Politics/Opinions

John Sidney McCain, III, (1936 – 2018)

 

 

 

 

 

John Sidney McCain, III, (1936 – 2018)

Senator John McCain of Arizona has been laid to rest on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy, where his career as a naval officer began. Known as a “maverick” for his bucking of party ideology and as one who had no qualms about working with the other side of the aisle to get things done, was well respected, except by Donald Trump, who was out bowling (bone spur therapy?) while McCain was risking his life in Vietnam.

Granted, he made some unwise decisions while in the Senate, but his support for veterans, while other Republican senators were cutting benefits, was personal. While some senators, both Democrat and Republican supported the use of “enhanced interrogations” (torture), he was firmly opposed. Many times he went against party dogma when he felt it was the right thing to do for the people of the United States.

John Sidney McCain, a president that never was but could have been, had he not chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate; arguably the biggest mistake of his political life.

So now we say good bye to an honorable man, who stood by his principles, right or wrong, as only he could do. He had the guts to stand up to the current and dishonorable man in the White House, while others in his party pandered and continue to do so. Had there been more John McCains in the House and Senate, of both parties, the United States and the American people would be in a much better place today.

Courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office:

McCAIN, John Sidney, III, a Senator and a Representative from Arizona; born in Panama Canal Zone, August 29, 1936; attended schools in Alexandria, Va.; graduated, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. 1958, and the National War College, Washington, D.C. 1973; pilot, United States Navy 1958-1981, prisoner of war in Vietnam 1967-1973; received numerous awards, including the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and Distinguished Flying Cross; elected as a Republican in 1982 to the Ninety-eighth Congress; reelected to the Ninety-ninth Congress in 1984 and served from January 3, 1983, to January 3, 1987; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1986; reelected in 1992, 1998, 2004, 2010, and 2016, and served from January 3, 1987, until his death; chair, Committee on Indian Affairs (One Hundred Fourth Congress; One Hundred Ninth Congress), Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (One Hundred Fifth through One Hundred Sixth Congresses, One Hundred Seventh Congress [January 20, 2001-June 6, 2001], One Hundred Eighth Congress), Committee on Armed Services (One Hundred Fourteenth and One Hundred Fifteenth Congresses); was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000; was an unsuccessful Republican nominee for President of the United States in 2008; died on August 25, 2018.

Image credit: U.S. Senate Historical Office

 

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