Worth the Fighting For: A Memoir

Military Review, Jan-Feb, 2004 by James H. Willbanks

WORTH THE FIGHTING FOR: A Memoir, John McCain with Mark Salter, Random House Audio Books, NY, 2002, 5 CDs, 5 hours, $25.95.

Worth the Fighting For: A Memoir is a continuation of Senator John McCain's best-selling memoir, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir (Perennial, NY, 2000), which concluded in 1972 when McCain was released after 5-1/2 years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. With the help of Mark Salter, McCain finishes his story, covering his journey from the U.S. Navy to his run for the presidency.

On McCain's return from Vietnam, he regains his health and resumes his naval career, commanding carrier pilots, and serving as the Navy's liaison to the U.S. Senate. He accompanied such Senatorial luminaries as John Tower, Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson, and Morris Udall, learning valuable lessons that would later serve him well. In 1986 McCain was elected to the U.S. Senate from the State of Arizona, inheriting the seat of another of his role models, Barry Goldwater.

During his time in public office, McCain saw acts of principle and acts of craven self-interest. He describes both extremes with his characteristic unflinching straight talk and humor. He writes that the "Keating Five" savings and loan scandal was the lowest point in his political career. He also describes his triumphant moments: his return to Vietnam and his efforts to normalize relations between the U.S. and Vietnamese governments; his fight for campaign finance reform; and his bid for the presidency in 2000.

Throughout his discussions, McCain is refreshingly candid, even admitting that he attempted to deceive the voters in South Carolina during his presidential campaign when he took an equivocal stance on the State's display of the Confederate flag, a position he later renounced. He also berates himself for speaking recklessly and letting his temper get the best of him.

McCain provides portraits of the mavericks who have inspired him--Ted Williams, Theodore Roosevelt, Billy Mitchell, and even Robert Jordan, Ernest Hemingway's protagonist in For Whom the Bell Tolls (Scribner's, New York, 1940). McCain says that these lives demonstrate the ideals of heroism and sacrifice, stoicism, and redemption, and why certain causes, despite the costs, are worth fighting for.

McCain quotes a conservative critic who wrote, "Politics is so personal for McCain. It's all a matter of honor and integrity. That's the sum total of his politics." To this assertion, McCain responds, "If that's the worst that can be said about my public career, I'll take it, with appreciation."

Regardless of whether or not you like McCain, this is a revealing, engaging book by a political insider who tells us a lot about the current political scene, although not much about McCain himself.

LTC James H. Willbanks, USA, Retired, Leavenworth, Kansas