Cindy McCain and son Jack believe the late Sen. John McCain is looking down and is proud of the work his family is doing to carry on his legacy.
The Republic
Cindy McCain recently suffered a mild stroke, according to an Oct. 9 statement from the United Nations World Food Programme, which she heads.
McCain, 71, was expected to make a full recovery, the statement said.
“I want to thank the medical staff in Italy for the excellent treatment I received,” she said in the statement. “My recovery is progressing well thanks to their outstanding care. I look forward to continuing my recuperation at home in Arizona with my family.”
McCain planned to return to the World Food Programme’s Rome headquarters after being cleared by doctors following a four-to-six-week absence, the organization said.
Her late husband, John McCain, was a U.S. senator for Arizona from 1987 until he died of brain cancer in August 2018. He was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee. The couple wed in 1980 and raised four children together.
Cindy McCain experienced a stroke in April 2004 when she was 49, according to reporting at the time by The Arizona Republic. She was treated at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. After that stroke, John McCain said his wife had high blood pressure, and a doctor treating her said people who experience strokes commonly have the condition.
Before she was appointed executive director of the World Food Programme in March 2023, she had served as U.S. ambassador for the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture since November 2021. Then-President Joe Biden nominated her to the role. She endorsed Biden, a Democrat, in the 2020 election.
The World Food Programme provides food assistance to more than 100 million people across 87 countries, according to the organization.
