Page 30 - Time Magazine, Sep. 17, 2018

Nation

honor never mentioned the President’s
name, but they didn’t need to. “He was APPRECIATION
honorable,” Bush said, “always recog- The true legends
nizing that his opponents were still pa-
triots and human beings. Obama joked of John McCain
that McCain would have sniggered about By James Stavridis
the scene he had engineered. “What bet-
ter way to get a last laugh than to make AS A MIDSHIPMAN at the U.S. Naval alignment with the Senator, it could
George and I say nice things about him Academy in the 1970s, I had my be a rough sea to sail. Although he
to a national audience?” first close-up look at John McCain. I was the son and grandson of four-star
It was a tableau from a bygone era. For- was part of a small group privileged admirals, when he was grilling you in
mer Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio, a Re- to meet with him when he visited testimony, you would swear he was
publican, and the Senate’s No. 2 Demo- Annapolis. We knew about the Hanoi the progeny of drill sergeants. No one
crat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, embraced Hilton, of course—but truth be told, could lead a witness like McCain,
near the cathedral’s south entrance. Dem- we were much more impressed by and his knowledge of the issues was
ocratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Schumer everything he had gotten away with at unparalleled.
crossed the grand space to warmly greet the academy. Overseas, he was regarded as
their onetime archenemy Bush. For the We all knew he graduated at just a fundamental plank in the trans-
moment, on this humid Saturday morn- about the absolute bottom of his atlantic bridge. Not only was he a
ing, official Washington took its stage di- class of 899, and we loved how he lion of the Senate, he was also a
rection from McCain one last time. skated on the edge of expulsion. post–Cold War champion of NATO,
Yet it was lost on no one that the val- Clearly the objection to authority and the alliance is a little less secure
ues on display at McCain’s service are was a central organizing feature in its footing today. American allies
hard to find elsewhere in Washington. of his life. No one “went over the across the globe will miss his deep
At this moment in our politics, McCain wall” (as in, violated curfew) more understanding of the importance of
our network of allies, partners and
than Midshipman McCain. No one
was an anachronism. “We shall not see racked up more demerits. No one friends—and his willingness to call
his like again,” former Vice President Joe dated more women. He was a Naval out the current churlish President.
Biden, a Delaware Democrat who devel- Academy legend long before he was All of that matters in under-
oped a close friendship with McCain in a Navy legend or a national legend, standing the man. But what is
the Senate, said during a memorial ser- and those of us who wear the ring of most important to me about John
vice in Phoenix earlier in the week. Annapolis will always claim him as McCain is how well he represented
Even younger colleagues who ad- that academy legend first. the seemingly forgotten center in
mired McCain, Biden said, weren’t sure Later, in the early 1990s, when I American politics. McCain could see
what to make of him. “They look at him was serving as a destroyer captain both east and west, but he resolutely
as if John came from another age, that for the first time in Norfolk, Va., I was followed his own compass. There are
he lived by a different code, an ancient, informed he would be visiting my precious few in the American body
antiquated code—where honor, cour- brand-new warship, the U.S.S. Barry. politic who could claim that so truly
age, character, integrity, duty were what When he addressed my crew, I was as McCain, and we are poorer for his
mattered. Because that was obvious how deeply impressed—he had them passing in that regard above all else.
John lived his life. But the truth is, John’s alternatively in awe, in stitches at his For all the times that he flayed me
code was ageless.” one-liners and ultimately inspired by in testimony or that I disagreed with
Perhaps that can give McCain’s admir- his life and experiences. As a result of an aspect of his views, I deeply honor
ers some lasting solace after his death. horrific treatment at the Hanoi Hilton, his long voyage and all that he stood
Absent as his code may be in Washing- he could not raise his arms above his for. He sailed true north through a
head. But he never had
long and vital life, and I hope to see
ton today, it will survive him and Trump a problem raising his him again across that distant
alike. And like McCain’s life, it will con- voice. Even when his sea we all must sail one day.
tinue to inspire.  terminal illness put him
in a wheelchair, you Admiral Stavridis (ret.) was
READMORE never had a problem the 16th SupremeAllied
knowing where John
Commander at NATO and is
Former Vietnam POWs share memories McCain stood. an operating executive at
Later in my career, I
of McCain: time.com/mccain-pow ROCCO MORABITO —JACKSONVILLE JOURNAL/AP testified before him many the Carlyle Group
John McCain: A Patriot’s times. Some of these Lieut. Commander
McCain waves to
appearances were a
Life, 1936–2018, a new walk in the park. But well-wishers on
Time Inc. Books special
edition, looks back at when you were not in March 18, 1973
the Senator’s life ▶