 During their time in Jacksonville , the McCains ' marriage began to falter . McCain had extramarital affairs ; he was seen with other women in social settings and developed a reputation among his colleagues for womanizing . Some of McCain 's activity with other women occurred when he was off @-@ duty after routine flights to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma and Naval Air Facility El Centro . McCain later said , " My marriage 's collapse was attributable to my own selfishness and immaturity more than it was to Vietnam , and I cannot escape blame by pointing a finger at the war . The blame was entirely mine . " His wife Carol later stated that the failure was not due to her accident or Vietnam and that " I attribute [ the breakup of our marriage ] more to John turning 40 and wanting to be 25 again than I do to anything else . " John McCain 's biographer , Robert Timberg , believes that " Vietnam did play a part , perhaps not the major part , but more than a walk @-@ on . " According to John McCain , " I had changed , she had changed . People who have been apart that much change . " 
