The late Senator John McCain was considered a “maverick” for his commitment to truth, commitment to morals and commitment to the American people. His words evoke emotions of both pride and patriotism and will be a lasting aspect of his legacy for generations of Americans to come.
“Depriving the oppressed of a beacon of hope could lose us the world we have built and thrived in. It could cost our reputation in history as the nation distinct from all others in our achievements, our identity and our enduring influence on mankind. Our values are central to all three.”
“I learned to love very dearly the right of free expression when I lived without that freedom.”
“I have served America’s cause — the cause of our security and the security of our friends, the cause of freedom and equal justice – all my adult life. I haven’t always served it well. I haven’t even always appreciated what I was serving. But among the few compensations of old age is the acuity of hindsight. I see now that I was part of something important that drew me along in its wake even when I was diverted by other interests. I was, knowingly or not, along for the ride as America made the future better than the past.”
“We are taught to understand, correctly, that courage is not the absence of fear, but the capacity for action despite our fears.”
“Our shared values define us more than our differences. And acknowledging those shared values can see us through our challenges today if we have the wisdom to trust in them again.”
“In prison, I fell in love with my country. I had loved her before then, but like most young people, my affection was little more than a simple appreciation for the comforts and privileges most Americans enjoyed and took for granted. It wasn’t until I had lost America for a time that I realized how much I loved her.”
“It is foolish to view realism and idealism as incompatible or to consider our power and wealth as encumbered by the demands of justice, morality and conscience.”
“The moral values and integrity of our nation, and the long, difficult, fraught history of our efforts to uphold them at home and abroad, are the test of every American generation. Will we act in this world with respect for our founding conviction that all people have equal dignity in the eyes of God and should be accorded the same respect by the laws and governments of men? That is the most important question history ever asks of us.”
John McCain was an exemplary role model of leadership in America, showing grace and decency in the face of successes and defeats. Though the Senator is now passed, the impact of his words, actions and courageous feats are not.