Civility, Courage, Integrity: John McCain's 'Old Fashioned' Values Will Never Grow Old

The airwaves will be filled with tributes to Senator John McCain (1936-2018) in the days to come.  And rightly so.  McCain was one of the bravest, most decent and honorable political leaders of our time. As a Republican Senator for over four decades, many disagreed with his politics but few ever doubted his values or questioned his integrity.

McCain was exceptional in many ways. As a young Navy pilot, he found himself in a situation impossible to prepare for: held captive by the North Vietnamese for five years during which time he was tortured and faced deprivation and humiliation few could imagine. Yet when he was given the option for early release by his captors at the 'Hanoi Hilton,' he turned it down.  It went against his conscience to do anything that might provide positive publicity for an enemy force. 

Later on, as a politician, McCain continued to be guided not only by a strong sense of duty, but a deep sense of right and wrong.  He was never willing to surrender his self-respect for self-interest, or party interest. Time and time again, most recently in voting against party lines and his closest political friends on the Affordable Care Act, his actions reflected the value he placed on doing what he felt was right for the people over right for his party. Such actions didn't always earn him accolades but they earnt him respect. 

It is not the intention of this column to list all of McCain's many accomplishments or detail the challenges, triumphs, and tragedies of his life. At eighty-one years of age when his battle with brain cancer ended yesterday, he had many of them all.  Rather, I hope to shine a spotlight on the values he lived by and issue a siren call to our political leaders to return to them. As politically divided as American has become, there is a deep hunger that transcends partisan lines, and indeed, divisions the world over, for those in positions of power to act with the moral courage, human decency and civility of Senator John McCain. 

In this 'fake news' era where divisive and denigrating rhetoric has reached new heights, civility and decency are often referred to as 'old-fashioned' values. Yet they have never been more needed or relevant to the challenges being faced within the United States and around the world.  McCain's moral courage is in short supply in Washington these days; in short supply in halls of power the world over.