The absolutely remarkable life of John McCain

McCain has been part of collective national consciousness for the better part of the last five decades — ever since his capture and ultimate release five years later (in March 1973) from a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp. The stories of his torture at the hands of the Vietnamese were — and are — excruciating. His unwillingness to use his status — his father was an admiral in the Navy — to gain early release from the camp exemplifies a selflessness and sacrifice most of us can’t even begin to imagine.

Slowly but surely, McCain began to build a national profile in the wake of that scandal — and heavily influenced by it. Having flown too close to the line between money and politics, McCain was reborn as a committed reformer, with campaign finance reform as his main priority.

Presidential run

But McCain caught lightning in a bottle in a way that can only happen in the swirl of a presidential primary campaign. Riding around New Hampshire in a bus dubbed the “Straight Talk Express,” McCain became the ringmaster of a compelling political circus — holding court for hours on end with reporters and aides about whatever topic anyone could think of.

It was a political campaign the likes of which seemed to only ever exist in the movies; an exuberant, upstart campaign that played free and loose because the candidate knew he had nothing to lose.

When McCain crushed Bush by 18 points in New Hampshire, he looked and sounded every bit the giant killer — the maverick who had beaten the Man. Reality hit back hard in the South Carolina primary, which is still seen as one of the nastiest races ever conducted. McCain’s loss to Bush there effectively ended his insurgent bid and left him deeply embittered toward Bush and the Republican Party that had rallied against him.

McCain found a silver lining — as he always seems to do — using his newfound national profile to push through comprehensive campaign finance reform — against the wishes of almost everyone in his party — in 2002.

By 2004, McCain had shelved the enmity between he and President Bush and campaigned hard for the president’s re-election against then Sen. John Kerry — a move that won over many rank-and-file Republicans who had been leery of McCain’s outspoken outsider campaign. When the country started to turn on the Iraq War, McCain encouraged Bush to surge troops back in — a key decision for his formal rival and the nation.

Lots of politicians — heck, most of them — would have given up. McCain just kept getting on those southwest flights to Manchester, New Hampshire. Relentlessly, he began to, again, build himself back up in the state that had launched his first presidential campaign. New Hampshire again went for McCain — and this time he used it as a springboard to catapult himself to the nomination.

That convincing defeat ended McCain’s chances of being president. But it began this most recent phase of his life — as a statesman.

The regard with which McCain is held within the Senate — and politics more generally — was reflected in the encomiums offered to him. Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden praised him. So did Ted Cruz and Nancy Pelosi.

Kerry, his former rival, used the Teddy Roosevelt quote, “a man in the arena,” to describe McCain. It’s one of the Arizonan’s favorites. He used it for one of his best TV ads of the 2000 campaign.

McCain, as he was the first to tell anyone who asks, was not a perfect politician. He sacrificed principle in favor of politics at times. He said things in the heat of the moment he regretted later. His story is not “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” He is someone who sacrificed much for the country and to whom the country has given much in return.

His story is truly amazing not because he did everything right or because everything went his way. He didn’t. And it didn’t. His story is amazing because his life isn’t about a steady ascent to the top. It is about a series of falls, missteps and hurdles — none of which he allowed to beat him.

McCain isn’t a man who was never knocked down. He’s a man who just kept getting up.