From June of 2017 until his death in August of 2018, I served as chief of staff to Senator John S. McCain III of Arizona. This year, the McCain Institute Foundation commissioned from me a portrait of Senator McCain during his naval career. The painting is for display in the ward room of DDG 56, the USS JOHN S. MCCAIN, now named for the Senator as well as for his father and grandfather. I chose to depict the Senator as a young officer, prior to his service in the Vietnam War and his years of captivity in Hanoi.

I am very proud to have been given the opportunity to paint this portrait, and I thank the McCain family and the leadership of the McCain Institute Foundation for the confidence they placed in me with this challenging commission.

A reproduction of this painting was presented by Mrs. Cindy McCain to the officers and crew of the JOHN S. MCCAIN on 2 July, 2019 in Yokosuka, Japan to mark the 25th anniversary of vessel’s commissioning. The original remains in the collection of the McCain Institute Foundation.