He Attempted To Run As The Republican Nominee in 2000

On September 27, 1999, in Nashua, New Hampshire, McCain declared his intent to run for president. He promised to wage “a fight to take our country back from the power brokers and special interests, and restore it to the people and the noble cause of freedom it was designed to serve.” George W. Bush, the governor of Texas, was the front-runner for the Republican nomination and enjoyed the financial and political backing of the majority of the party establishment, while John McCain was backed by many moderate and some conservative Republicans.

McCain concentrated on New Hampshire, where his message resonated with independent voters. He rode the Straight Talk Express, a political campaign bus. He used free media to make up for his lack of resources by holding numerous town hall meetings where he responded to every question posed by citizens. He defeated Bush in the New Hampshire primary on February 1, 2000, receiving 49% of the vote to Bush's 30%.

One of the interesting facts about John McCain is that many people thought the two candidates represented distinct facets of the Republican party throughout their contentious campaign.

During that time, an anonymous smear campaign was launched against McCain, which had a significant negative impact, costing him a crucial South Carolina vote. McCain would eventually resign in the middle of February and endorsing George Bush a few months later. He never fully recovered from this.