McCain's account of his time in a Vietnam POW camp makes one think what they would have done in a similar situation. Would I have turned down early release because other POWs had been there longer? Would I have adhered to the military code of conduct?

Politically, I don't agree with John McCain on his key issues like attacking ethanol and campaign finance reform, but this book makes me put that aside and consider supporting him for president.

It shows he is a leader who can weather the storm.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a president to look up to again?


A Man In Search of Glory Finds Character and Honor Instead   February 6, 2000
 24 out of 26 found this review helpful

This gripping story of John McCain's struggle to live up to the honorable standards set by his Four-Star Admiral father and grandfather, his commanders, and his brothers-in-arms is a must-read for anyone looking for strength of character in a leader. McCain's ability to overcome the carefree, hell-raising, cockiness of his youth in an effort to make something of himself and find his own glory in his military career culminated in his discovery that the only real glory "belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principles, to the people on whom you rely, and who rely on you in return. No misfortune, no injury, no humilation can destroy it." Get this book. Read it. And when you get to page 257 (hardcover), revel in the glory of McCain's inspiring words of allegiance, dignity, and faith. You won't be sorry.


An Incomplete But Revealing Self-Portrait   November 25, 2002
 24 out of 27 found this review helpful

As are all other memoirs, McCain's are necessarily both subjective and selective but, unlike so many others, his do not seem to me to be sense self-serving. In this remarkably candid and compelling account, he shares his thoughts and feelings about a distinguished family heritage. His grandfather and father were the first father and son to be promoted to the rank of admiral in the U.S. Navy. He was nearly expelled from the U.S. Naval Academy and never achieved the rank of admiral. In 1967, his carrier-based jet fighter was shot down and he was imprisoned as a POW in North Viet Nam. For the next several years he was subjected to vicious physical as well as mental abuse by his captors. Somehow, probably with sheer willpower, he survived while so many others did not. He kept the faith of his fathers. (I think the title of this volume also refers to a new nation's Founding Fathers.) This volume does not include discussion of his subsequent political career which McCain covers in the recently published second volume of his memoirs, Worth the Fighting For. He seems to have been a battler most of his life; along the way, he developed a profound faith in the values of a country he has served so vigorously. Many of his fellow citizens really don't know what to make of him. Perhaps this volume will help at least some of us to understand his motives and the basis for them. Whatever a reader may think of McCain's politics and of his methods for advancing them, no one can deny his patriotism. With this volume, he reveals his humanity in ways and to an extent no one else could.


Faith of My Fathers   January 24, 2000
 21 out of 21 found this review helpful

It takes a lot for me to sit still long enough to read a book, but to read this one in one sitting, is quite a reflection on the material. John McCain, tells it all, not taking himself seriously, is very humble in his self assesment of the horrors of the Vietnam prisons...One thing that shines thru in the book, is his love of America, and of our freedom...John has earned our respect, and this book is well worth reading...you wont put it down....God Bless JohnMcCain....