John McCain: An Essay, by John Karaagac: on Principles & Values

John McCain: To understand McCain, understand grandfather Slew

To contemporaries, Slew was something of a proverbial "old salt," ready to cuss the elements with a colorful turn of the phrase. It was said he spoke in two languages: English and profane. Indeed, he was known as one of the best cussers in the entire Navy. Popular, combative, feisty, Admiral Slew McCain was a character, and to be a character is in some senses to have a reputation, not altogether positive, that follows one like a shadow. He appeared a throwback--perhaps to the age of frigates and the naval melee.

In an age of increasingly sophisticated naval technology he seemed one governed by impulse and instinct. He seemed, in short, an old-fashioned sailor.

John McCain: Community of origin is the Navy, not a geographic community

McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone. In reality, he was born into that reassuring American blue and gold universe that one could find in naval installations from San Diego in the Pacific to Norfolk in the Atlantic. In common parlance, McCain was what was affectionately known as a Navy brat.

More to the point, McCain was a Navy junior, which carries a certain elite connotation, possibly reserved for the children of high-ranking officers. The term "brat" suggests that the child is something of a benign nuisance; "Junior" suggests a measure of entitlement and continuity.

John McCain: Described himself as a "jock," but not exceptional

Then he went on to write that he turned his reputation as a "credible athlete" and a "troublemaker" into a distinction as a "leader of sorts." For McCain, sport formed an outlet for his competitive streak; it was a way for overcoming any and all insecurities. McCain contrasted himself with his father, who had not such outlet or perhaps even aptitude for athletic context and who later poured all his nervous, brittle energy into his work.

At Virginia Episcopal, McCain's prep school, sport is never simply about sport. The prep school approach to sport tended to resemble the Spartan ethic in which the student is thrown into the maelstrom of competition whether he likes it or not.

John McCain: Temper usually directed at those higher; seldom at underling

"Pick on someone your own size" seems to be a very McCain trait. He may have been an irritant to many in his Academy days, but he was never a bully. In this, he completely resembled Dwight D. Eisenhower in his cadet days.

John McCain: From Hanoi to C.F.R., never chose path of least resistance

One wonders if McCain deliberately looked for ways to make his life hard, to pick struggles for the sake of struggle as if to prove a certain worthiness for life's battle. It is a resistance to the charge of softness.

In every instance, in the active pursuit of a combat assignment in Vietnam, in his confrontation with his Vietnamese captors, in his pursuit of campaign finance reform in the face of mounting and often bitter opposition within his own caucus, McCain has not chosen the path of least resistance. He has chosen the hardest--and in Vietnam, the most honorable--path. Having made the choice, McCain rarely backs down. By contrast, he shows a tendency to proverbially dig in his heels and not give ground.

John McCain: War injuries left him unable to raise arms above head

When McCain went to Florida for the physical screening, he urged the doctors to make their assessment on his physical suitability for flying, not on how his arms looked, which was, admittedly, not good. (Even to this day, he cannot raise his arms to comb his hair.) McCain had, however, regained much of his movement, thanks to the intensive physical therapy. Ultimately, he passed the physical and was cleared for a flying assignment.

John McCain: Won 1992 AZ House election as newcomer & confident war hero

McCain, however, had several advantages. He had a measure of name recognition on the right, which loved its war heroes, particularly if they could work the circuit. McCain had "test-marketed" his story in the popular press. {And he had] personal discipline: after the Hanoi Hilton, the marathon of running a campaign, of taking the hits and giving them back, was child's play.

John McCain: 1990: McCain & Glenn exonerated in Keating 5 scandal

McCain, along wit John Glenn, found himself caught in the middle of an unfortunate investigation. Both men were linked by association with three senators--Cranston, DeConcini, and Riegle--whose actions were highly questionable. Both McCain and Glenn had their otherwise sterling reputations tainted. Three years later, the congressional verdict questioned their judgement, but absolved them of charges, and stipulated that they should not have been subject of inquiry in the first place.

One is liable to suggest that justice was not properly served in the Keating Five investigation. But Cranston was unelectable. DeConcini and Riegle chose not to run for re-election. By contrast, both Glenn and McCain ran for re-election in 1992 and won with relative ease.

John McCain: Identifies with Teddy Roosevelt, but only some reforms apply

Roosevelt represented the forward-thinking, activist wing of his party against a stand-pat, pro-business wing. Roosevelt was, by virtue of his war experience and his early years into the Dakota Badlands, inoculated against being an effete reformer, a "good-government" know-it-all. How could McCain NOT want to compare himself with this canonized political figure?

Roosevelt was able to advocate reformist change by playing off two extremes of wild-eyed radicals and the worst do-nothing conservatives. In the current language of political campaigns, Roosevelt was able to "triangulate." That was a middle ground that, for all his efforts, McCain could not find, if only because the conditions were different. In short, the reality of present conditions did not match McCain's larger rhetoric.

John McCain: Re-adjusted to civilian life after POW years: no "imbalance"