Books by the U.S. Senator from Arizona:
Worth Fighting For
Faith of My FathersFaith of My Fathers, John McCain's first memoir, provides a glimpse into the world of an American naval family through the conduit of Senator McCain's experiences as a naval aviator and later, POW during the Vietnam War. The running theme of the book is Senator McCain's relationship with his father and grandfather and how the "best traditions of the U.S. Navy," embodied by these men, animated the most crucial decisions of his early life and military career. As such, large portions of the narrative are devoted to discussing the family's history of service to the United States. —Maxwell Bryer
Faith of My Fathers
by John McCain
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| John S. McCain Sr. | Although the McCain family is described as having served the United States in every war dating back to the Revolution, the story begins in earnest with Senator McCain's grandfather, John Sidney McCain Sr. The McCain patriarch entered the Navy by a fluke, having originally intended to go to West Point. The senior McCain come to prominence in the Second World War where he commanded all land-based naval aircraft during the early phases of the conflict, and later, the massive Fast Carrier Task Force at the Battle of Leyte Gulf — the largest naval engagement in history. Admiral McCain was beloved by his men for his eccentric appearance and character. He was seen as the epitome of the superstitious, "old salt." His distinctive, crushed, officer's cap was regarded by his men as a good luck talisman. Admiral McCain was also regarded as a supremely sensitive commander. "Whenever a pilot was lost," said a fellow officer, "it seemed like a personal loss to him and it took a lot out of him." (p. 15) |
| John S. McCain Jr. | John S. McCain Jr. was the man who would most influence the young John McCain's life. He was enrolled by his father in the U.S. Naval Academy at the young age of 16, surviving the exacting plebe year through the help of his watchful roommates who "treated him like a younger brother and went to great lengths to protect him." (p. 56) Deemed physically unfit for aviation — his specialty of choice — McCain Jr. instead chose the Submarine Service, in which he would skipper a number of boats throughout World War II, notably, the U.S.S. Gunnel. Like his father, McCain Jr. was respected by his fellow officers and practically idealized by his enlisted men as a true sailor's sailor. After the war, McCain would eventually rise to one of the most coveted commands in the U.S. Military, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific (CINCPAC), a position he would occupy during the latter years of America's involvement in Vietnam. |
| The Academy | John McCain sees himself throughout his memoir as occupying a place in the storied traditions of his family. Although his father "never ordered me to attend the Naval Academy," Senator McCain describes his eventual enrollment as "an immutable fact of life," accepted "without comment." (p. 110-111) Although he had perpetually poor grades and was notorious for open contempt of the Academy's strict regulations, Senator McCain makes clear that from the very beginning, he bought wholeheartedly into the traditions and spirit of the Navy. |
| Combat | Eager to stand alongside the achievements of his father and grandfather in combat, McCain requested transfer to a Vietnam-bound squadron: "More than professional considerations lay beneath my desire to go to war. Nearly all the men in my family had made their reputations at war. It was my family's pride. I wanted to go to Vietnam, and to keep faith with the family creed." (p. 162) Serving as an A-4 Skyhawk pilot aboard the U.S.S. Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin, McCain was a survivor of the infamous fire that claimed the lives of over 134 men. When the Forrestal was sent home for repairs, McCain volunteered to join another attack squadron on board the U.S.S. Oriskany instead. It was serving on this ship, during his 23rd mission over North Vietnam on October 26, 1967, that McCain's plane was shot down over the capital city of Hanoi. |
| Imprisonment | The remainder of the memoir concerns itself with McCain's internment in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" and "Plantation" prison camps, from 1967 through 1973. Because of the undeniable propaganda value of having captured the son of "a big admiral", McCain remembers "my captors were more careful not to permanently injure or disfigure me than they were with other prisoners." (p. 194) McCain describes the daily life in the prison camp, detailing everything from meal times, rare letters from home, the random interrogations and the innumerable ways in which the POWs managed to communicate with one another. Communication became the most essential element in survival in the camps — "the sounds of a human voice was an emblem of humanity to a man held at length in solitary confinement." (p. 212) More than patriotism or religion, McCain identifies the faith and support of comrades as a powerful motivating force to keep the POWs from caving in to the unspeakable pressure of the camps: "I was afraid to fail my friends. I was afraid to come back from an interrogation and tell them I couldn't hold up as they had." (p. 256) |
| The Offer | Perhaps the defining moment of the narrative comes when McCain is offered a deal by his Vietnamese captors in June of 1968 to return home in a show of amnesty towards the U.S. McCain identifies acceptance of the offer — tempting though it may be — as a betrayal of the bond he has formed with his fellow POWs, the POW code — which forbids making deals with the enemy — and more importantly, an abandonment of the principles for which his father and grandfather stood. Feeling unable to face his father after attaining freedom by any but the most honorable means, McCain rejected the offer. As he said to a fellow prisoner: "They'll tell all of you, 'We let McCain go because his father's an admiral. But your father's not and we don't give a damn about you.' And I don't want to go home and see my father, and he wouldn't want to see me under those conditions." (p. 235-36) |
| In Conclusion | Faith of my Fathers, published in 1999, is undeniably a book motivated by Senator McCain's desire to attain the Presidency. In hopes of appealing to all whilst offending none, Faith neither questions America's involvement in Vietnam, nor berates those who would. McCain "forgives" those who protested against the war, even those who went so far as to travel to North Vietnam to do so, claiming that life is too short to hold such grudges. The memoir is patriotic, but not jingoistic, neither right-wing nor left. It recounts war and imprisonment, but only in the most mundane terms — the passages that should cause the reader to recoil in horror, which one would expect from a story of war and captivity, are conspicuously absent. McCain's allegiance to the traditions of the Navy, the legacy of his father and grandfather and, by extension, the United States itself is presented simultaneously as consequence of fate and a matter of choice. |
