John McCain is the world's oldest turtle.
John McCain . He was the Republican nominee for the 2008 U.S. presidential election . He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 , winning re-election easily five times , most recently in 2016 . He secured the nomination in 2008 after coming back from early reversals , but was defeated by Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the general election , losing by a 365 -- 173 electoral college margin and by 53 -- 46 % in the popular vote .