This is a very interesting story about the McCains and one of their homes in a local Arizona paper today. It seems the McCains tried to keep one of their house purchases secret when they needed it for a political move. Highlights below the fold.
According to the article:
It's not quite Abraham Lincoln's rustic log cabin, but two men are excited that their Tempe house may one day bear the honor "President McCain slept here."
On a day when the expected GOP presidential nominee found himself in trouble for failing to remember how many homes he owned, the current owners of a house occupied by Sen. John McCain more than 20 years ago acknowledged they made their purchase unaware a piece of history was included.
What? No sprawling McMansion? What's this about? Even more interesting is that the current owners bought the house while it was under foreclosure.
A warranty deed from 1987 shows the home being sold by Eagle Enterprises, whose general partner is listed as James W. Hensley - McCain's father-in-law.
So why all hush hush about THIS McCain abode?
How McCain came to live at 921 E. Lamplighter Lane and how he left are both interesting footnotes in his political career.
According to biographer Robert Timberg, in early 1982 McCain needed an East Valley residence, and quickly. Republican Rep. John Rhodes was stepping down from a long career in Washington, and McCain wanted that seat.
But McCain lived in Phoenix, outside the boundaries of what was then the 1st Congressional District. So wife Cindy went to work.
As Timberg states in his book, "John McCain: An American Odyssey," on the very day of Rhodes' news conference announcing his retirement, Cindy bought the Lamplighter house.
And in late 1986, before McCain was voted into his first term in the Senate, a report from The Associated Press revealed he planned to move after the election and wanted that news kept quiet.
Someone please ask John to see if he remembers this house.
Update: Thanks guys for the rec list. This housegate stuff is a gold mine!