When Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) left this life over the weekend, he left a final message for the country that he spent much of his life serving. The letter was read aloud by Rick Davis, McCain’s former campaign manager who is currently acting as a spokesman for the family.
As with many conservatives, I had a love-hate relationship with Sen. McCain. I disagreed with McCain regularly on the issues, but never disrespected the man or doubted his sincerity or his love for his country.
Senator McCain’s devotion to America was written in the blood, sweat and tears that dropped to the floor of the Hanoi Hilton during his almost six years as a prisoner of war. Then-Lt. Cmdr. McCain refused early release when the Vietnamese offered to let him go due to his father’s rank and position in the Navy, choosing instead to remain and be tortured until the Americans captured before him had been released.
Whatever else can be said about John McCain, he was an American hero and he was not a bullshitter. That makes Senator McCain’s last testament to the American people all the more beautiful and touching.
Here is Senator John McCain’s last message to America, as read by Rick Davis, in its entirety:
My fellow Americans, whom I have gratefully served for 60 years, and especially my fellow Arizonians, thank you for the privilege of serving you, and for the rewarding life that service in uniform and in public office has allowed me to lead.
I’ve tried to serve our country honorably. I’ve made mistakes, but I hope my love for America will be weighed favorably against them. I’ve often observed that I am the luckiest person on Earth. I feel that way even now, as I prepare for the end of my life. I’ve loved my life, all of it. I’ve had experiences, adventures, friendships, enough for 10 satisfying lives, and I am so thankful. Like most people, I have regrets. But I would not trade a day of my life in good or bad times for the best day of anybody else’s.
I owe this satisfaction to the love of my family. One man has never had a more loving wife or children he was prouder of than I am of mine. And I owe it to America to be connected to America’s causes: Liberty, equal justice, and respect for the dignity of all people brings happiness more sublime than life’s fleeting pleasures. Our identities and sense of worth were not circumscribed, but are enlarged by serving good causes bigger than ourselves.
Fellow Americans, that association has meant more to me than any other. I lived and died a proud American. We are citizens of the world’s greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil. We are blessed and are a blessing to humanity when we uphold and advance those ideals at home and in the world. We have helped liberate more people from tyranny and poverty than ever before in history, and we have acquired great wealth and power in the progress.
We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down; when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.
We are 325 million opinionated, vociferous individuals. We argue and compete and sometimes even vilify each other in our raucous public debates. But we have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement. If only we remember that and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country, we will get through these challenging times. We will come through them stronger than before, we always do.
Ten years ago I had the privilege to concede defeat in the election for president. I want to end my farewell to you with heartfelt faith in Americans that I felt so powerfully that evening. I feel it powerfully still.
Do not despair of our present difficulties. We believe always in the promise and greatness of America because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit, we never surrender, we never hide from history. We make history. Farewell fellow Americans, God bless you, and God bless America.
Originally published on The Resurgent
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