- Née:
- Cindy Lou Hensley
- Founder:
- American Voluntary Medical Team
- Notable Family Members:
- spouse John McCain
- On the Web:
- NPR - The World Food Programme's chief Cindy McCain calls for a surge in food aid to Gaza (Oct. 23, 2026)
Cindy McCain
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Who is Cindy McCain?
Cindy McCain, born Cindy Hensley on May 20, 1954, is an American businesswoman, humanitarian, and the wife of the late U.S. Senator John McCain. She is the daughter of Marguerite Smith and James Hensley, who founded Hensley & Co., a beer-distribution company. Cindy graduated from the University of Southern California and taught special-needs students.
She met John McCain in 1979, and they married in 1980. Cindy founded the American Voluntary Medical Team (AVMT) in 1988, a nonprofit providing medical care in impoverished countries. She later became chair of Hensley & Co.. In 2021, Cindy was appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture, and in 2023, she became the executive director of the UN World Food Programme.
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What is Cindy McCain known for?
Cindy McCain, born Cindy Hensley on May 20, 1954, is an American businesswoman and humanitarian, and the wife of the late U.S. Senator John McCain. She is the chair of Hensley & Co., a large beer distributor, a position she assumed after her father's death in 2000.
McCain is also known for her humanitarian work. In 1988, she founded the American Voluntary Medical Team (AVMT), a nonprofit that provided medical care to people in impoverished and war-torn countries. She has worked with organizations such as the HALO Trust, Operation Smile, and CARE. From 2021 to 2023, she served as the U.S. Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture. In 2023, she became the executive director of the UN World Food Programme.
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What businesses has Cindy McCain been involved with?
Cindy McCain is an American businesswoman and humanitarian. After serving as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Agencies for Food and Agriculture (2021–23), she was appointed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in 2023 to lead the UN World Food Programme as its executive director.
She served as both vice president and director of Hensley & Co. Upon the death of her father in 2000, she became chairman of the company, which by that time had become one of the largest and most profitable distributors of beer in the United States. In 1988 she founded the American Voluntary Medical Team (AVMT), a nonprofit organization that provided medical care to people in impoverished and war-ravaged countries throughout the world; AVMT ceased operating in 1995.
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What kind of humanitarian work has Cindy McCain done?
Cindy McCain's humanitarian work is extensive. In 1988, she founded the American Voluntary Medical Team (AVMT), a nonprofit that provided medical care to people in impoverished and war-torn countries, and she personally led over 50 excursions to deliver aid. In the 1990s and 2000s, Cindy worked with groups such as the Hazardous Area Life-Support Organisation (HALO) Trust, which removes land mines, Operation Smile, which helps repair facial deformities in children, and CARE, an organization devoted to fighting poverty, especially among women. After serving as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Agencies for Food and Agriculture (2021–23), she was appointed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in 2023 to lead the UN World Food Programme as its executive director.
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How has Cindy McCain’s personal life influenced her public work?
Cindy McCain's personal experiences have significantly shaped her public work. Her marriage to John McCain, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and politician, exposed her to the world of public service and politics.
Cindy's struggle with prescription painkiller addiction in the late 1980s, and her subsequent public admission and recovery, likely influenced her work with humanitarian groups and her advocacy against human trafficking. Her work with organizations such as the HALO Trust, Operation Smile, and CARE demonstrates her commitment to helping vulnerable populations, both domestically and internationally.
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What impact has Cindy McCain had on global humanitarian issues?
Cindy McCain is an American businesswoman and humanitarian who has made significant contributions to global humanitarian issues. In 1988, McCain founded the American Voluntary Medical Team (AVMT), a nonprofit that provided medical care to people in impoverished and war-torn countries. She led over 50 excursions to deliver aid and supplies through AVMT.
McCain has also worked with organizations such as the HALO Trust, which removes land mines, Operation Smile, which helps repair facial deformities in children, and CARE, which fights poverty, especially among women. In 2021, she was appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture. In 2023, she became the executive director of the UN World Food Programme.
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Cindy McCain (born May 20, 1954, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.) is an American businesswoman and humanitarian and the wife of U.S. senator and two-time Republican presidential candidate John McCain. After serving as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Agencies for Food and Agriculture (2021–23), she was appointed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in 2023 to lead the UN World Food Programme as its executive director.
Cindy Hensley was the only child of Marguerite Smith and James Hensley, who in 1955 founded Hensley & Co., a beer-distribution company. She studied education at the University of Southern California (B.A., 1976; M.A., 1978) before teaching special-needs students at a high school in Avondale, Arizona. While vacationing with her parents in Hawaii in 1979, she met John McCain—a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War who was at that time the navy’s chief liaison to the U.S. Senate—and the two began a relationship. In early 1980 he filed for divorce from his first wife, Carol Shepp, and in May of that year he and Cindy married.
The couple moved to Arizona, where John began his political career. When he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1982, Cindy quit her teaching position and moved with him to Washington, D.C. In 1984, having suffered from a series of miscarriages and feeling alienated in Washington, she moved back to Arizona. In 1988 she founded the American Voluntary Medical Team (AVMT), a nonprofit organization that provided medical care to people in impoverished and war-ravaged countries throughout the world. Cindy herself led more than 50 excursions to deliver aid and supplies. In the late 1980s she became addicted to prescription painkillers, and in 1994 she publicly admitted to stealing medication from the AVMT. Through an agreement with federal prosecutors, she avoided jail time, and the AVMT ceased operating in 1995.
Cindy served as both vice president and director of Hensley & Co. Upon the death of her father in 2000, she became chairman of the company, which by that time had become one of the largest and most profitable distributors of beer in the United States. That year she helped her husband campaign for the Republican presidential nomination; he was defeated in the primary by George W. Bush, then governor of Texas. After suffering a stroke in April 2004, she temporarily relocated to Coronado, California, to recover. Cindy supported her husband’s second bid for the Republican presidential nomination, and she was instrumental in restructuring the campaign staff after financial difficulties threatened to end his run in the summer of 2007. John received the Republican nomination in September 2008, but he was defeated by Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the general election on November 4.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Cindy worked with numerous humanitarian groups, including the Hazardous Area Life-Support Organisation (HALO) Trust, a group dedicated to removing land mines and other potentially hazardous remnants of war; Operation Smile, a medical organization that helps repair facial deformities in children in developing countries; and CARE, which is committed to fighting poverty, particularly among women. McCain also supported same-sex marriage and was involved in efforts to end human trafficking.
In 2017 it was announced that McCain’s husband was suffering from glioblastoma, a common but extremely malignant brain tumour. He died the following year. In 2020 Cindy made headlines when she endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, a longtime friend of John’s, and later appeared in a TV campaign ad for him; Biden was running against Republican Pres. Donald Trump, who had made derogatory remarks about John on several occasions. Biden ultimately won the election, and in 2021 he nominated McCain for ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. She was confirmed by the Senate later that year. In 2023 she was appointed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres to lead the UN World Food Programme.