John McCain was a lot of things to a lot of people. To some, he was the quintessential American hero, a man who survived five and a half years in a North Vietnamese prison camp and came home to serve his country for decades. To others, he was a frustratingly unpredictable "maverick" who seemed to enjoy poking his own party in the eye just as much as he enjoyed debating the opposition. Honestly, it's hard to find a modern political figure who inspired as much genuine respect and intense irritation across the entire political spectrum.
But who was John McCain, really?
He wasn't just a senator from Arizona or a two-time presidential candidate. He was a man defined by a very specific, old-school code of honor that often felt out of place in the hyper-partisan world of 21st-century Washington. He was messy. He was hot-tempered. He was hilarious in a "salty sailor" kind of way. And he was, above all, a man who believed that America was an idea worth more than his own life or his own political career.
The Pilot Who Wouldn't Leave
You've probably heard the story of the "Hanoi Hilton." But the details of what John McCain actually went through there are still staggering. In October 1967, McCain was flying his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam when a missile took off the right wing of his A-4 Skyhawk. He ejected, but the force of it broke both his arms and his right leg.
He plummeted into Truc Bach Lake.
The North Vietnamese pulled him out, but they didn't exactly give him the red-carpet treatment. They bayoneted his foot and smashed his shoulder with a rifle butt. For months, he received almost no medical care. He lost 50 pounds. His hair turned white.
Then came the moment that defined the rest of his life.
The North Vietnamese realized his father was Admiral John S. McCain Jr., the commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific. They offered him an early release for propaganda purposes. It was a "get out of jail free" card. McCain said no. He wouldn't leave until every man captured before him was also released.
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Because of that defiance, the beatings got worse. They broke him. Literally. He eventually signed a "confession" under extreme torture, an act that haunted him for years, even though almost any human being would have done the same. When he finally came home in 1973, he couldn't lift his arms above his head. He never really could again.
Why the "Maverick" Label Stuck
By the time he entered politics in the early '80s, McCain had a reputation for being a bit of a loose cannon. He didn't like being told what to do. This was a guy who graduated near the very bottom of his class at the Naval Academy (894th out of 899 students) because he spent more time partying and racketing up demerits than studying.
In the Senate, this rebellious streak turned into a political brand.
He became the "Maverick" not because he was a liberal—he was actually quite conservative on things like abortion and military spending—but because he would jump the fence whenever his conscience (or his temper) told him to.
- Campaign Finance Reform: He teamed up with Democrat Russ Feingold to pass the McCain-Feingold Act, basically trying to keep "soft money" out of politics. His own party hated it.
- Normalizing Relations with Vietnam: Alongside John Kerry, he pushed to restore ties with the country that had imprisoned him. People called him a traitor for it. He didn't care.
- The Keating Five: He hit a major snag in the late '80s when he was caught up in a corruption scandal involving a savings and loan tycoon. He was cleared of wrongdoing but given a "poor judgment" reprimand. He later said the shame of that scandal drove him to become a reformer.
He was a man of contradictions. He was a fierce hawk who supported the Iraq War until the end, yet he was the Senate’s loudest voice against the use of torture on detainees. He saw his own country’s honor at stake in how it treated its enemies.
The 2008 Election and the Sarah Palin Gamble
Most people remember 2008 as the year of "Hope and Change" and Barack Obama's historic rise. But for McCain, it was a brutal, uphill battle. He was 71 years old, trying to succeed a deeply unpopular George W. Bush, and the economy was cratering.
In a move that changed American politics forever, he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate.
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It was a classic McCain move: high-risk, impulsive, and designed to shake up the system. It worked for a few weeks, then it didn't. Many historians now see that choice as the "Patient Zero" moment for the populist, anti-establishment wave that eventually led to the rise of Donald Trump—a man McCain would later come to despise.
But there’s one moment from that campaign that people still talk about. At a town hall, a woman called Obama "an Arab" and said she didn't trust him. McCain took the microphone back. He shook his head. "No, ma'am," he said. "He’s a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues."
In 2026, looking back at that moment feels like looking at a different planet.
The Final "Thumbs Down"
If you want to know who was John McCain at his core, you look at July 28, 2017. He was 80 years old and had just been diagnosed with a terminal, aggressive brain cancer. He flew back to D.C. anyway, looking frail and scarred from surgery.
The Republicans were trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The pressure was immense. Trump was tweeting at him. His colleagues were pleading.
McCain walked into the well of the Senate at 1:30 a.m., waited for the room to go silent, and gave a physical thumbs-down.
He killed the bill.
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He didn't do it because he loved Obamacare—he actually spent years campaigning against it. He did it because he hated the way the bill was being rushed through without bipartisan input. He wanted "regular order." He wanted the Senate to actually work the way the Founders intended. It was his final act of defiance against a political system he felt had lost its way.
What Can We Learn From Him Today?
John McCain died on August 25, 2018. He spent his final months planning his own funeral, which was basically a multi-day masterclass in trolling his enemies and celebrating his friends. He asked both George W. Bush and Barack Obama—the two men who beat him for the presidency—to deliver his eulogies.
He wanted to show that you can fight like hell and still be friends.
So, how do you apply the "McCain Method" to your own life or career? It’s not about being a contrarian for the sake of it. It’s about these three things:
- Own your screw-ups. McCain was famous for admitting when he was wrong, whether it was the Keating Five or his early stance on the Confederate flag. Admitting a mistake doesn't make you weak; it makes you credible.
- Find your "North Star." For McCain, it was the idea of "service to a cause greater than self." If you know what you stand for, the daily noise of people screaming at you doesn't matter as much.
- Respect the process. Whether you're in a boardroom or a PTA meeting, don't just try to win. Try to win the right way. Shortcut victories usually don't last.
McCain wasn't a saint. He had a legendary temper and could be incredibly stubborn. But he was real. In a world of focus-grouped politicians and scripted "influencers," he was a man who actually lived a life of consequence. He was the last of the mavericks, and frankly, we could use a few more like him.
Next Steps for You:
If you're interested in the nuances of American leadership, your best bet is to read his memoir, Faith of My Fathers. It’s not your typical boring political book; it’s a raw look at his family’s military history and his time in Vietnam. It gives you a much clearer picture of why he made the choices he did later in life. You might also want to look into the work of the McCain Institute, which continues his focus on human rights and character-driven leadership.