EARLY DEPARTURE

Cindy McCain Says She’s Leaving Top Post to Focus on Recovery

“I had truly hoped I could finish out my term,” McCain wrote in her statement.

Cindy McCain is stepping down as executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to focus on her health. In a statement released on Thursday, the widow of the late Republican Sen. John McCain said that her decision was made “with a heavy heart” and that serving the organization has been an “honor of a lifetime.” The decision comes after the 71-year-old McCain suffered a stroke in October. “I had truly hoped I could finish out my term, but my health has not recovered to a level that allows me to fully serve the enormous demands of this job,” McCain wrote. According to officials, McCain will step down from her position in three months. McCain, a lifelong Republican, broke with the party to endorse former President Joe Biden in the 2020 election and was nominated and confirmed as ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture by Biden in 2021, where she largely focused on the food crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. She was appointed executive director of the WFP in March 2023, where she continued her focus on Ukraine as well as what she described as the “full-blown famine” in Gaza. Her departure will allow President Donald Trump, 79, who is highly critical of the UN, to propose a replacement.