 During the 1964 stint at Pensacola , McCain began a relationship with Carol Shepp , a successful swimwear and runway model originally from Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . They had known each other at the Naval Academy and she had married and then divorced one of his classmates . McCain told her he wanted to do something important with his life , so he would be recorded in history . On July 3 , 1965 , McCain married Shepp in Philadelphia . She already had two children , Douglas and Andrew , born in 1959 and 1962 respectively ; he adopted them in 1966 . Carol and he then had a daughter named Sidney in September 1966 . 
