WFP Director Cindy McCain Recovering After Mild Stroke

Cindy McCain is recovering in Arizona after a mild stroke, according to an Oct. 9 statement from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), which she leads.

The World Food Programme said its executive director, Cindy McCain, 71, is expected to make a full recovery following treatment in Italy.

In a statement, McCain expressed gratitude to medical staff in Italy for what she described as excellent care, said her recovery is progressing well as a result, and added that she plans to continue recuperating at home in Arizona with her family.

The organization said McCain plans to return to WFP headquarters in Rome after being cleared by doctors, following a four-to-six-week absence.

The Arizona Republic reported at the time that McCain suffered a stroke in April 2004 at age 49 and was treated at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. Afterward, John McCain said his wife had high blood pressure, and a treating physician noted that hypertension is common among stroke patients.

Before being appointed WFP executive director in March 2023, Cindy McCain served as U.S. ambassador for the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture beginning in November 2021; she was nominated to that role by then-President Joe Biden and endorsed Biden in the 2020 election.

Her late husband, John McCain, served as a U.S. senator for Arizona from 1987 until his death from brain cancer in August 2018 and was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee; the couple married in 1980 and raised four children.

The WFP says it provides food assistance to more than 100 million people across 87 countries.