Senator John McCain’s Legacy
United States Senator John McCain, Vietnam War hero and POW, Republican presidential nominee in 2008, committed but pragmatic conservative legislator, has capped a remarkable career with the grace of his departure. He was hardly a saint, but unlike many politicians – and other people – never pretended to be one.
He was at his most eloquent when under duress – in the horrific Hanoi Hilton prison in Vietnam, when he refused any special privilege even though a special torture target of his captors. He was at his best when he went out of his way to praise presidential rival candidate Barack Obama, and when he lost that election and called for national unity. He was at his most inspiring when he faced death calmly and praised his great country and the opportunities Americans enjoy.
Ultimately, while he could be angry, bitter and even mean, but not at the most important times, not when it counted. Finally, he was not a hater.
In 1968, George Wallace provided a disturbing example broadly comparable to Donald Trump’s style today. The segregationist governor of Alabama personified an extreme version of the Southern Democratic Party of the era. During the Kennedy Administration, he melodramatically “stood in the schoolhouse door” to resist federal orders for desegregation.
Wallace’s presidential campaign came close to derailing that presidential election. A relatively small shift of votes in Ohio and Tennessee would have denied an Electoral College majority to either Hubert Humphrey or Richard Nixon, the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, and the U.S. House of Representatives would choose the next president – an arena for maximum mischief by the haters.
Vicious demagogue Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, Republican of Wisconsin, also has similarity to Trump. He cynically exploited the anti-communist fears and hysteria of the early Cold War years, slandering many innocent people.
McCarthy generally did not engage publicly in the gross personal insults of individuals that have become Trump’s stock in trade. That contrast reflects how crude collectively we have become.
Up until a few decades ago, the vulgarity and simple-mindedness of what is termed “reality” television excluded such programming from major media. Now, reality TV is mainstream, and reality TV personalities Sarah Palin and Trump are prominent in our presidential politics, at least this election. Her January endorsement of Trump involved particularly bizarre rhetoric.
When McCarthy attacked the U.S. Army, President Dwight D. Eisenhower saw his opportunity to strike. He guided selection of Army defense counsel Joseph Welch, a brilliant and shrewd advocate, a lethal Boston lawyer clothed as a polite old-fashioned Gentleman. The televised Army hearings began McCarthy’s political destruction.
Declared 2016 presidential candidates included four military veterans: former Governor Jim Gilmore (R-VA), Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) and former Senator Jim Webb (D-VA). Webb is a highly decorated Vietnam combat veteran. All have now withdrawn from contention. We honor our veterans in rhetorical and symbolic terms, but clearly not in the voting booth today.
Give priority to candidates for Congress who have military experience. These women and men understand reality, never to be confused with “reality TV.” Today, FDR’s advice from a far more difficult and dangerous time continues to resonate:
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”