him. Her name is now 'Julie Tippetts', thus using the original spelling of her husband's surname. She participated in Keith Tippett's big band Centipede and, in 1974, took part in Robert Wyatt's Theatre Royal Drury Lane concert; released a solo album, Sunset Glow in 1975;^[1] and was lead vocalist^[2] on Carla Bley's album Tropic Appetites and in John Wolf Brennan's “HeXtet".

Later in the 1970s she toured with her own band, and recorded and performed as one of the vocal quartet 'Voice', with Maggie Nichols, Phil Minton and Brian Eley.

Discography[link]

Here is a list of her selected work sorted mostly by recording date:

• 1963 - Take Me by the Hand (and Lead Me)(with the Harold Geller Group)
• 1967 - Open (with Brian Auger & The Trinity)
• 1969 - Streetnoise (with Brian Auger & The Trinity)
• 1969 - Jools & Brian (with Brian Auger & The Trinity)
• 1971 - 1969 (featuring Keith Tippett Group)
• 1971 - Quartet Sequence (with John Stevens, Ron Herman & Trevor Watts)
• 1971 - (June) Septober Energy (with Centipede) (recorded at Wessex Sound Studios, London, during three days, produced by Robert Fripp)
• 1972 - Blueprint (with Keith Tippett, Roy Babbington, Frank Perry & Keith Bailey) (produced by Robert Fripp)
• 1974 - Tropic Appetites (with Carla Bley)
• 1975 - (August 6) Ovary Lodge (with Keith Tippett, Harry Miller & Frank Perry) - Live at Nettlefold Hall, London
• 1975 - Sunset Glow
• 1975 - The Rock Peter and the Wolf (an arrangement of songs of the classic Peter and the Wolf story, with Gary Brooker, Bill Bruford, Phil Collins, Stephane Grappelli, Jack Lancaster, Jon Hiseman, Brian Eno, Alvin Lee, Gary Moore, Cozy Powell, Manfred Mann, Keith Tippett, Viv Stanshall, etc.
• 1978 - (May 22 thru 24) Frames: Music For An Imaginary Film (Keith Tippett's Ark) (recorded at Wessex Sound Studios, London)
• 1978 - Encore (with Brian Auger)
• 1982 - Best of Julie Driscoll - compilation
• 1982 - (June 29 thru July 3) with Company (Ursula Oppens, Fred Frith, George Lewis, Akio Suzuki, Keith Tippett, Moto Yoshizawa, Anne Le Baron, Phil Wachsmann & Derek Bailey (recorded in London during Company Week)
• 1987 - Couple in Spirit (duet with Keith Tippett) (mixed by Robert Fripp)
• 1989 - Fire in the Mountain (with Working Week)
• 1989 - Women With Voices (track #12, with Maggie Nicols, Sue Ferrar & Sylvia Hallett, recorded live, March 4, at Air Gallery, London)
• 1991 - (June 1) The Bristol Concert (with Mujician & The Georgian Ensemble as honorary guest) (recorded live at at St. George's concert hall, Brandon Hill, Bristol, UK, for BBC)
• 1991 - With Brian Auger & The Trinity - compilation
• 1992 - (January 2 & 3) Spirits Rejoice (with The Dedication Orchestra) (recorded at Gateway Studios, Kingston, Surrey, UK)
• 1993 - (October 23) Twilight Etchings (with Willi Kellers & Keith Tippett) (recorded at the Podewil in Berlin during the Total Music Meeting)
• 1994 - (January 3 thru 5) Ixesha (Time) (with The Dedication Orchestra) (recorded at Gateway Studios, Kingston, Surrey, UK)
• 1996 - Couple In Spirit II (duet with Keith Tippett) (recorded live at The Stadtgarten, Cologne)
• 1998 - (February 6 & April 30) The First Full Turn (with RoTToR: Paul Rutherford, Julie & Keith Tippett, Paul Rogers) (recorded various locations)
• 1998 - (May 3) First Weaving: Live at Le Mans Jazz Festival (Keith Tippett Tapestry Orchestra)
• 1998 - “HeXtet: Through the Ear of a Raindrop“ (with John Wolf Brennan, Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford, Chris Cutler and Peter Whyman (Leo Records 254)
• 1999 - Season of the Witch - compilation
• 1999 - Shadow Puppeteer - solo
• 2001 - If Your Memory Serves You Well - compilation
• 2001 - 2002 (November & February) Fluvium (with Martin Archer & Geraldine Monk) (electronics recorded at Telecottage, Sheffield, between January 2000 & March 2002, vocals & acoustic instruments recorded at The Sound Kitchen, Sheffield, between November 2001 and February 2002)
• 2003 - The Dartington Trio (with Keith Tippett & Paul Dunmall) - Live at The BBC & Live at The Vortex
• 2004 - (August 8) Dartington Improvising Trio (with Keith Tippett & Paul Dunmall) - Live at The Priory (recorded live at Priory Park, 3rd Southend International Jazz Festival)
• 2004 - Julie Driscoll
• 2004 - London 1964-1967 - compilation
• 2004 - A Kind Of Love In 1967-1971 - compilation
• 2004 - (September 5) Viva La Black: Live at Ruvo Jazz Festival (with Keith Tippett, Louis Moholo-Moholo & Canto General) in Ruvo di Puglia, Bari, Puglia, Italy
• 2005 - (April 24) Mahogany Rain (with Paul Dunmall, Philip Gibbs & Keith Tippett) (recorded at Victoria Rooms Studio, Bristol, UK)
• 2008 - (November 14) duet with Keith Tippett, Couple In Spirit - Live at the Purcell Room (recorded at the Purcell Room, London, as part of the 2008 London Jazz Festival)
• 2008 - Nostalgia 77 Sessions featuring Keith & Julie Tippett
• 2009 - Ghosts of Gold (with Martin Archer)
• 2011 - Tales of FiNiN (with Martin Archer)
• 2011 - (January 30 & 31) From Granite To Wind (with Keith Tippett Octet)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Mind Your Own Music, the Keith Tippett/Julie Tippetts website.
• Julie Driscoll @ The British Beat Boom 1963-66
• Julie Driscoll @ pHinnWeb
• Julie Driscoll at Allmusic
• Julie Driscoll at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC - Classic Pop/Rock Review - Brian Auger Julie Driscoll & The Trinity, Open, Definitely What!, Streetnoise

Brian Auger
Brian Auger and the Trinity 1970
Background information
Born	(1939-07-18) 18 July 1939 (age 72) London, England
Instruments	Keyboards
Years active	1960s–present
Associated acts	Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity, CAB, The Steampacket,
Website	www.brianauger.com

Brian Auger (born 18 July 1939, London, England)^[1] is a jazz and rock keyboardist, who has specialized in playing the Hammond organ.

A jazz pianist, bandleader, session musician and Hammond B3 player, Auger has played or toured with artists such as Rod Stewart, Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Sonny Boy Williamson, Led Zeppelin, Eric Burdon and others. He has incorporated jazz, early British pop, R&B, soul music and rock, and he has been nominated for a Grammy.

Biography[link]

In 1965 Auger formed the group The Steampacket, along with Long John Baldry, Julie Driscoll, Vic Briggs and Rod Stewart. With Driscoll and the band, Trinity, he went on to record several hit singles, notably a cover version of David Ackles' "Road to Cairo" and Bob Dylan's "This Wheel's on Fire", which was featured on Dylan Covered. In 1969 Auger, Driscoll and Trinity appeared performing in the United States on the nationally telecast 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee.

In 1970 he formed Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, shortly after abandoning the abortive "Wassenaar Arrangement" jazz-fusion commune in a small suburb of The Hague. The Oblivion Express served to cultivate several musicians, including future The Average White Band drummers Robbie McIntosh and Steve Ferrone, as well as guitarist Jim Mullen. Likewise, in 1971 he produced and appeared on Mogul Thrash's only album. Two members of that band, Roger Ball and Malcolm Duncan, would also go on to form the Average White Band.

In 1989, Auger was musical director for the thirteen-part film retrospective series "Villa Fantastica", made for German TV. A live recording of the series, Super Jam (1990), features Auger on piano, Pete York on drums, Dick Morrissey on tenor saxophone, Roy Williams on trombone, Harvey Weston on bass guitar, with singers Zoot Money and Maria Muldaur.

Auger toured with blues rocker Eric Burdon in the early 1990s, and recorded the live album Access All Areas with him in 1993. After several projects, including albums with family members, he reformed the Oblivion Express in the late 1990s, with a line-up that eventually featured both his son and daughter.

The Oblivion Express was revived with a 2005 recording and subsequent touring. The group featured Brian Auger, his son Karma Auger on drums, his daughter Savannah Auger on vocals, and Derek Frank on bass.

In 2012, Auger released one of the few solo albums of his career, "Language of the Heart", produced by Tea. It features Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and Julian Coryell on guitars.

Discography[link]

• 1965 - Don't Send Me No Flowers - Sonny Boy Williamson
• 1965 - Attention!
• 1965-1969 - The Mod Years (Complete singles, B-sides, and rare tracks)
• 1967 - Open (Trinity's first album)
• 1968 - Definitely What
• 1969 - Streetnoise (double album)
• 1969/1970 - Befour (Last Brian Auger Trinity album)
• 1970 - Oblivion Express (First Oblivion Express album)
• 1971 - A Better Land (Oblivion Express)
• 1972 - Second Wind (Oblivion Express)
• 1973 - Closer To It (Oblivion Express)
• 1975 - Straight Ahead (Oblivion Express)
• 1975 - Live Oblivion Volume 1
• 1975 - Live Oblivion Volume 2
• 1975 - Reinforcements (Oblivion Express)
• 1976 - Best of Brian Auger (double album)
• 1975 - Happiness Heartaches (Oblivion Express)
• 1978 - Encore^[2] - Brian Auger & Julie Tippetts (Reunion album)
• 1980 - Search Party
• 1982 - Here and Now
• 1987 - Keys to the Heart
• 1990 - Super Jam
• 1993 - Access All Areas: Live - Eric Burdon/Brian Auger Band (double album)
• 1993 - Tony Williams: Live in Tokyo 1978
• 1998 - Blue Groove - Karma Auger
• 1999 - Voices of Other Times (Oblivion Express)
• 2001 - Soft & Furry - Ali Auger
• 2004 - Auger Rhythms: Brian Augers Musical History (The Trinity, Julie Driscoll, Oblivion Express)
• 2005 - Looking In the Eye of the World (Oblivion Express)
• 2005 - Live at the Baked Potato (Oblivion Express) Double CD
• 2012 - Language of the Heart (Solo album)

Filmography[link]

• 1969 - 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee
• 2005 - Brian Auger: Insights of the Keyboard Master (DVD)^[3]
• 2005 - Live at the Baked Potato (Oblivion Express) DVD

See also[link]

• CAB
• List of Hammond organ players
• List of jazz fusion musicians
• List of jazz organists
• List of performers on Top of the Pops

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul by Irwin Stambler
• Jazz-Rock Fusion: The People, the Music by Julie Coryell & Laura Friedman
• The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll by Jon Pareles & Patricia Romanowski Bashe
• Encyclopedia of Rock by Phil Hardy & Dave Laing
• Urban Spacemen and Wayfaring Strangers: Overlooked Innovators and Eccentric Visionaries of 60s Rock by Richie Unterberger
• Jimi Hendrix: The Man, the Magic, the Truth by Sharon Lawrence
• Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro by Michele Kort
• The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin
• The Encyclopedia of Jazz in the Seventies by Leonard Feather & Ira Gitler
• The New Musical Express Book of Rock, 1975, Star Books

External links[link]

• Official Site - Brian Auger's Oblivion Express
• Brian Auger Instructional Video/DVD - Insights of the Keyboard Master - Web Site
• BBC - Classic Pop/Rock Review - Brian Auger Julie Driscoll & The Trinity, Open, Definitely What!, Streetnoise
• Soul Patrol Jazz
• Brian Auger at All About Jazz

John McCain
United States Senator from Arizona
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1987 Serving with Jon Kyl
Preceded by	Barry Goldwater
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st district
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1987
Preceded by	John Jacob Rhodes Jr.
Succeeded by	John Jacob Rhodes III
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Daniel Inouye
Succeeded by	Ben Nighthorse Campbell
In office January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Succeeded by	Byron Dorgan
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2001
Preceded by	Larry Pressler
Succeeded by	Ernest Hollings
In office January 20, 2001 – June 3, 2001
Preceded by	Ernest Hollings
Succeeded by	Ernest Hollings
In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Ernest Hollings
Succeeded by	Ted Stevens
Personal details
Born	John Sidney McCain III (1936-08-29) August 29, 1936 (age 75) Coco Solo Naval Air Station, Panama Canal Zone
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Carol Shepp (m. 1965, div. 1980) Cindy Lou Hensley (m. 1980 - present)
Relations	John S. McCain, Jr. (father, deceased) Roberta McCain (mother)
Children	Douglas (b. 1959, adopted 1966) Andrew (b. 1962, adopted 1966) Sidney (b. 1966) Meghan (b. 1984) John Sidney IV "Jack" (b. 1986) James "Jimmy" (b. 1988) Bridget (b. 1991, adopted 1993)
Residence	Phoenix, Arizona
Alma mater	U.S. Naval Academy (B.S.)
Profession	Naval Aviator, politician
Religion	Baptist congregant (Brought up Episcopalian)[1]
Signature
Website	www.mccain.senate.gov
Military service
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1958–1981
Rank	Captain
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
This article is part of a series about The life of John McCain Early life and military career House and Senate career, until 2000 2000 presidential campaign Senate career, 2001–present 2008 presidential campaign Cultural and political image Political positions

In 1951 at left, with mother Roberta, brother Joe, and father John S. McCain, Jr.
In 1951 at left, with mother Roberta, brother Joe, and father John S. McCain, Jr.		In 1954 at the Naval Academy

John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936) is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican presidential nominee in the 2008 United States election.

McCain followed his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, into the United States Navy, graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958. He became a naval aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. In October 1967, while on a bombing mission over Hanoi, he was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973. McCain experienced episodes of torture, and refused an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer. His war wounds left him with lifelong physical limitations.

He retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, where he entered politics. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, he served two terms, and was then elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, winning re-election easily four times, most recently in 2010. While generally adhering to conservative principles, McCain at times has had a media reputation as a "maverick" for his willingness to disagree with his party on certain issues. After being investigated and largely exonerated in a political influence scandal of the 1980s as a member of the Keating Five, he made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns, which eventually led to the passage of the McCain-Feingold Act in 2002. He is also known for his work towards restoring diplomatic relations with Vietnam in the 1990s, and for his belief that the war in Iraq should be fought to a successful conclusion. McCain has chaired the Senate Commerce Committee, opposed spending that he considered to be pork barrel, and played a key role in alleviating a crisis over judicial nominations.

McCain ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 but lost a heated primary season contest to George W. Bush. He secured the nomination in 2008 after coming back from early reversals, but lost to Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the general election. He subsequently adopted more orthodox conservative stances and attitudes and largely opposed actions of the Obama administration.

Early life and military career, 1936–1981[link]

Formative years and education[link]

John McCain was born on August 29, 1936, at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone, to naval officer John S. McCain, Jr. (1911–1981) and Roberta (Wright) McCain (b. 1912).^[2] At that time, the Panama Canal was under U.S. control.^[3]

McCain's family tree includes Scots-Irish and English ancestors.^[4] His father and his paternal grandfather, John S. McCain, Sr., both became four-star United States Navy admirals.^[5] His family, including his older sister Sandy and younger brother Joe,^[2] followed his father to various naval postings in the United States and the Pacific.^[6] Altogether, he attended about 20 schools.^[7]

In 1951, the family settled in Northern Virginia, and McCain attended Episcopal High School, a private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria.^[8] He excelled at wrestling and graduated in 1954.^[9]

Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. There, he was a friend and informal leader for many of his classmates,^[10] and sometimes stood up for targets of bullying.^[5] He also became a lightweight boxer.^[11] McCain came into conflict with higher-ranking personnel, and he did not always obey the rules, which contributed to a low class rank (894 of 899), despite a high IQ.^[10][12] He did well in academic subjects that interested him, such as literature and history, but studied only enough to pass subjects he struggled with, such as mathematics.^[5][13] McCain graduated in 1958.^[10]

Naval training, first marriage, and Vietnam assignment[link]

John McCain's early military career began when he was commissioned an ensign and started two and a half years of training at Pensacola to become a naval aviator.^[14] While there, he earned a reputation as a partying man.^[7] He completed flight school in 1960, and became a naval pilot of ground-attack aircraft, assigned to A-1 Skyraider squadrons^[15] aboard the aircraft carriers USS Intrepid and USS Enterprise^[16] in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas.^[17] McCain began as a sub-par flier^[17] who was at times careless and reckless;^[18] during the early-to-mid 1960s, the planes he was flying crashed twice and once collided with power lines, but he received no major injuries.^[18] His aviation skills improved over time,^[17] and he was seen as a good pilot, albeit one who tended to "push the envelope" in his flying.^[18]

On July 3, 1965, McCain married Carol Shepp, a model originally from Philadelphia.^[19] McCain adopted her two young children Douglas and Andrew.^[16][20] He and Carol then had a daughter named Sidney.^[21][22]

McCain requested a combat assignment,^[23] and was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal flying A-4 Skyhawks.^[24] His combat duty began when he was 30 years old, in mid-1967, when Forrestal was assigned to a bombing campaign, Operation Rolling Thunder, during the Vietnam War.^[19][25] McCain and his fellow pilots became frustrated by micromanagement from Washington, and he would later write that "In all candor, we thought our civilian commanders were complete idiots who didn't have the least notion of what it took to win the war."^[25][26]

On July 29, 1967, McCain, by then a lieutenant commander, was near the center of the Forrestal fire. He escaped from his burning jet and was trying to help another pilot escape when a bomb exploded;^[27] McCain was struck in the legs and chest by fragments.^[28] The ensuing fire killed 134 sailors and took 24 hours to control.^[29][30] With the Forrestal out of commission, McCain volunteered for assignment with the USS Oriskany, another aircraft carrier employed in Operation Rolling Thunder.^[31] Once there, he would be awarded the Navy Commendation Medal and the Bronze Star for missions flown over North Vietnam.^[32]

Prisoner of war[link]

John McCain's capture and subsequent imprisonment began on October 26, 1967. He was flying his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam when his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile over Hanoi.^[33][34] McCain fractured both arms and a leg ejecting from the aircraft,^[35] and nearly drowned when he parachuted into Truc Bach Lake.^[33] Some North Vietnamese pulled him ashore, then others crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him.^[33] McCain was then transported to Hanoi's main Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton".^[34]

Although McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to treat his injuries, beating and interrogating him to get information; he was given medical care only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a top admiral.^[36] His status as a prisoner of war (POW) made the front pages of major newspapers.^[37][38]

McCain spent six weeks in the hospital while receiving marginal care.^[33] By then having lost 50 pounds (23 kg), in a chest cast, and with his hair turned white,^[33] McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi^[39] in December 1967, into a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live a week.^[40] In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years.^[41]

In mid-1968, John S. McCain, Jr. was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater, and the North Vietnamese offered McCain early release^[43] because they wanted to appear merciful for propaganda purposes,^[44] and also to show other POWs that elite prisoners were willing to be treated preferentially.^[43] McCain turned down the offer; he would only accept repatriation if every man taken in before him was released as well. Such early release was prohibited by the POW's interpretation of the military Code of Conduct: To prevent the enemy from using prisoners for propaganda, officers were to agree to be released in the order in which they were captured.^[33]

In August 1968, a program of severe torture began on McCain.^[45] He was subjected to rope bindings and repeated beatings every two hours, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery.^[33][45] Further injuries led to the beginning of a suicide attempt, stopped by guards.^[33] Eventually, McCain made an anti-American propaganda "confession".^[33] He has always felt that his statement was dishonorable, but as he later wrote, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine."^[46][47] Many American POWs were tortured and maltreated in order to extract "confessions" and propaganda statements;^[48] virtually all of them eventually yielded something to their captors.^[49] McCain subsequently received two to three beatings weekly because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements.^[50]

McCain refused to meet with various anti-war groups seeking peace in Hanoi, wanting to give neither them nor the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory.^[51] From late 1969 onward, treatment of McCain and many of the other POWs became more tolerable,^[52] while McCain continued actively to resist the camp authorities.^[53] McCain and other prisoners cheered the U.S. "Christmas Bombing" campaign of December 1972, viewing it as a forceful measure to push North Vietnam to terms.^[47][54]

Altogether, McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years. He was released on March 14, 1973.^[55] His wartime injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head.^[56]

Commanding officer, liaison to Senate, and second marriage[link]

McCain giving an interview to the press on April 24, 1973, after his return from Vietnam. Photo by US News and World Report.

McCain's return to the United States reunited him with his family. His wife Carol had suffered her own crippling ordeal due to an automobile accident in December 1969.^[57] McCain became a celebrity of sorts, as a returned POW.^[57]

McCain underwent treatment for his injuries, including months of grueling physical therapy,^[58] and attended the National War College at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. during 1973–1974.^[59] Having been rehabilitated, by late 1974, McCain had his flight status reinstated, and in 1976 he became commanding officer of a training squadron stationed in Florida.^[57][60] He improved the unit's flight readiness and safety records,^[61] and won the squadron its first-ever Meritorious Unit Commendation.^[60] During this period in Florida, McCain had extramarital affairs, and the McCains' marriage began to falter, for which he later would accept blame.^[62][63]

McCain served as the Navy's liaison to the U.S. Senate beginning in 1977.^[64] In retrospect, he has said that this represented his "real entry into the world of politics and the beginning of my second career as a public servant."^[57] His key behind-the-scenes role gained congressional financing for a new supercarrier against the wishes of the Carter administration.^[58][65]

In April 1979,^[58] McCain met Cindy Lou Hensley, a teacher from Phoenix, Arizona, whose father had founded a large beer distributorship.^[63] They began dating, and he urged his wife Carol to grant him a divorce, which she did in February 1980, with the uncontested divorce taking effect in April 1980.^[20][58] The settlement included two houses, and financial support for her ongoing medical treatments due to her 1969 car accident; they would remain on good terms.^[63] McCain and Hensley were married on May 17, 1980, with Senators William Cohen and Gary Hart attending as groomsmen.^[19][63] McCain's children did not attend, and several years would pass before they reconciled.^[22][58] John and Cindy McCain entered into a prenuptial agreement that kept most of her family's assets under her name; they would always keep their finances apart and file separate income tax returns.^[66]

McCain decided to leave the Navy. It was doubtful whether he would ever be promoted to the rank of full admiral, as he had poor annual physicals and had been given no major sea command.^[67] His chances of being promoted to rear admiral were better, but McCain declined that prospect, as he had already made plans to run for Congress and said he could "do more good there."^[68][69] McCain retired from the Navy on April 1, 1981^[70] as a captain.^[32] He was designated as disabled and awarded a disability pension.^[71] Upon leaving the military, he moved to Arizona. His 17 military awards and decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star and Navy Commendation Medal, for actions before, during, and after his time as a POW.^[32]

House and Senate elections and career, 1982–2000[link]

U.S. Congressman[link]

McCain set his sights on becoming a Congressman because he was interested in current events, was ready for a new challenge, and had developed political ambitions during his time as Senate liaison.^[63][72][73] Living in Phoenix, he went to work for Hensley & Co., his new father-in-law Jim Hensley's large Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship.^[63] As Vice President of Public Relations at the distributorship, he gained political support among the local business community, meeting powerful figures such as banker Charles Keating, Jr., real estate developer Fife Symington III and newspaper publisher Darrow "Duke" Tully.^[64][74] In 1982, McCain ran as a Republican for an open seat in Arizona's 1st congressional district.^[75] A newcomer to the state, McCain was hit with charges of being a carpetbagger.^[63] McCain responded to a voter making that charge with what a Phoenix Gazette columnist would later describe as "the most devastating response to a potentially troublesome political issue I've ever heard":^[63]

Listen, pal. I spent 22 years in the Navy. My father was in the Navy. My grandfather was in the Navy. We in the military service tend to move a lot. We have to live in all parts of the country, all parts of the world. I wish I could have had the luxury, like you, of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place like the First District of Arizona, but I was doing other things. As a matter of fact, when I think about it now, the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi.^[63][76]

With the assistance of local political endorsements, his Washington connections, as well as money that his wife lent to his campaign,^[64] McCain won a highly contested primary election.^[63] He then easily won the general election in the heavily Republican district.^[63]

In 1983, McCain was elected to lead the incoming group of Republican representatives,^[63] and was assigned to the House Committee on Interior Affairs. Also that year, he opposed creation of a federal Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, but admitted in 2008: "I was wrong and eventually realized that, in time to give full support [in 1990] for a state holiday in Arizona."^[77][78]

McCain's politics at this point were mainly in line with President Ronald Reagan, including support for Reaganomics, and he was active on Indian Affairs bills.^[79] He supported most aspects of the foreign policy of the Reagan administration, including its hardline stance against the Soviet Union and policy towards Central American conflicts, such as backing the Contras in Nicaragua.^[79] McCain opposed keeping U.S. Marines deployed in Lebanon citing unattainable objectives, and subsequently criticized President Reagan for pulling out the troops too late; in the interim, the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing killed hundreds.^[63][80] McCain won re-election to the House easily in 1984,^[63] and gained a spot on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.^[81] In 1985, he made his first return trip to Vietnam,^[82] and also traveled to Chile where he met with its military junta ruler, General Augusto Pinochet.^[83][84][85]

Growing family[link]

In 1984, McCain and Cindy had their first child together, daughter Meghan, followed two years later by son John Sidney (Jack) IV, and in 1988 by son James (Jimmy).^[86] In 1991, Cindy McCain brought an abandoned three-month old girl needing medical treatment to the U.S. from a Bangladeshi orphanage run by Mother Teresa.^[87] The McCains decided to adopt her and named her Bridget.^[88]

First two terms in U.S. Senate[link]

McCain's Senate career began in January 1987, after he defeated his Democratic opponent, former state legislator Richard Kimball, by 20 percentage points in the 1986 election.^[64][89] McCain succeeded longtime American conservative icon and Arizona fixture Barry Goldwater upon the latter's retirement as United States Senator from Arizona.^[89]

McCain meeting President Ronald Reagan with First Lady Nancy Reagan at left, March 1987

Senator McCain became a member of the Armed Services Committee, with which he had formerly done his Navy liaison work; he also joined the Commerce Committee and the Indian Affairs Committee.^[89] McCain continued to support the Native American agenda.^[90] As first a House member and then a senator – and as a life-long gambler with close ties to the gambling industry^[91] – McCain was one of the main authors of the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act,^[92][93] which codified rules regarding Native American gambling enterprises.^[94] McCain was also a strong supporter of the Gramm-Rudman legislation that enforced automatic spending cuts in the case of budget deficits.^[95]

McCain soon gained national visibility. He delivered a well-received speech at the 1988 Republican National Convention, was mentioned by the press as a short list vice-presidential running mate for Republican nominee George H. W. Bush, and was named chairman of Veterans for Bush.^[89][96]

McCain became enmeshed in a scandal during the 1980s as one of five United States Senators comprising the so-called Keating Five.^[97] Between 1982 and 1987, McCain had received $112,000 in lawful^[98] political contributions from Charles Keating Jr. and his associates at Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, along with trips on Keating's jets^[97] that McCain belatedly repaid in 1989.^[99] In 1987, McCain was one of the five senators whom Keating contacted in order to prevent the government's seizure of Lincoln, and McCain met twice with federal regulators to discuss the government's investigation of Lincoln.^[97] In 1999, McCain said: "The appearance of it was wrong. It's a wrong appearance when a group of senators appear in a meeting with a group of regulators, because it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence. And it was the wrong thing to do."^[100] In the end, McCain was cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee of acting improperly or violating any law or Senate rule, but was mildly rebuked for exercising "poor judgment".^[98][100] In his 1992 re-election bid, the Keating Five affair was not a major issue,^[101] and he won handily, gaining 56 percent of the vote to defeat Democratic community and civil rights activist Claire Sargent and independent former Governor Evan Mecham.^[102]

The 1992 christening of USS John S. McCain at Bath Iron Works, with his mother Roberta, son Jack, daughter Meghan, and wife Cindy

McCain developed a reputation for independence during the 1990s.^[103] He took pride in challenging party leadership and establishment forces, becoming difficult to categorize politically.^[103]

As a member of the 1991–1993 Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, chaired by Democrat and fellow Vietnam War veteran John Kerry, McCain investigated the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue, to determine the fate of U.S. service personnel listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War.^[104] The committee's unanimous report stated there was "no compelling evidence that proves that any American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia."^[105] Helped by McCain's efforts, in 1995 the U.S. normalized diplomatic relations with Vietnam.^[106] McCain was vilified by some POW/MIA activists who, unlike the Arizona senator, believed large numbers of Americans were still held against their will in Southeast Asia.^{[106][107][108]} Since January 1993, McCain has been Chairman of the International Republican Institute, an organization partly funded by the U.S. Government that supports the emergence of political democracy worldwide.^[109]