12th United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture
In office November 5, 2021 – April 5, 2023
President
Joe Biden
Preceded by
Kip E. Tom
Succeeded by
Rodney Hunter (Chargé 'd Affairs)
Personal details
Born
Cindy Lou Hensley
(1954-05-20) May 20, 1954 (age 69) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Political party
Republican[1]
Spouse
John McCain
(m. 1980; died 2018)
Children
4, including Meghan
Relatives
Jim Hensley (father)
Education
University of Southern California (BA, MA)
Cindy McCain's voice
McCain's opening statement at her confirmation hearing to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture Recorded September 28, 2021
Cindy Lou McCain (née Hensley; born May 20, 1954)[2] is an American diplomat, businesswoman, and humanitarian who is the executive director of the World Food Programme. McCain previously served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture from 2021 to 2023. She is the widow of U.S. Senator John McCain from Arizona, who was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.
McCain was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and is a daughter of wealthy beer distributor Jim Hensley. After receiving bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Southern California, she became a special education teacher. She married John McCain in 1980, and the couple moved to Arizona in 1981, where her husband was elected to the United States Congress the following year and reelected five more times. The couple had three children together, in addition to adopting another. From 1988 to 1995, she founded and operated a nonprofit organization, the American Voluntary Medical Team, which organized trips by medical personnel to disaster-stricken or war-torn third-world areas.
Upon her father's death in 2000, she inherited majority control and became chair of Hensley & Co., one of the largest Anheuser-Busch beer distributors in the United States. She participated in both of her husband's presidential campaigns and, in 2008, drew both positive and negative scrutiny for her appearance, demeanor, wealth, spending habits, and financial obligations. She continued to be an active philanthropist and served on the boards of Operation Smile, Eastern Congo Initiative, CARE, and HALO Trust, frequently making overseas trips in conjunction with their activities. During the 2010s, she became prominent in the fight against human trafficking. From 2017 until his death the following year, she dealt with her husband's battle against glioblastoma.
McCain has remained visible in public life since then. While herself a Republican, she made a cross-party endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 United States presidential election. She was nominated to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture ambassadorship by President Biden in June 2021 and confirmed by the Senate in October 2021. Much of her tenure in that position focused on dealing with the 2022–2023 food crises largely caused by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the effects of climate change on agriculture.
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^"Bio of Cindy Hensley McCain". Chicago Tribune. April 15, 2008. Retrieved April 22, 2008.[permanent dead link]
Cindy Lou McCain (née Hensley; born May 20, 1954) is an American diplomat, businesswoman, and humanitarian who is the executive director of the World Food...
News, and MSNBC. She is the daughter of politician John McCain and diplomat CindyMcCain. McCain has been a public figure for much of her life, first appearing...
be of the same party as McCain, a Republican. Newspaper speculation about potential appointees included McCain's widow Cindy, former Senator Jon Kyl,...
of California. By 1979, the McCains were still living together. In April 1979, John McCain started an affair with Cindy Lou Hensley, an Arizona special...
bombing, shelling". CindyMcCain stated on 17 November that civilians faced the immediate possibility of starvation. Ten days later, McCain stated Gaza was...
McCain III spans the first forty-five years of his life (1936–1981). McCain's father and grandfather were admirals in the United States Navy. McCain was...
the father of Cindy Hensley McCain and the father-in-law of United States Senator and 2000 and 2008 presidential candidate John McCain. Hensley was born...
the implementation of its programmes, projects and other activities. CindyMcCain, previously Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the United States...
Retrieved April 5, 2016. "Texas consultant Mark McKinnon, who quit McCain campaign, lends CindyMcCain a hand". Dallas Morning News. August 27, 2008. Retrieved...
senator John McCain, were also cited as factors that helped Biden, along with Biden's endorsement from CindyMcCain, the widow of John McCain. The Biden...
get behind McCain & Palin". New York Daily News. September 3, 2008. Westfall, Sandra Sobieraj (September 2, 2008). "Laura Bush and CindyMcCain Raise Money...
McConnell, which was centered around footage of McCain's vote against the American Health Care Act of 2017. In a tweet, McCain's widow, CindyMcCain,...
Between then and 31 October, 241 aid trucks passed through. On 27 October, CindyMcCain, director of the World Food Program, criticized the checks at the Egyptian...
political contributions from Keating and his associates. In addition, McCain's wife CindyMcCain and her father Jim Hensley had invested $359,100 in the Fountain...
introduced by a video tribute. CindyMcCain, wife of John McCain. Before appearing on stage, a video tribute honoring CindyMcCain was shown to the delegates...
more appropriate time." McCain and his wife Cindy would make some campaign-related appearances over the spring and summer. McCain's co-authored, best-selling...
December 21, 2021. Parsley, Aaron (September 15, 2021). "Bernie Sanders and CindyMcCain Write Tributes for Biden and Other Leaders on TIME 100 List". People...
Diego Della Valle, Republican Presidential Nominee, Senator John McCain and wife CindyMcCain, Wolfgang Puck and his wife, accessories designer Gelila Assefa...
the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John McCain, the senior senator from Arizona, and Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska...
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