Cultural and political image of John McCain
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John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
's personal character has dominated the image and perception of him. His family's military heritage, his rebellious nature as a youth, his endurance over his treatment as a prisoner of war, his resulting physical limitations, his political persona, his well-known temper, his admitted propensity for controversial or ill-advised remarks, and his devotion to maintaining his large blended family have all defined his place in the American political world more than any ideological or partisan framing (although the latter became more prominent beginning in 2008).


Military experiences

McCain's experiences as a POW have formed the basis for some of his public and political image. University of Richmond political scientist John Karaagac states that, "The military holds a special place in American society and in American democracy. In both war and peace, the military becomes the archetype of democratic values and aspirations... The competing tension of intense institutional loyalty on one hand and guardian of the republic on the other eads to a situation wherethe military view of politics is bound to be ambivalent."Karaagac, ''John McCain: An Essay in Military and Political History'', p. 248. Karaagac then sees McCain as a focal point of this tension and ambivalence. In part, this is due to McCain's family history: public service is idealized in military tradition, whereas politics is deprecated, and this was the tradition in McCain's family as well. Yet McCain's father also served as a Congressional liaison for a while, and was able to be politically effective without seeming overtly so; part of McCain's youth was spent seeing a steady stream of powerful politicians entertained at his family's house. When McCain first began his Senate liaison work, he held congressional leaders in poor regard, due to their actions during and after the Vietnam War.''Worth the Fighting For'', p. 15. But once he began working with them closely, he found a number of them he admired: "They were statesmen, and although some of them had never served in uniform, I came to appreciate that most were patriots of the first order." ''
American Prospect ''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The American Prospect'' says it "is devoted to ...
'' editor Michael Tomasky sees McCain's POW experience as being uniquely suited for his country's perceptions of the Vietnam War: "It was by suffering in a cell, serving as a kind of metaphor for American suffering in a war most Americans gave up on early in his confinement, but at the same time holding fast to principle under the most unimaginable circumstances, thereby redeeming some notion of American honor in a dishonorable situation, that McCain became an American hero." This assessment is echoed by '' The Washington Post'' columnist
Charles Krauthammer Charles Krauthammer (; March 13, 1950 – June 21, 2018) was an American political columnist. A moderate liberal who turned independent conservative as a political pundit, Krauthammer won the Pulitzer Prize for his columns in ''The Washington ...
, who says that "McCain's is not the heroism of conquest or even rescue, but of endurance, and, even more important, endurance for principle. ... issuffering has become in the public imagination a kind of expiation for the war itself. It explains why even people so ideologically distant from him find his experience so moving and his appeal so powerful." '' The New Republic'' writer David Grann also concurs in this assessment of McCain's real heroism, but emphasizes that during the 1990s the U.S. national media often overlooked not only political and ideological beliefs of McCain's contrary to theirs, but biographical blemishes as well, in a revival of an old American tradition of hero-building that goes back to Parson Weems. Journalist
Andrew Ferguson Andrew Ferguson (born June 28, 1956) is an American journalist and author. Career Ferguson is currently a staff writer at ''The Atlantic''. Previously, he was senior editor of ''The Weekly Standard'' (defunct since December 2018), and a columni ...
describes instances where journalists who grew up in the Vietnam era have felt guilt for not having served themselves, and once in contact with McCain have viewed and written favorably about him as a result; the same pattern has been observed by Tomasky and by author David Brock. Longtime Washington journalist Al Hunt states that "The hero is indispensable to the McCain persona" and sees the courage McCain showed as a prisoner of war directly linked to the courage required to take on "the link between money and politics hatis pervasive throughout American history." Writer Michael Lewis views McCain's political "nerve sfar more interesting than bravery in combat. It was the nerve of a man engaged in an experiment of behaving like a human being when everyone around him was playing this strange, artificial game." McCain is a lifelong gambler, from his early military days of playing poker, craps, and roulette and running a friendly Bachelor Officer Quarters gambling den while off-duty in Florida and Texas,Timberg, ''An American Odyssey'', pp. 66–68. to traveling periodically to Las Vegas for weekend-long betting marathons while senator. McCain had a history, beginning with his military career, of appealing to lucky charms and superstitions to gain fortune. While serving in Vietnam, he demanded that his parachute rigger clean his visor before each flight. On his 2000 presidential campaign, he carried a lucky compass, feather, shoes, pen, penny and, at times, a rock. An incident when McCain misplaced his feather caused a brief panic in the campaign. The night before the 2008 New Hampshire primary he slept on the same side of the bed in the same hotel room he had stayed in before his win there in 2000, and after winning carried some of his talismans forward into the following Michigan primary supplemented by others. His superstitions are extended to others; to those afraid of flying or experiencing a bumpy flight, he says, "You don't need to worry. I've crashed four fighter jets, and I'm not going to die in a plane crash. You're safe with me." McCain's war wounds left him incapable of raising his arms above his head; he was unable to attend to his own hair and he sometimes required assistance in dressing, tasks performed by nearby aides. His former communications director has said, "You comb someone's hair once, and you never forget it." McCain was treated for recurrent skin cancer, including
melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye ( ...
, in 1993, 2000, and 2002; one of the resulting operations left a noticeable mark on the left side of his face. These medical conditions, combined with his advancing years, led him to repeatedly use a self-deprecating remark during his 2008 presidential campaigning: "I am older than dirt and have more scars than Frankenstein."


Political character and public response


"Maverick" image

McCain was frequently described as a "maverick". McCain, in part, cultivated this image and promoted the use of this descriptor to his political advantage. McCain especially promoted this label during his campaign in the general election of the 2008 presidential race. After many years of observing McCain, '' The New York Times'' columnist David Brooks writes that "there is nobody in politics remotely like him," making reference to his energy and dynamism, his rebelliousness and desire to battle powerful political forces, his willingness to endlessly and truthfully talk with reporters, and his being "driven by an ancient sense of honor." Brooks does not see McCain without political fault, but explains that, "There have been occasions when McCain compromised his principles for political gain, but he was so bad at it that it always backfired." '' Vanity Fair'' national editor Todd Purdum sees McCain's efforts in the years leading up to the 2008 election as "trying to make the maverick, freethinking impulses that first made him into a political star somehow compatible with the suck-it-up adherence to the orthodoxies required of a Republican presidential front-runner" and compares it to
squaring the circle Squaring the circle is a problem in geometry first proposed in Greek mathematics. It is the challenge of constructing a square with the area of a circle by using only a finite number of steps with a compass and straightedge. The difficulty ...
: "McCain needs to square that circle, and the hell of it is, he just can't." ''The New Republic'' senior editor Jonathan Chait thinks that McCain did not do this, but echoed Brooks by saying, " cCain'sdemagoguery comes with an awkward forced smile, which doesn't make it more forgivable but does make it less irritating." Karaagac, though, sees that McCain "as Senator, ... understands how to play the game of politics by knowing when to appear above the fracas." McCain practiced the modern American ritual of falling short of ideals, confessing, and moving on; University of Southern California Unruh Institute of Politics Director Dan Schnur, a former McCain campaign spokesperson, says McCain "is the best apologizer in politics". McCain wrote in his 2002 biography ''
Worth the Fighting For Worth may refer to: Places In the United States: *Worth, Georgia *Worth County, Georgia *Worth, Illinois *Worth Township, Cook County, Illinois *Worth Township, Woodford County, Illinois *Worth Township, Indiana *Worth Township, Michigan *Worth, ...
'', "I have my reputation ... I'm an independent-minded, well-intentioned public servant to some. And to others, I'm a self-styled, self-righteous, maverick pain in the ass." p. xvii. And while McCain recognizes that deference, finesse, patience, and agility are qualities that are often associated with successful politicians, "God has given me heart enough for my ambitions, but too little forbearance to pursue them by routes other than a straight line." '' Newsweek'' editor Jon Meacham observed that, "There is a kind of egotism in McCain—he loves attention, always has, and takes glee in confounding the expectations of the institutions of which he is a part."
City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...
political science professor Stanley A. Renshon found that trait theory does not adequately explain McCain's behavior as a political figure, and that McCain's interior psychology includes a variety of aspects that defy simple analysis in terms of how he might perform in higher leadership roles.


Political character before 2008 campaign

McCain's own emphasis on personal character in his appeal to voters was revealed in a University of Missouri study of political discourse in the 2000 Republican primary campaign, which showed McCain using fewer policy, and more character, utterances than any other candidate. Another study of the campaign, by University of North Florida communications professor John Parmelee, performed a
framing theory Framing may refer to: * Framing (construction), common carpentry work * Framing (law), providing false evidence or testimony to prove someone guilty of a crime * Framing (social sciences) * Framing (visual arts), a technique used to bring the foc ...
analysis of a McCain campaign videocassette sent to voters; it found the video's narrative sought to connect values from McCain's personal life and war record to his political courage and then his political platform. Unlike rival
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's campaign videocassette, McCain's did not shy away from negative aspects of his personal history, but instead sought to frame his divorce as a chapter in his character-building POW experience. McCain's appeal has usually not been based on party identification: University of California, San Diego political science professor
Gary Jacobson Gary C. Jacobson (born July 7, 1944) is a professor of political science and the Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of California, San Diego, where he has been since 1979. Biography He was born in Santa Ana and raised in the Los ...
's 2006 study of
partisan polarization Political polarization (spelled ''polarisation'' in British English) is the divergence of political attitudes away from the center, towards ideological extremes. Most discussions of polarization in political science consider polarization in the ...
found that in a state-by-state survey of job approval ratings of the state's senators, McCain had the seventh-smallest partisan difference of any senator, with a 2.6 percentage point difference in approval between Arizona's Republicans and Democrats. Likewise, an April 2008 Gallup poll found that the public perception of him as a war hero was not strongly weighted by party identification (unlike the case in 2004 for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry). While McCain's Gallup poll favorability ratings were beaten down during the course of the 2008 U.S. presidential election, they rebounded to previous levels within days of his defeat. Nor has conventional ideology defined him: '' Arizona Republic'' columnist and
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contributor Robert Robb, using a formulation devised by
William F. Buckley Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...
, describes McCain as "conservative" but not "a conservative", meaning that while McCain usually tends towards conservative positions, he is not "anchored by the philosophical tenets of modern American conservatism." '' New Yorker'' writer George Packer says of McCain, "He doesn't present himself as a conservative leader; he is simply a leader." '' Reason'' and '' Los Angeles Times'' writer
Matt Welch Matthew Lee Welch (born July 31, 1968) is an American blogger, journalist, author, and libertarian political pundit. Early life Welch was born on July 31, 1968 in Bellflower, California. He was raised in Long Beach, California. He attended UC ...
, author of ''McCain: The Myth of a Maverick'', sees political pundits as projecting their own ideological fantasies upon McCain, with the result that McCain's "maverick" persona shields his actual goals for the nation and national culture. McCain called himself "a Teddy Roosevelt conservative", and indeed Welch sees Theodore Roosevelt as the main governmental role model for McCain, and writes that McCain believes in effectively statist solutions that will facilitate the notion "that Americans 'were meant to transform history' and that sublimating the individual in the service of that 'common national cause' is the wellspring of honor and purpose." An '' Arizona Republic'' analysis of Senate votes from 1999 to 2008 found that McCain broke with his party in about a quarter of the close votes where his stance could make a difference, but almost never in the years he was running for president. However, McCain's Senate stances on signature issues of
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in 1999 and comprehensive immigration reform in 2007, while not resulting in very close Senate votes, significantly damaged his presidential prospects in both years.


Shift in political image during 2008 campaign

By the time of the 2008 general election season, the nature of some of the McCain campaign's tactics had tipped the balance of past respect for some observers. '' The Washington Post'' columnist and past McCain admirer Richard Cohen said that "the John McCain of old is unrecognizable. He has become the sort of politician he once despised." Writer Michael Kinsley noted falsehoods stated by the McCain campaign and ponders whether it will be "necessary to wait for one of McCain's conveniently delayed conversions to righteousness."


Political image during the Obama administration

The perceived shift in McCain's political character during the 2008 election continued during the
Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...
, particularly during McCain's 2010 senate reelection campaign. As McCain shed his past contraorthodox positions and even explicitly repudiated his famous "maverick" label, Alexander Burns and Martin Jonathan of '' Politico'' opined that, "by seeming to do anything to win reelection McCain has torched one of the most famous brands in modern American politics." Fox News echoed this sentiment by opining that "McCain abandoned his maverick label and cast aside one of the most powerful brands in American politics as he fought to reassure conservatives they could trust him." The perceived change in McCain's political caused writers to reassess and question their past conclusions about McCain. David Margolick, writing for ''Newsweek'' magazine, wondered: "His dramatic shifts raise several questions: How much of his maverick persona over the years has been real and how much simply tactical? Is he in the midst of some struggle for his soul, or is this evolution simply the latest example, dating back to his days at the Hanoi Hilton, of McCain doing whatever it takes to survive? Is the anger people sense in him anger at Obama, or the American electorate, or fate, or himself?" James Fallows of '' The Atlantic'' saw McCain as going against the usual trend of public figures becoming more broad-minded as they get older and concluded, "John McCain seems intentionally to be shrinking his audience, his base, and his standing in history. It's unnecessary, and it is sad." Writer
Niall O'Dowd Niall O'Dowd (born 18 May 1953) in County Tipperary, Ireland, is an Irish American journalist and author living in the United States. He was involved in the negotiations leading to the Northern Irish Good Friday Peace Agreement. He is founder ...
wrote that McCain had been "a remarkable man, true to his own vision of where true north was on his compass," but then, "something happened ... In his place is this crotchety naysayer who has lost all track of his better self and his better angels." Todd Purdum, whose long, largely favorable treatment of McCain in an early 2007 issue of '' Vanity Fair'' had been titled "Prisoner of Conscience", wrote a far more bitter piece for the same publication in late 2010 entitled "The Man Who Never Was". Believing that McCain had changed, some political writers sought explanations for actions that appeared contrary to their previous understanding of his nature. Explanations varied. Two explanations floated were that McCain had changed as a calculation to protect his political survival, or, similarly, that he had been motivated by calculations of political expediency. The departure of key staffer
Mark Salter Mark Salter (born 1955) is an American speechwriter from Davenport, Iowa, known for his collaborations with United States Senator John McCain on several nonfiction books as well as on political speeches. Salter also served as McCain's chief of s ...
was cited as a potential factor in changes to McCain's political behavior. Other explanations considered included personal antipathy towards President Obama and a resentment of Obama's election victory over him. ''The New York Times'' columnist Gail Collins once jested that, "The old John McCain," had been, "kidnapped by space aliens and reprogrammed." In 2018, Liam Stack retrospectively observed in ''The New York Times'' that after the 2008 election, " Tea party anger and opposition to President Obama moved the Republican Party to the right, and after 2008 Mr. McCain moved with it. His positions on issues like border security and climate change hardened in the face of a right-wing primary challenger." Contrarily, there were some political writers who argued that McCain had actually could be viewed as remaining consistent if you applied a different understanding of what McCain's guiding principles were.
Matt Welch Matthew Lee Welch (born July 31, 1968) is an American blogger, journalist, author, and libertarian political pundit. Early life Welch was born on July 31, 1968 in Bellflower, California. He was raised in Long Beach, California. He attended UC ...
acknowledged that McCain had made a series of "crude reversals" in his political positions, but also extrapolated upon his previous analysis of McCain that some of the shifts were actually not inconsistent with McCain's past motivating causes. He argued that some of the changes in positions that McCain had made could actually be explained as being due to McCain's generational military heritage and that, "McCain's core, almost genetic, principle in governance and life is that the United States should remain the unchallenged military superpower keeping the world safe for democracy and commerce." '' The Washington Post'' columnist Ezra Klein wrote that McCain's career is better explained by looking at electoral opportunities and his personal resentments at the time than by political or policy positions. Purdum built on both these themes and wrote that McCain's political self was connected to his past as a warrior, writing, During 2013, several Congressional negotiations showed that McCain now had improved his relations with the Obama administration, including with President Obama himself, as well as with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and that he had become the leader of a power center in the Senate for cutting deals in an otherwise bitterly partisan environment. These negotiations also led some observers to conclude that the "maverick" McCain had returned. Hunt, Albert R.br>"McCain a maverick again"
'' The Miami Herald'' (July 29, 2013). Retrieved August 1, 2013.
Kane, Paul
"John McCain helps avert Senate showdown"
'' The Washington Post'' (July 16, 2013). Retrieved August 1, 2013.
By the end of 2013, journalist
Mark Leibovich Mark Leibovich ( ; born May 9, 1965) is an American journalist and author. He is a staff writer at ''The Atlantic'', and previously spent a decade as the chief national correspondent for ''The New York Times Magazine'', based in Washington, D.C. ...
sought to sum up the John McCain of the moment, and wrote, In 2018, Liam Stack retrospectively wrote in ''The New York Times'' that, some time after winning reelection in 2010, McCain, "returned to bipartisanship," at a time when, "the political environment became more polarized." Stack noted that McCain, "worked with a bipartisan group of senators, known as the Gang of Eight, in a failed push for immigration reform", and also noted that McCain did not support using the threat of a government shutdown as a means for Republican to push for changes the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...
.


Political image during the Trump administration

McCain had a publicly bad relationship with Donald Trump. Trump had a long history of criticizing McCain. On January 11, 2000, when Trump was making his 2000 presidential campaign, he remarked on McCain's period as a prisoner of war, saying, "he was captured. Does being captured make you a hero? I don’t know. I’m not sure." During his 2016 campaign, July 18, 2015, Trump again made remarks that demeaned McCain's period as a prisoner of war, calling McCain a "loser" and saying, "he’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured". During the Trump administration, McCain challenged his own party on a number of issues. McCain also cast the deciding vote against the American Health Care Act of 2017 (also known as the "skinny repeal" of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), announcing his opposition to the bill with a dramatic
thumbs-down A thumb signal, usually described as a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, is a common hand gesture achieved by a closed fist held with the thumb extended upward or downward in approval or disapproval, respectively. These gestures have become metaphors i ...
during the Senate floor vote on it. With that being said, McCain still voted in line with Trump 83% of the time (including voting to confirm Betsy DeVos, Rex Tillerson, Scott Pruitt, Ben Carson, and Jeff Sessions). By the end of Trump's first year in office, polls showed that McCain had become significantly more popular among Democrats than he was among Republicans and independents.


Posthumous political image

Polling conducted shortly after McCain's death showed him to have greater approval among liberals and moderates than he did among conservatives, and greater approval among those who voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 than among those who had voted for Republican Donald Trump.


Role in the 2020 election

In the
2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...
, Joe Biden was the Democratic Party nominee for president of the United States, running against Republican incumbent Donald Trump. McCain had been close friends with Biden. Their friendship began in the 1970s, when Biden was a new senator and McCain was working as the Navy’s liaison officer to the Senate. They would become colleagues when McCain joined the Senate. The two, of opposing parties, were known to sharply disagree on many issues, but maintained their friendship. In 2008, Biden was elected vice president on the Obama-Biden ticket, which defeated the McCain-Palin ticket. McCain, in planning his
funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
before his death, asked Biden to deliver a eulogy at his funeral, as well as serve as a pallbearer, both of which Biden agreed to do. In 2020, the story of Biden's friendship with McCain was promoted by the Biden campaign. During the
2020 Democratic National Convention The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...
in August 2020, a video segment was shown in which McCain's widow Cindy spoke of Biden's friendship with her late husband. On September 22, Cindy McCain gave her full endorsement to Biden. Cindy McCain would, days later, also join the team planning Biden's potential presidential transition. In October 2020, the Biden campaign began running video advertisements in the state of Arizona which featured Cindy McCain likening Biden to her husband, declaring Biden to be a leader who will, "always fight for the American people, just like John did". In addition to Cindy McCain's support for Biden, a number of ex-staffers of McCain's publicly threw their support behind Biden.
Steve Schmidt Stephen Edward Schmidt (born September 28, 1970) is an American communications and public affairs strategist who worked on Republican political campaigns, including those of President George W. Bush, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
, senior campaign strategist and advisor to McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, was part of the leadership behind the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project and endorsed Biden. In late August 2020, a group of 100 former McCain staffers released a group endorsement of Biden's campaign. This group included individuals such as Mark Salter. Additionally, the Biden campaign itself was not alone in invoking McCain in Arizona campaign ads supporting Biden's candidacy. In late August 2020, the group Republican Voters Against Trump began airing an ad in Arizona which contrasted McCain's acceptance speech at the
2008 Republican National Convention The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008. The first day of the Republican Party's convention fell on Labor Day, the last day of the popul ...
with inflammatory statements made by Trump. In addition to having been friends with Biden, McCain had had a negative relationship with Trump. Even after McCain's death, Trump had continued to issue slights towards him. Cindy McCain's endorsement of Biden, as well as the publicly bad relationship between Donald Trump and John McCain, were speculated to be contributing factors to Biden's narrow victory in the
2020 United States presidential election in Arizona The 2020 United States presidential election in Arizona was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election, in which all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated. Arizona voters chose 11 e ...
, which saw Biden become the first Democratic presidential nominee since
1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
, and only the second since
1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
, to capture McCain's home state. McCain was also invoked by Democrats in other races. Amy McGrath, a Democratic candidate in the
2020 United States Senate election in Kentucky The 2020 United States Senate election in Kentucky was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other ...
ran in an attack ad against the senate seat's Republican incumbent,
Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and retired attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky and the Senate minority leader since 2021. Currently in his seventh term, McConne ...
, which was centered around footage of McCain's vote against the American Health Care Act of 2017. In a tweet, McCain's widow, Cindy McCain, expressed her disapproval of this use of McCain's image, writing that she was "disappointed" that McGrath would use McCain's image to attack McConnell, who she described as having been a "good friend" of McCain's. Cindy McCain also wrote that, "John’s memory should be used promote common ground and civility not to stoke division". McGrath claimed that she had earlier reached out to an unnamed member of the McCain family about the ad and “received encouragement".


Shift of the Arizona Republican Party against McCain's legacy

Since McCain's death, the Arizona Republican Party, which he had for decades been considered the standard bearer of, has moved away from McCain. The state party organization, which was reshaped by Donald Trump and state party chairwoman Kelli Ward (who had challenged McCain in the Republican primary during his 2016 reelection campaign and was elected state party chairwoman in 2019, unseating a McCain ally), openly attacked the legacy of McCain. This shift of the state party against McCain was illustrated in
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
by the rhetoric of Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who associated herself with Donald Trump and spoke negatively about McCain and his politics, Lake had, only years earlier, before her political career, praised McCain as an "icon" and "hero". However, during her gubernatorial run, Lake derided the late senator and his legacy. Days after winning her party's nomination, Lake boasted, "We drove a stake through the heart of the McCain
machine A machine is a physical system using Power (physics), power to apply Force, forces and control Motion, movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to na ...
." At a campaign event days before the general election, Lake remarked, "We don’t have any McCain Republicans in here, do we? Get the hell out!...Arizona has delivered some losers, haven’t they?" Lake was defeated in the general election by Democratic nominee Katie Hobbs.


Posthumous Medal of Freedom

McCain was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022.


Temperament

Journalist
Adam Clymer Adam Clymer (April 27, 1937 – September 10, 2018) was an American journalist. He was a prolific political correspondent for ''The New York Times.'' Career Clymer worked for the ''New York Daily News'' for a short period. Clymer worked for ''T ...
notes of McCain that, "There is no question that he sometimes loses potential allies by his penchant for telling off other senators." Todd Purdum remarks upon a "temperament that routinely put him atop insiders' lists of the most difficult senators on Capitol Hill." A 2006 '' Washingtonian'' survey of
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...
staff ranked McCain as having the second "Hottest Temper" in the Senate. Former Senator Rick Santorum says that, "John was very rough in the sandbox. Everybody has a McCain story. If you work in the Senate for a while, you have a McCain story. ... He hasn't built up a lot of goodwill." Writer
Elizabeth Drew Elizabeth Drew (born November 16, 1935) is an American political journalist and author. Early life Elizabeth Brenner was born on November 16, 1935, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the daughter of William J. Brenner, a furniture manufacturer, and Es ...
quoted a senator who admired McCain as saying, "Dealing with John McCain is kind of like dancing with a cactus." In 1989, McCain screamed at Senator
Richard Shelby Richard Craig Shelby (born May 6, 1934) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Alabama. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 as a Democrat who later switched to the Republican Party in 1994, h ...
an inch from his face, during a heated cabinet nomination battle for McCain's friend John Tower. McCain aide
Mark Salter Mark Salter (born 1955) is an American speechwriter from Davenport, Iowa, known for his collaborations with United States Senator John McCain on several nonfiction books as well as on political speeches. Salter also served as McCain's chief of s ...
challenged the accuracy of other elements of Leahy's article; see
In 1992, McCain and Senator Chuck Grassley got into a heated argument, with shoving and profanities, over a POW/MIA committee issue. They did not speak to each other for two years before reconciling. At a meeting in 2007 on immigration legislation, fellow Republican Senator John Cornyn objected to McCain: "Wait a second here. I've been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You're out of line." McCain replied, "Fuck you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room." McCain had stated: "It is apparent that I'm not the most popular member of the Senate." ''
The Almanac of American Politics ''The Almanac of American Politics'' is a reference work published biennially by Columbia Books & Information Services. It aims to provide a detailed look at the politics of the United States through an approach of profiling individual leaders and ...
'' comments that " cCain'sopposition to what he considers pork barrel spending ... provides him plenty of material for his self-deprecating jokes about how unpopular he is with many colleagues." p. 95. Regarding his temper, or what cultural writer
Julia Keller Julia Keller is an American writer and former journalist. Her awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. Life Keller was born in Huntington, West Virginia and lived there throughout her early life. Her father was a mathematics professo ...
characterizes as passionate conviction, McCain acknowledges it, while also saying that the stories have been exaggerated. Renshon notes that having a temper is not unusual for U.S. leaders, with
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
, Andrew Jackson,
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman,
Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
, and Bill Clinton among those sharing the trait. p. 245: "McCain was not the only candidate or leader to have a temper." McCain employed both profanity and shouting on occasion. Adam Clymer sees McCain's nature as possibly misfit for the Senate: "McCain is an impatient man—perhaps because he lost five years of his life as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam—in an institution that worships delay and rewards endurance." George "Bud" Day, McCain's former POW cellmate and subsequent lifelong friend, found McCain's temperament in the Senate amusingly consistent with his past practice of going around the POW camp, taunting and yelling obscenities at the North Vietnamese guards. p. 297. Phillip Butler, who knew McCain at the Naval Academy and was also a POW with him, said, "John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head." McCain's sometimes explosive temper was an integral part of his somewhat unorthodox, but effective and admired, leadership style when he was
commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...
of the VA-174 naval air squadron in the mid-1970s. Such incidents have become less frequent over the years: "the past few years have seen fewer McCain outbursts, prompting some senators and aides to suggest privately that he is working to control his temper." senators supporting his 2008 presidential campaign said that McCain had calmed down during the 2000s, and reporters have noted almost no flare-ups during the 2008 presidential campaign. Senator Susan Collins, who endorsed McCain in the 2008 primaries on the basis of his character and not his political positions, said, "People tend to feel very strongly about John both ways." Senator Thad Cochran, who has known McCain and the McCain family for decades and has battled McCain over earmarks, represents one view: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me." Ultimately Cochran decided to support McCain for president, after it was clear he would win the nomination. Senator
Joseph Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for Vi ...
, an enthusiastic cross-party 2008 McCain backer, represents the other view with this observation: " cCain'sis not the kind of anger that is a loss of control. He is a very controlled person." Following the election, there have been occasional in-Senate flare-ups, such as during the December 2010 debate over repeal of the U.S. military's " Don't ask, don't tell" policy. Reconciliations were possible too: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had said in 2008, "I can't stand John McCain," but by 2013, after successfully working with him on several negotiations, Reid said, "I worked with him for 31 years. And we've had some pretty difficult times together, but in the 31 years we've worked together, there is no one I have ever worked with that is more a man of his word or a person of his word than John McCain." McCain's relations with his own Senate staff have reflected less tension: doors to his office were usually kept open and staffers called him by his first name.Drew, ''Citizen McCain'', pp. 21–22. Moreover, staffers stayed with his office for an unusually long time, over eight years on average at one point. McCain's senior campaign staff have shown a passionate loyalty towards him, a loyalty that continues even from people forced to leave his campaign after intra-staff squabbles. McCain had many run-ins and heated confrontations with people in Arizona political circles, but a number of them would later become contributors to his political campaigns.


Controversial remarks

The characteristics that led to McCain gaining hundreds of demerits at the Naval Academy have never fully left him; by his own admission, he had an "irremediable" personality trait of being "a wiseass," and as he added: "Occasionally my sense of humor is ill-considered or ill-timed, and that can be a problem." Others have concurred: A 2007 Associated Press story was titled "McCain's WMD Is a Mouth That Won't Quit", while in 2008,
The Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
described McCain's humor as "rooted in a time before there was political correctness" and a characteristic that is viewed either as a mark of authenticity or as out of touch with contemporary mores. Over the years this trait has led to a series of controversial remarks, with targets both domestic and foreign. In 1986, Representative McCain was reported to have joked about a woman enjoying being raped by a gorilla, when speaking at a conference of the National League of Cities and Towns in Washington, D.C. Other reports put the alleged rape joke in 1984 rather than 1986.Bodfield, Rhonda.
"McCain's gaffes no joke as 2000 looms"
''Arizona Daily Star'' (1998-06-16). Retrieved 2008-07-19.
McCain said in the 1980s that he did not recall telling that joke. In his 1986 Senate campaign, at a college appearance he referred to Arizona's Leisure World retirement community as "Seizure World", remarking that in the previous election, "97 percent of the people who live there came out to vote. I think the other 3 percent were in intensive care." While the young audience laughed, his Democratic opponent soon jumped on the remark; McCain would later concede that it was a joke whose offense he made worse when he did not quickly apologize for it. In 1998, McCain made a joke during a speech at a Republican fundraiser about
President Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
's daughter, Chelsea, saying: "Why is
Chelsea Clinton Chelsea Victoria Clinton (born February 27, 1980) is an American writer and global health advocate. She is the only child of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton ...
so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." Attorney General Reno had frequently been portrayed by a male ( Will Ferrell) on national television. And, Chelsea Clinton had frequently been characterized in the media a
"gawky".
/ref> The joke was thought so offensive that many newspapers declined to print it verbatim; McCain's biographer Robert Timberg would characterize it as "an unspeakable thing to say, unworthy of him."Timberg, ''An American Odyssey'', p. 194. McCain subsequently said: "This is the bad boy. It was stupid and cruel and insensitive. I've apologized. I can't take it back." His letter of apology to President Clinton was described as "abject, contrite, and profuse." In response, White House spokesman Mike McCurry said: "To make a further issue of the matter would lend further exposure to an offensive joke. In light of the senator's apology, they he first familydecided to drop the matter." In the 2000 Presidential race, McCain stated that "I hate the gooks," and that "I will hate them as long as I live." Until the year 2000, McCain used the ethnic slur "
gook Gook ( or ) is a derogatory term for people of East and Southeast Asian descent. Its origin is unclear, but it may have originated among U.S. Marines during the Philippine–American War (1899–1902) and Korean War. Historically, U.S. military p ...
" in reference to the individuals who had tortured him in Vietnam, and reaction among Vietnamese Americans to McCain's use of this term was mixed, but they were generally supportive of McCain's candidacy, for example as shown in exit polls in the primary in California. During his presidential campaign that year, he at first refused to apologize for his continued use of the term, stating that he reserved its reference only to his captors; then after continued criticism from some in the
Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
community, McCain vowed to no longer use the term, saying, "I will continue to condemn those who unfairly mistreated us. But out of respect to a great number of people for whom I hold in very high regard, I will no longer use the term that has caused such discomfort." At a VFW Hall in South Carolina in 2007, a veteran asked when the U.S. would "send an air mail message to Iran." McCain jokingly responded by singing "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran," to the tune of The Beach Boys' " Barbara Ann" (from the 1980 "Bomb Iran" song parody by Vince Vance & The Valiants), and then seriously explained his concerns about Iran while stopping short of a bombing endorsement. When later asked about the singing, McCain stated, "My response is: lighten up and get a life." Asked whether it was insensitive, McCain retorted, "Insensitive to what? The Iranians?" As a guest on '' The Daily Show'' a few days later in 2007, and following a trip to Baghdad, host and longtime friend
Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...
asked McCain, "What do you want to start with, the bomb Iran song or the walk through the market in Baghdad?" McCain responded by saying, "I think maybe shopping in Baghdad ... I had something picked out for you, too—a little IED to put on your desk." When anti-Iraq-war Democrats objected to the remark, McCain advised that they too, "Lighten up and get a life."


Traditions and family

McCain emphasized the role in his life of the family tradition of service to one's country, as exemplified by his father and grandfather; it was the predominant theme of his 1999 memoir '' Faith of My Fathers''. Both his forebears had difficulty coping with the end of war; his grandfather felt listless and died several days after the formal conclusion of World War II, while his father felt despair over his reluctant retirement from the United States Navy and fell into prolonged poor health afterwards.''Worth the Fighting For'', pp. 3–4. McCain felt that his father's "long years of binge drinking" had caught up with him, despite his mostly successful subsequent recovery in
Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...
. McCain had been troubled by the sporadic manifestations of his father's alcoholism while growing up, and Matt Welch saw McCain's experience of living with that, as well as witnessing his wife Cindy's three-year addiction to painkillers in the early 1990s, as causing his speech and writings to be populated with the language and emotions of twelve-step programs. In particular, Welch saw McCain as "disarmingly talented at admitting his narcissistic flaws" and constantly seeking to invest in a cause greater than self-interest. McCain is known for his responses to attacks upon his family. An opponent of his in the 1982 Republican House primary contacted his first wife Carol, seeking negative material on McCain.Timberg, ''An American Odyssey'', pp. 144–145. She refused to discuss her marriage, and then next time McCain met the opponent, he said: "I understand you called my ex-wife. I want you to know that, campaign aside, politics aside, you ever do anything like that again, anything against a person in my family, I will personally beat the shit out of you." The smear campaign against his adopted Bangladeshi daughter during the 2000 South Carolina presidential primary so bothered him that, by some accounts, he considered leaving the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
. The traditions McCain was brought up under have extended to his own family. His son John Sidney IV ("Jack") enrolled at the
U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of ...
and graduated in 2009, after which he went to Naval Air Station Pensacola for training as a
naval aviator Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...
, just as his father had, followed by helicopter pilot training at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, where he graduated from in January 2011. He was subsequently assigned to the HSC-25 "Island Knights" squadron in Guam, flying the MH-60S Knighthawk. His son James ("Jimmy") enlisted in the
U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...
in 2006, began recruit training later that year, and by early 2008 was a Lance Corporal who had served a tour of duty as part of
Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
. He subsequently served a second tour in Iraq as well, then left to attend college, with possible plans to return to the Marines. His daughter Meghan graduated from Columbia University, worked and blogged on his presidential campaign, and subsequently became a blogging, Twittering, and book publishing fixture on the Republican Party scene with some of the same maverick tendencies as her father. His daughter Bridget is a student at
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
. From his first marriage, his son Doug graduated from the University of Virginia, became a Navy A-6E Intruder carrier pilot, then a commercial pilot for American Airlines; his son Andrew is vice president and CFO at Hensley & Co. and chair of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce; and his daughter Sidney is a recording industry executive living in Toronto who has worked for
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
and V2 Records. Altogether he has seven children, born across four decades, including three with Carol—all of whom, , were reported to be on good terms with him, his wife, and each other—and, , four grandchildren. Cindy McCain suffered a stroke in 2004 due to
high blood pressure Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...
, but made a mostly full recovery. They resided in Phoenix, and she remains the chair of the large Anheuser-Busch beer and liquor distributor Hensley & Co., founded by her father. By September 2007, McCain's denominational migration was complete, and he was identifying himself as a Baptist. More broadly, he identified himself as a
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
rather than an evangelical Christian. Most people know him as being a maverick in the political arena, but he was also a friend of ISKCON devotees. He used to greet them with saying "Hare Krishna!", and accepted copies of Bhagavad-gita As It Is and sacred garlands from them on several occasions.


References

{{John McCain John McCain Mccain, John