A Life of Honor: John McCain

John McCain is gone. From naval officer to combat veteran to prisoner-of-war to United States Senator to Presidential candidate he was a part of American history for more than 50 years.

I have tried my best to be an independent, moderate, intelligent Democrat since 1983 and McCain was a Republican but he was one of the Republicans I most admired. Years ago I made a list of Republicans I could POSSIBLY vote for in a Presidential election and McCain was on that, admittedly short, list.

McCain spent his life in wars and political conflicts and I have spent most of my life in books but there are certain characteristics he had that I try to emulate.

• He believed in fighting for what he believed in which is why he was in Vietnam in the first place.
• He believed you do not take advantage of your position to get special privileges which is why he refused an offer to be released from prison in Hanoi because his father was an Admiral.
• He believed in trying to make America better.
• He believed in finding ways to compromise.
• He believed in criticizing his own side when his own side was wrong.
• Above all McCain believed in honor - telling the truth and doing the right thing, even when that is difficult.

As it happens I did NOT vote for McCain in 2008. In the end I decided the Democrats had the better candidate. BUT, if McCain had won in 2008, I would not have been afraid. I would have known that the United States was in good and honorable hands.

John McCain was a great man. We need more public servants like him in BOTH parties. Sadly, people like John McCain are rare.

There was a famous moment in the 2008 campaign that will go down in history. It was a moment when McCain showed that he would not stoop to dishonor even to win the White House. He would not accept a dishonest attack on his opponent even when that's what the crowd wanted to hear.

Wikipedia described the moment like this: "On October 10, 2008, a female McCain supporter at a rally said she did not trust Barack Obama because "he's an Arab." McCain's rallies had become increasingly vitriolic, with hecklers denigrating Obama and with rallygoers displaying a growing anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-African-American sentiment. McCain replied to the woman, "No ma'am. He's a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues." McCain's response was considered one of the finer moments of the campaign and was still being viewed several years later as marker for civility in American politics." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain_presidential_campaign,_2008

And you can see the video of that dramatic moment here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIjenjANqAk

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[This was Senator McCain's last book. A good chance to get to know a fallen hero. If you read it before I do please send me a review I can publish here.]

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Copyright © 2018 by Joseph Wayne Gadway