John McCain (1936–2018)

I doubt anyone, even John McCain, can talk about something like courage without having the hollow ring of Hallmark platitudes...What sizzle that does exist in this book is the vividly told real-life stories of courage, generally in a framework of organized violence.

I liked John McCain before I started Faith of My Fathers, but I had my reservations when I saw that the book was co-authored by Mark Salter. If you've ever corrected someone else's essay, you know how words can be chucked and changed, until final product hardly bears a resemblance to the original. All the same, I foraged on ahead.

Unsurprisingly, McCain descends from a long line of military men. The first few chapters are filled with slow, winding descriptions of his grandfather and father, show more both four star admirals, and their numerous accomplishments. You'd think that the third McCain would be a hardworker with such a legacy, but instead, he's a self indulgent party boy and trouble maker, with lousy grades and an even lousier work ethic. Anyone else would have been expelled from the naval academy, but his influential father manages to keep his n'ere-do-well son out of serious trouble untli he gets to Vietnam.

Regardless of what you may think about his politics, it should be difficult for anyone to read McCain's account of his imprisonment and not at least respect the man. When his plane crashed in a lake in Hanoi, a mob of Vietnamese citizens dragged him out and began stabbing him with a bayonet. He was taken into custody and subsequently beaten, tortured, and starved. But as soon as Vietnamese officials became aware that his father was an importnat commander for the American military, they offered to send him home. After months of abuse, it would have been tempting to exchange the miserable prison conditions for the comforts of the United States. But despite his injuries, McCain refused, insisting he'd stay until the men captured before him were released first. And so ensued five and a half years of prison life, years that were marked with solitary confinement, sickness, torture, and boredom.

Extrodinarily, these are the years that turned McCain the callow youth into a courageous, formidable man. He humbly points out time and time again that the Vietnamese treated him better than other prisoners due to his father, and that harsher punishments were dealt to other men. The obnoxious rabble rousing we see in earlier chapters matures when McCain strives to raise the spirits of his fellow prisoners and rebels against his captors. He admits his flaws and pokes fun at himself, and learns that life is too short to hold grudges. It's a remarkable coming-of-age character transformation.

"I was no longer the boy to whom liberty meant simply that I could do as I pleased, and who, in my vanity, used my freedom to polish my image as an I-don't-give-a-damn nonconformist," he writes. "All of us were committed to one another. I knew what the others were suffering. Sitting in my cell, I could hear their screams as their faith was put to the test. My first concern was not that I might fail God and country, although I certainly hoped that I would not. I was afraid to fail my friends. I was afraid to come back from an interrogationa nd tell them I couldn't hold up as well as they had. However I measured my character before Vietnam no longer mattered. What mattered now was how they measured my character. My self-regard became indivisible from their regard to me. And it will remain so for the rest of my life."

While I still don't agree with our current foreign policy, this memoir helped me see where John McCain is coming from. show less

Far, far superior to the usual political autobiography. This is largely because, in addition recounting his harrowing treatment as a POW, McCain spends two-thirds of the book on his father and grandfather, both riveting characters. His grandfather, a four star admiral, is a cursing, gambling eccentric adored by his men. His submariner father is driven to match these accomplishments, and, hemmed in by three Japanese destroyers, engineers an escape that beggars fiction. He too ends his career show more as a four star admiral. And don't miss the part where his grandfather (jokingly) accuses MacArthur of having VD. This must have been a fun book for Salter to write.

Read while traveling (3.5.08) show less

In the spirit of transparency, I did not support John McCain when he ran for president. However, over the years I have become a fan of his, despite not always agreeing with every policy position he has taken throughout his long career in government. This book describes perfectly why John McCain is a man to be respected, trusted and emulated in so many ways. He discusses the importance of working across the aisle to get things done for the American people, the importance of the United States show more supporting human rights worldwide as a way for us to be more safe and secure, as well as his hopes for our future, despite the lack of effective leadership in the White House right now. McCain, who is facing a difficult medical situation, should never fear that he has not left a lasting legacy in our nation's history, much like the one left by his friend Ted Kennedy. He is a true American hero, for both his military service and government service, as well as being an example for all to emulate. show less