Last week the influential US Republican senator and former presidential candidate John McCain passed away. Mr. McCain served in the Vietnam war, during which his fighter plane was shot down over Hanoi. His capture by the North Vietnamese led to five and a half years of imprisonment and torture. During this time, he rejected the option of early release before some of his fellow soldiers imprisoned with him. After his release from prison in Vietnam, Mr. McCain went on to become a fixture in American politics, leading among other things the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, efforts to improve relations with his former Vietnamese adversaries, bills on campaign finance reform to eliminate corruption, and other initiatives. He was also an ardent supporter of the Kurds, leading the push in 2014 and afterwards to arm the Peshmerga better. Before he died, Mr. McCain has asked that Presidents George W. Bush and Barrack Obama deliver eulogies at his funeral. One should recall that in 2000, Mr. McCain lost a Republican primary race to Mr. Bush, and that in 2008 he lost the presidential election to Mr. Obama. Yet he maintained a very good relationship with both men, full of mutual admiration and respect despite significant differences. The high regard that Mr. McCain held for his political opponents – from both his own party and the Mr. Obama’s Democratic Party – is now being held up as a lesson for all Americans. Upon his electoral defeat to Barack Obama in 2008, John McCain gave a concession speech in which he said “In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans, who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president, is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving…. Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.” In his eulogy at his funeral on Saturday, Mr. Obama in turn observed that: “Much has been said this week about what a maverick John was. In fact, John was a pretty conservative guy. Trust me, I was on the receiving end of some of those votes. But he did understand that some principles transcend politics. Some values transcend party. He considered it part of his duty to uphold those principles and uphold those values. John cared about the institutions of self government, our constitution, our bill of rights, rule of law. Separation of powers. Even the arcane rules and procedures of the senate. He knew that in a nation as big and boisterous and diverse as ours, those institutions, those rules, those norms are what bind us together. Give shape and order to our common life. Even when we disagree. Especially when we disagree. John believed in honest argument and hearing our views. He understood that if we get in the habit of bending the truth to suit political expediency or party orthodoxy, our democracy will not work. That's why he was willing to buck his own party at times. occasionally work across the aisle on campaign finance reform and immigration reform. That's why he championed a free and independent press as vital to our democratic debate.” Most importantly, Mr. Obama stressed that “…we never doubted the other man's sincerity or the other patriotism or that when all was said and done, we were on the same team. We never doubted we were on the same team.” John McCain was far from perfect, of course, with a reputation for a temper and a sense of humor that often landed him in trouble. Nor was Mr. McCain willing to maintain a relationship with or loyalty to leaders he believed placed their own interests above the national interest – which is why he requested that current US president Donald Trump, who is also a Republican, not be present at his ceremony. Tensions between McCain and Trump remained intense and open until the end. The acrimony between McCain and Trump was the exception rather than the rule, however. It took a great deal indeed to make John McCain doubt the sincerity and motives of a fellow American political leader. In that, not only Americans but other divided nations may find an important lesson. “Playing politics with the national interest” remains one of the biggest sins leaders or followers can commit. David Romano has been a Rudaw columnist since 2010. He holds the Thomas G. Strong Professor of Middle East Politics at Missouri State University and is the author of numerous publications on the Kurds and the Middle East. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
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