Against all odds, McCain fights for GOP nod

After 5 1/2 years in prison, John McCain comes home to a fundamentally altered world. 

He dedicates himself to catching up.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.): I did want to catch up, I did want to hurry, I did want to read and study as much as I could, and I wanted to get back into life.

But as he tries to find his place, he's also struggling to save his marriage. It will not be easy.

Bob Timberg, biographer: They had courage and strength, and for a time, they hung together and hung together very strongly.

But they can't keep it going. While still married, McCain begins to see other women. The marriage falls apart.

Sen. McCain: I have no idea why I behaved irresponsibly.

With his injuries guaranteeing an end to active military service, McCain ponders a new career in politics.

Former President Ronald Reagan: You know you see these men, and it strikes you.

He forges a relationship with then California Governor Ronald Reagan.

In 1977, McCain begins to see politics up close when he becomes the Navy's chief liaison to the senate.

Andrea Mitchell, NBC News: He'd become extraordinarily popular, not just with Senate staff people, but with senators. So he really knew the territory.

Soon, he meets a beautiful 25-year-old from Phoenix, Ariz., named Cindy Hensley. After courting for some time, the two marry in 1980.

A year later, McCain ends his 27-year military career and decides to run for congress in a newly created district near Phoenix.

Sen. McCain: I'm announcing today my decision to become a candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. congress from Arizona’s first district.

It's a bold move considering he's just moved to the state.

But he gains popularity when he positions himself as a new "Ronald Reagan conservative".

In January 1983, John McCain returns to Washington, this time as a politician.

As Washington mulls over McCain the politician, America is reminded about the other McCain, the POW.

In 1984 McCain returns to Vietnam with CBS newsman Walter Cronkite, entering the Hanoi Hilton for the first time since his imprisonment.

McCain in Hanoi.

Sen. McCain: Those shutters were closed almost completely.

McCain’s lost years as a POW contrast markedly with his new manic life as a congressman.

Torrie Clark, former press secretary: This is a guy with bad legs, and he'd be running a hundred miles an hour, down those stairs, saying, come on, come on, and you'd just have to hustle like crazy, figuratively and literally, to keep up with him.

After another house term, McCain runs for the senate in 1986. He plays up his connection to President Reagan.

Former President Ronald Reagan: The people of Arizona can do themselves and me a big favor by electing John McCain to the U.S. Senate.

McCain connects with retiring Arizona senator Barry Goldwater, whose legendary seat he hopes to win.

For two years he sails along, standing with conservatives against abortion rights and gun control.

And he's mentioned as a possible running mate for George Bush in the 1988 presidential campaign.

(Jane Pauley and McCain)

Jane Pauley: Senator, there was a rumor yesterday you were on standby for the ticket, should Senator Quayle be removed.

Sen. McCain: No, no. I simply don't believe that. They haven't even looked at my tax returns [laughing]. 

Then, in October 1989, a shockwave.

Senate investigators go public with charges that five senators, including John McCain, have used their political influence to help financial kingpin Charles Keating save his struggling savings and loan empire.

The media runs with the story.

Mitchell: The first time that the news media figured out a way to cover the Savings and Loan scandal was the Keating Five investigation. That became a symbolic way of explaining to Americans why they were spending billions and billions of dollars to bail out private industry.

The senate ethics committee opens hearings on the "Keating Five".

Sen. Howell Heflen: Many of our fellow citizens apparently believe that your services were bought by Charles Keating, that you were bribed, that you sold your office.

The most serious of the charges involves two 1987 meetings, during which the senators allegedly pressure federal regulators to help bail out Keating’s failing savings and loan.

Longtime Keating friend John McCain is among them.

Sen. McCain: When he came to see me in March 1987 and asked me to do something I thought was improper, I said no. In all of the conflicts and combat that I had with the Vietnamese, there was never a question about my honor and my integrity. And in this particular situation, my entire life's reputation is at stake.

Over the next several months he wages a vigorous public fight to regain that reputation.

Sen. McCain: I do not deserve and I only speak for myself, to be strung out, week after week, month after month.

Mitchell: He was so determined to prove his integrity. Imagine John McCain, with his background, having come through five and a half years in captivity, catapulted into politics, with an unlimited career, all of a sudden having this terrible blemish on his record.

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