Campaign Dirty Laundry.

If he is elected president, which is all but a sure thing if Obama is the opponent, John McCain will be the second divorced president in American history. Ronald Reagan, of course, was the first one.

So what about that first marriage? Well, it IS old news McCain cheated on his first wife; he admits it. And the two of them are still on good terms. That's old news.



But the U.S. media won't write about it because they will claim it is ancient history and McCain has fessed up, at least with regard to her. But what is her story in case anybody cares?

She fell sucker to his charm even though he was carousing around in his youth, let alone after he returned from the Hanoi Hilton.

Carol fell into his fast-living world by accident. She escaped a poor upbringing in Philadelphia to become a successful model, married an Annapolis classmate of McCain’s and had two children – Douglas and Andrew – before renewing what one acquaintance calls ‘an old flirtation’ with McCain.

It seems clear she was bowled over by McCain’s attention at a time when he was becoming bored with his playboy lifestyle.

‘He was 28 and ready to settle down and he loved Carol’s children,’ recalled another Annapolis graduate, Robert Timberg, who wrote The Nightingale’s Song, a bestselling biography of McCain and four other graduates of the academy.

The couple married and McCain adopted Carol’s sons. Their daughter, Sidney, was born a year later, but domesticity was clearly beginning

to bore McCain – the couple were regarded as ‘fixtures on the party circuit’ before McCain requested combat duty in Vietnam at the end of 1966.

After sustaining serious injuries in an automobile accident, Ross Perot helped pay her medical bills. Of course her husband couldn't possibly help her out.

After returning to the states, he was glad to see her, but obviously she wasn't going to do in the looks department. Once again he reverted to his bad habits.

Moreover, he was starting to make some political connections. Enter Cindy Hensley:

In 1979 – while still married to Carol – he met Cindy at a cocktail party in Hawaii. Over the next six months he pursued her, flying around the country to see her. Then he began to push to end his marriage.

Carol and her children were devastated. ‘It was a complete surprise,’ says Nancy Reynolds, a former Reagan aide.

‘They never displayed any difficulties between themselves. I know the Reagans were quite shocked because they loved and respected both Carol and John.’

Perhaps the saddest thing of all is Carol McCain is still crazy about him. But not everybody who knew the two of them are crazy about John, including Ross Perot.

More is here, here, here, and don't forget this article about McCain and Perot.