U.S. Sen. John McCain had\u00a0a\u00a0long and storied public political career, but he was also a father to seven children and was fiercely protective of his family’s privacy.<\/p>\n
On Friday, it was his family who announced\u00a0that Arizona’s senior senator\u00a0would discontinue medical treatment for glioblastoma<\/a>, a deadly form of brain cancer.<\/p>\n McCain died Saturday at age 81.<\/a><\/p>\n “Our family is immensely grateful for the support and kindness of all his caregivers over the last year, and for the continuing outpouring of concern and affection,” the statement on Friday read in part.<\/p>\n McCain’s children, all adults now, are from two marriages. More than three decades span between the oldest and the youngest.<\/p>\n Throughout his political career, interviews with the McCains have characterized John as the silly one with his kids.<\/p>\n “The more he teases you, the more he loves you,” Cindy told\u00a0People\u00a0<\/em>magazine in 2008.<\/p>\n In multiple interviews, McCain emphasized his family’s independence and privacy.<\/p>\n “I think he\u2019d prefer the family kind of stayed private,”\u00a0McCain’s oldest child, Doug McCain, told the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0in 2007<\/a>. “I just think he is a big believer in individuals doing their own thing.”<\/p>\n