Kathleen Hensley Portalski Is Cindy McCain’s Sister

Kathleen Hensley Portalski, the half sister of Cindy McCain. Kathleen is in the news today because she is upset that her sister, wife of Presidential candidate John McCain, is claiming to be an only child.Kathleen Hensley Portalski did an interview with NPR today to talk about how she feels about her sister, who maintains that she is an only child. Naturally, she is hurt and told NPR,“I’m upset. I’m angry. It makes me feel like a non-person, kind of.”Just last month in an interview with CNN, Cindy McCain talked a bit about her child hood. She said:“I grew up with my dad. I’m an only child. My father was a cowboy and he really loved me very much, but I think he wanted a son occasionally.”

We do not know much about Kathleen Hensley Portalski, as details about her are just emerging. We will greatly appreciate it if you could help us fill in the blanks. We do know that at 65 years of age, Kathleen is the older sister. That makes an eleven-year age difference between she and the possible future first lady. The two women share the same father, Jim Hensley. Jim is the founder of the beer distributor Hensley and Co.Kathleen Hensley Portalski remained with her mother, Hensley’s first wife, and as a result she grew up in a different house than Cindy. She says,

“I saw [my dad] a few times a year. I saw him at Christmas and birthdays, and he provided money for school clothes and he called occasionally.”
Hensley was financially supportive of both his daughters, gifting Portalski and her husband $10,000–and also leaving her another $10,000 when he died in 2000. In addition, he gave them credit cards and paid for his grandchildren’s college tuition. It is not just Portalski who is hurt and affected by the situation. Kathleen’s son Nicholas has also spoken out about the pain caused by Mrs. McCain’s statements. He said,

“It is just very, very hurtful” that ‘we don’t exist’ and Cindy has to put such a fine point on it by saying something that’s not true.”In order to patch things up between the family, Kathleen Hensley Portalski says she just wants an apology and to be acknowledged. But when NPR asked the McCain campaign to respond, neither John nor Cindy have responded as of yet.