Remembering John McCain
Six years ago today, on Saturday August 25, 2018, Senator John Sidney McCain III died, following a battle with a very aggressive form of brain cancer. McCain was the last candidate to run for president on the ticket of a major party who was an authentic war hero and a prisoner of war. He had been the senior United States Senator from Arizona and was the Republican presidential nominee in the 2008 United States election, an election more often remembered as being the first time in history that an African-American was elected President, as well as for McCain's rather unique selection of running mate.
John McCain was born August 29, 1936 at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone, which was then under US control. He his father and grandfather were both four-star admirals in the United States Navy and both were also named John McCain. The third John McCain graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1958 and became a naval aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers.
During the Vietnam War, he was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. McCain had requested a combat assignment and was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal flying A-4 Skyhawks. In 1967 the Forrestal was assigned to a bombing campaign, Operation Rolling Thunder, during the Vietnam War. On July 29, 1967, McCain, by then a 30 year old lieutenant commander, was near the center of the Forrestal fire. He escaped from his burning jet and was trying to help another pilot escape when a bomb exploded. McCain was struck in the legs and chest by fragments. The ensuing fire killed 134 sailors. With the Forrestal out of commission, McCain volunteered for assignment with the USS Oriskany, another aircraft carrier employed in Operation Rolling Thunder. There he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal and the Bronze Star for missions flown over North Vietnam.
Later that year, on October 26, 1967, McCain was flying his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam when his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile over Hanoi. McCain fractured both arms and a leg ejecting from the aircraft and nearly drowned when he parachuted into Truc Bach Lake. Some North Vietnamese pulled him ashore. Enemy soldiers crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him. McCain was then transported to Hanoi's main Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton". Although McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to treat his injuries, beating and interrogating him to get information. He was given medical care only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was an admiral. McCain spent six weeks in the hospital while receiving marginal care. He lost 50 pounds and his hair turned white. In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years. In mid-1968, his father was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater, and the North Vietnamese offered McCain early release as a propaganda move to show other POWs that elite prisoners were willing to be treated preferentially. McCain turned down the offer, stating that he would only accept release if every man taken in before him was released as well. In August 1968, a program of severe torture began on McCain. His injuries led to a suicide attempt, stopped by guards. Eventually, McCain made an anti-American propaganda "confession" induced by torture. He later wrote, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine."
McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years. He was released on March 14, 1973. His wartime injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head.
John McCain retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, where he entered politics. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, he served two terms, and was then elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, winning re-election easily four times, most recently in 2010. McCain earned a media reputation as a "maverick" for his willingness to disagree with his party on certain issues.
McCain became involved in a scandal during the 1980s as one of five United States Senators called the "Keating Five" by the media. Between 1982 and 1987, McCain had received $112,000 in lawful political contributions from Charles Keating Jr. and his associates at Lincoln Savings and Loan Association. In 1987, the five senators met with Keating in Keating's attempt to prevent the government's seizure of Lincoln. McCain met twice with federal regulators to discuss the government's investigation of Lincoln. McCain later acknowledged that he was wrong in doing so "because it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence." He was cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee of acting improperly or violating any law or Senate rule.
McCain made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns, which eventually led to the passage of the McCain-Feingold Act in 2002. He work towards restoring diplomatic relations with Vietnam in the 1990s, and believed that the first war in Iraq should have been fought to a successful conclusion.
John McCain ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 but lost a heated primary season contest to George W. Bush. The battle between the two men became very bitter towards one another. The two men were on opposite sides of a number of issues during Bush's presidency, including HMO reform, climate change, and gun legislation. Bush also opposed McCain-Feingold and in May 2001, McCain was one of only two Senate Republicans to vote against the Bush tax cuts.
On April 25, 2007 McCain began his campaign for President in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He had fundraising problems in the first half of 2007, and downsized his campaign in early July due to lack of funds. He slumped badly in national polls, often running third or fourth with 15 percent or less support. But his campaign staged a comeback and he was chosen as the GOP nominee. Democrats made an issue of his age and health and in May 2008, McCain's campaign briefly let the press review his medical records
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was revealed as McCain's surprise choice for running mate on August 29, 2008, making McCain the second major-party presidential nominee to select a female running mate and the first Republican to do so. McCain briefly surged ahead of Barack Obama in national polls following the convention. But voter reactions to Palin grew increasingly negative after a series of media blunders on her part. On September 24, McCain said he was suspending his campaign, called on Obama to join him, in order to work on the proposed U.S. financial system bailout before Congress. Obama declined McCain's suspension suggestion. On October 1, McCain voted in favor of a revised $700 billion rescue plan. The election took place on November 4, and Barack Obama won the election winning 365 electoral college votes compared to 173 for McCain. McCain gained 46 percent of the nationwide popular vote, compared to Obama's 53 percent.
McCain was elected to a 5th senate term in 2010. In the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, McCain endorsed former 2008 rival Mitt Romney and campaigned for him. He was critical of the Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. He became one of the most vocal critics of the Obama administration's handling of the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi. This year, McCain was a member of a bi-partisan group of eight senators leading an effort for comprehensive immigration reform.
McCain chaired the January 5, 2017, hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee where Republican and Democratic senators and intelligence officers concluded that the Russian government used hacking and leaks to try to influence the presidential election. He criticized the Chinese government following the death of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, who died of organ failure while in government custody. In his statement, McCain said that "this is only the latest example of Communist China's assault on human rights, democracy, and freedom."
McCain underwent a minimally invasive craniotomy at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 14, 2017, in order to remove a blood clot above his left eye. Five days later, Mayo Clinic doctors announced that the laboratory results from the surgery confirmed the presence of a glioblastoma, a very aggressive cancerous brain tumor. Treatment options for this tumor included chemotherapy and radiation. McCain was a survivor of previous cancers, including melanoma. On July 19, 2017 McCain's senatorial office issued a statement that he "appreciates the outpouring of support he has received over the last few days. He is in good spirits as he continues to recover at home with his family in Arizona. He is grateful to the doctors and staff at Mayo Clinic for their outstanding care, and is confident that any future treatment will be effective." On July 24, McCain announced that he would return to the United States Senate the following day. He returned to the Senate on July 25, less than two weeks after brain surgery. In the senate he delivered a speech criticizing the party-line voting and urged a "return to regular order" utilizing the usual committee hearings and deliberations. On July 28, he cast the decisive vote against the Republicans' final proposal for the repeal of "Obamacare, which failed 49-51.
McCain did not vote in the Senate after December 2017, remaining instead in Arizona to undergo cancer treatment. McCain's family announced on August 24, 2018, that he would no longer receive treatment for his cancer. The next day on August 25, at 4:28 p.m. MST he died with his wife and family beside him at his home in Cornville, Arizona, four days before his 82nd birthday.
Among the tributes for McCain were those from two former Presidents, men who had also once been his political rivals, but who maintained a genuine respect and liking for the former Arizona Senator. President Barack Obama said, "John McCain and I were members of different generations. But we shared, for all our differences, a fidelity to something higher - the ideals for which generations of Americans and immigrants alike have fought, marched and sacrificed. We saw our political battles, even, as a privilege. Few of us have been tested the way John once was or required to show the kind of courage that he did. But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own."
President George W. Bush wrote: "Some lives are so vivid, it is difficult to imagine them ended. Some voices are so vibrant, it is hard to think of them stilled. John McCain was a man of deep conviction and a patriot of the highest order."