The United States has lost one of its greatest servicemen and also one of its most respected politicians this past week. John McCain died Saturday after battling brain cancer for more than a year. He was 81 years old.
He was outspoken in many ways on how to run a country and get citizens into efforts to make it a better place in which to live. His irreplaceable smile gave him a lot of backers in his country even though he failed to become their president. He was elected to the Senate six times but lost in efforts to win the presidency of the country twice, the last time to Democrat Barack Obama.
He was a member of a decorated military family who became chairman of the Armed Services Committee. He has been quoted as saying that he wanted to be remembered that he “made a major contribution to the defense of the nation.”
He was born in 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone where his father was stationed in the military. He followed his father and grandfather where he enrolled.
In October of 1967, he entered his 23rd bombing round when was shot out of the sky on a bombing round over North Vietnam and taken prisoner. He later wrote that he was spared the worst of the abuse issued because his father was a well-known admiral, which he later wrote about in one of his books.
After losing in his last race as president, he returned to the Senate and continued with his well-spoken words about how the country should be run in an effective way. After service in the Senate, McCain became a reformer for reforming campaign donations. He did not approve pork barrel spending for pet projects of legislators and spoke out against them.
His experience as a POW made him a major force against torture. And many of his efforts in that respect were made at times when he was allied with Democrats.
“After service in the Senate, McCain became a reformer for reforming campaign donations.”
Ask Hillary how that campaign donation reform worked out for her.