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CHAPTER 1

THE MAKING OF A MAVERICK

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT that a man who graduated fifth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy would go on to become a POW hero and the Republican nominee for president [in 2008]? Anyone who ever met John McCain and his maverick spirit!

A six-term senator from Arizona, McCain was outspoken even from the start of his political career. He continued to raise his voice over decades in office on many issues, including foreign policy, human rights, climate change, campaign finance reform, and pork-barrel spending. Rather than towing the line, he quickly earned a reputation as a straight shooter not afraid to challenge his own party. In 1983, he called for the withdrawal of U.S. Marines from Lebanon. Decades later, he challenged President Trump and Republican attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He's respected for crossing political divides and lauding the achievements of men and women "across the aisle." [Consider his bromance with Joe Biden.]

The secret to his success, according to John: growing up surrounded by people who placed a high value on character and honor. [Both McCain's father and paternal grandfather rose to four-star admirals.] McCain has also credited how much he learned from the most challenging experiences of his life — including surviving 51/2 years [31/2 of those in solitary confinement] as a POW in Vietnam. McCain earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Distinguished Flying Cross. But he said the greatest prizes of his service were the bonds formed between him and his fellow POWs.

Even after his diagnosis of aggressive brain cancer, McCain continued working between treatments, relying on thankfulness for each day and service to his country to keep him strong. Rarely speechless, McCain responded to his prognosis, "I just said, 'I understand. Now we're going to do what we can, get the best doctors we can find, and do the best we can.' And at the same time celebrate with gratitude a life well-lived." Let McCain's words of wisdom inspire you to call out the truth, invest yourself in the fight to keep American ideals alive, bridge divisions, and live a life of honorable service to country and others.

FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY

In prison, I fell in love with my country. I had loved her before then, but like most young people, my affection was little more than a simple appreciation for the comforts and privileges most Americans enjoyed and took for granted. It wasn't until I had lost America for a time that I realized how much I loved her.

Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir

What a privilege it is to serve this BIG, BOISTEROUS, BRAWLING, INTEMPERATE, STRIVING, DARING, BEAUTIFUL, BOUNTIFUL, BRAVE, MAGNIFICENT country.

Remarks at the 2017 Liberty Medal Ceremony, October 16, 2017

Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be. We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives.

Announcing his entry into the 2008 U.S. presidential race, on Late Show with David Letterman, February 2007

I BELIEVE IN AMERICANS. We're capable of better. I've seen it. We're hopeful, compassionate people.

Address to Naval Academy graduates, October 30, 2017

Sacrifices made by veterans deserve to be memorialized in something more lasting than marble or bronze, or in the fleeting effect of a politician's speeches.

Commemorating Veterans Day, November 10, 2017

TO FEAR THE WORLD we have organized and led for three-quarters of a century ... for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history.

Remarks at the 2017 Liberty Medal Ceremony, October 16, 2017

I call on all Americans ... to not despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Concession speech, November 8, 2008

I BELIEVE DEEPLY IN THE GREATNESS OF AMERICA'S DESTINY AND IN THE GOODNESS OF OUR CAUSE.

Speech declaring candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, September 28, 1999

I've seen Americans make sacrifices for our country and her causes and for people who were strangers to them but for our common humanity, SACRIFICES THAT WERE MUCH HARDER THAN THE SERVICE ASKED OF ME.

Address to Ohio Wesleyan University, May 11, 1996

Ultimately, America's greatest strength comes from the values of our society ... our commitment to truth over falsehood, fairness over injustice, freedom over oppression, and the immortal spirit of humankind.

Remarks at the U.S. Studies Center in Sydney, Australia, May 30, 2017

With all our flaws, all our mistakes, with all the frailties of human nature as much on display as our virtues, with all the rancor and anger of our politics, WE ARE BLESSED.

Remarks at the 2017 Liberty Medal Ceremony, October 16, 2017

BUT AS BLESSED AS WE ARE, no nation complacent in its greatness can long sustain it.

Address at Jacksonville, Florida, April 3, 2008

We are living in the land of the free ... the land where a person can escape the consequences of a self-centered youth and know the satisfaction of sacrificing for an ideal, the land where you can go from aimless rebellion to a noble cause, and from the bottom of your class to your party's nomination for president.

Remarks at the 2017 Liberty Medal Ceremony, October 16, 2017

WE ARE AMERICANS FIRST, AMERICANS LAST, AND AMERICANS ALWAYS.

Speech at the Republican National Convention, August 30, 2004

Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone.

Concession speech, November 8, 2008

Among the few compensations of old age is the acuity of hindsight. I see now that I was part of something important ... along for the ride as America made the future better than the past.

Remarks at the 2017 Liberty Medal Ceremony, October 16, 2017

I OWE AMERICA MORE THAN SHE HAS EVER OWED ME.

Speech declaring candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, September 28, 1999

THE GOOD FIGHT

Nothing in life is more liberating than to fight for a cause larger than yourself, something that encompasses you but is not defined by your existence alone.

Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir

I don't mind a good fight. For reasons known only to God, I've had quite a few tough ones in my life. But I learned an important lesson along the way: IN THE END, IT MATTERS LESS THAT YOU CAN FIGHT. WHAT YOU FIGHT FOR IS THE REAL TEST.

Speech at the Republican National Convention, September 4, 2008

THE ARC OF HISTORY DOES NOT BEND INEVITABLY TOWARD JUSTICE. AS ALWAYS, THAT IS UP TO US.

Remarks at the U.S. Studies Center in Sydney, Australia, May 30, 2017

I know what courage looks like. I know what it can do. I know its different expressions. I think I know what it costs.

Why Courage Matters

IN AMERICA, we change things that need to be changed. Each generation makes its contribution to our greatness.

Speech at the Republican National Convention, September 4, 2008

Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.

Concession speech, November 8, 2008

Courage is not the absence of fear BUT THE CAPACITY TO ACT DESPITE OUR FEARS.

Why Courage Matters

I've seen America become a more just and prosperous country, coming ever closer to the ideals set down by our founders. I've seen America organize and lead an international order based on liberty, mutual security, free markets, and the rule of law that liberated millions upon millions from tyranny and poverty. But we need only look back upon my own lifetime to understand how hard-fought those victories were.

Address to Naval Academy graduates, October 30, 2017

We can admire virtue and abhor corruption sincerely, but without courage we are corruptible.

Why Courage Matters

IT IS NO EASY THINGBEING TRULY BRAVE.

Why Courage Matters

I HAVE AN ACUTE, MUCH TOO ACUTE, SENSITIVITY TO ABUSES OF AUTHORITY.

Worth the Fighting For

If we take up the mantle of reviving the universal liberal values and our national political institutions, WE CAN CHOOSE ORDER OVER CHAOS.

"Words That Matter: Chaos," Medium, December 7, 2017

WE SHOULD ASPIRE TO BEBRAVE, COMPASSIONATE, ANDEXTRAORDINARY W HEN FACING DANGER.

"We Draw Upon the Spirit of the Granite Mountain Hotshots," Medium, June 30, 2017

I'm going to fight with every ounce of strength I have, BUT I'M GOING TO KEEP FIGHTING CLEAN, I'M GOING TO KEEP FIGHTING FAIR, AND I'M GOING TO KEEP FIGHTING THE BATTLE OF IDEAS.

Remarks following the South Carolina primary, February 19, 2000

At least with this fight, I KNOW THE ENEMY.

On battling cancer versus surviving as a POW, interview with C-SPAN, October 18, 2017

There's never been a problem Americans couldn't solve. We are the world's leaders, and leaders don't fear change.

Speech at Carnegie Mellon University, April 15, 2008

I AM COUNTING ON YOU TO KEEP THE FAITH, AND NEVER GIVE UP ... never, ever stop fighting for all that is good, and just, and decent about our world, and each other.

Letter to Munich Security Conference, delivered February 17, 2018

STRAIGHT TALK

Senator Obama, I'm not President Bush.If you want to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago.

Final U.S. TV presidential debate, October 15, 2008

I CLAIM NO MORAL SUPERIORITY OVER DONALD TRUMP. I have a long and well-known public and private record for which I will have to answer at the Final Judgment. ... I challenge the nominee to set the example for what our country can and should represent.

Statement regarding Donald Trump's comments about Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq, August 1, 2016

Whether or not we are of the same party, we are not the president's subordinates. WE ARE HIS EQUAL!

Remarks on Senate floor, July 25, 2017

... when I hear the Senate referred to as the world's greatest deliberative body. I'm not sure we can claim that distinction with a straight face today.

Remarks on Senate floor, July 25, 2017

WAR IS WRETCHED BEYOND DESCRIPTION, and only a fool or a fraud could sentimentalize its cruel reality.

Speech to American Red Cross, May 1999

I DON'T BLAME THEM. WHEN YOU ARE IN A WAR AND YOU ARE CAPTURED BY THE ENEMY, YOU CAN'T EXPECT TO HAVE TEA.

On his POW captors, interview with C-SPAN, October 18, 2017

How did we end up here? Why do many Americans ignore our moral and historical knowledge?

Address to Naval Academy graduates, October 30, 2017

LEADERSHIP I S BOTH BURDEN AND PRIVILEGE.

Address to Ohio Wesleyan University, May 11, 1996

The Republican Party I know and love is the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan.

Statement released August 1, 2016

We spent $3 million to study the DNA of bears in Montana. I don't know if that was a paternity issue or a criminal issue.

On wasteful congressional spending, at Saddleback Church Forum, August 2008

HOW DO WE EXPLAIN TO AMERICANS who are risking their lives for us that we could not summon the courage to take some hard votes? How do we explain that we could not come together and work together when it mattered most?

"On Final Passage of the National Defense Authorization Act," Medium, September 18, 2017

I'M OLDER THAN DIRT AND HAVE MORE SCARS THAN FRANKENSTEIN, BUT I'VE LEARNED A FEW THINGS ALONG THE WAY.

Common response when asked about his age

Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the Internet. ... Our incapacity is their livelihood.

Remarks on Senate floor, July 25, 2017

Believe in our country, love our founding truths, honor the sacrifice of our soldiers, be a good citizen, and fly on the damn airplane. That's all I can offer in the way of instruction to people who might feel incapacitated by the threat of terrorism.

Why Courage Matters

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.

Worth the Fighting For

I've had so many people say such nice things about me recently that I think some of you must have me confused with someone else.

Remarks on Senate floor, July 25, 2017

AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE ADMITS FEW SENIOR CITIZENS TO ITS RANKS OF CELEBRATED NONCONFORMISTS. We lack the glamorous carelessness of youth and risk becoming parodies of our younger selves.

Worth the Fighting For

BRIDGING DIVIDES

We have to remind our sons and daughters that we became the most powerful nation on earth by tearing down walls, not building them.

Address to Naval Academy graduates, October 30, 2017

Compromise and working across the aisle have become political liabilities, when they were meant to define our legislative process.

"Words That Matter: Chaos," Medium, December 7, 2017

Whatever the outcome next month, Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country and I congratulate him.

Remarks at the Al Smith Dinner in New York City, October 16, 2008

But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

Speaking of Barack Obama in concession speech, November 8, 2008

Thank you @joebiden & the entire Biden family for serving as an example & source of strength for my own family.

@SenJohnMcCain Twitter, December 13, 2017

The most revered members of this institution accepted the necessity of compromise in order to make incremental progress on solving America's problems and to defend her from her adversaries.

Remarks on Senate floor, July 25, 2017

I hope we can again rely on humility, on our need to cooperate, on our dependence on each other to learn how to trust each other.

Remarks on Senate floor, July 25, 2017

We are asleep in our echo chambers, where our views are always affirmed and information that contradicts them is always fake. We are asleep in our polarized politics, which exaggerates our differences, looks for scapegoats instead of answers, and insists we get all our way all the time from a system of government based on compromise, principled cooperation and restraint. ... IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP.

Address to Naval Academy graduates, October 30, 2017

It shouldn't be beyond us to refrain from substituting character assassination and mean-spiritedness for spirited debate.

"On Vice President Joe Biden and Civility," Medium, June 7, 2016

We have nothing to fear from each other. WE ARE ARGUING OVER THE MEANS TO BETTER SECURE OUR FREEDOM AND PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE. BUT IT SHOULD REMAIN AN ARGUMENT AMONG FRIENDS WHO SHARE AN UNSHAKEN BELIEF IN OUR GREAT CAUSE, AND IN THE GOODNESS OF EACH OTHER.

Speech at the Republican National Convention, August 30, 2004

Instead of rejecting good ideas because we didn't think of them first, LET'S USE THE BEST IDEAS FROM BOTH SIDES. Instead of fighting over who gets the credit, LET'S TRY SHARING IT.

Speech at the Republican National Convention, September 4, 2008

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Excerpted from "Maverick"
by .
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