John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls

I want a broadcast network.

And I wanna see what other news operations we can sweep up.

Local TV?

Why shouldn't we do all the news?

Well, Kim Jong-Pop,

that's not how things work in this country.

If he's not careful,

he's gonna destroy the company.

Anyway, are you gonna do something?

I think I'm the best option.

Oh, right, 'cause you like playing boss?

This is my vision. I take over. You two, under me.

Take out the old man, in with the new guard.

It's rebellion!

It's my company.

You are a nobody.

John McCain: I have lived an honorable life,

and I am proud of my life.

I think all of us think about death,

but I think more about life.

There are so many days in my life

that are more than coincidental,

that it has made me believe

that I am here for a reason.

I've been tested on a number of occasions.

I haven't always done the right thing.

And I think I understand,

given my family's history and given my experiences,

the important thing is not to look back and figure out

all the things I should've done, and there's lots of those...

but to look back with gratitude.

You will never talk to anyone that is as fortunate

as John McCain.

John: You ready or not?

You ready? Huh?

One, two...

Cindy: Isn't she so great? I love that.

Yeah, just look at her. Yeah.

Come on, honey, come on.

Come on. That's a girl.

John: Come on.

Come on.

Yup. Cindy: Bring the ball.

It's all right. Come on, Burma.

Come on, Burma. Come on, honey.

Jack McCain: I got a phone call from my mom that said,

"Jack, you're gonna see some stuff in the news."

Um, "Your father has brain cancer.

Um...

"I'm with him right now.

"He knows his diagnosis,

and he's the same as he's always been."

He said, "All right, let's push forward."

John: You know, these doctors keep talking to me about people

who if you tell 'em the truth,

then they just give up and die,

that you really want to-- and I... I keep saying to 'em,

"Just tell me. Just tell me.

That's all I want to know." You know?

Some say, "Well, it's not good."

And then they'll say, "Well..." You know, its just bullshit,

and it really drives me crazy.

But then I talk to other doctor friends of mine and say

that most people, that's not what they want to hear.

I-- Why wouldn't they want to hear, you know?

Why wouldn't they want to spend a few more days here, you know?

Yes, honey, I'll throw the ball in a minute.

Meghan McCain: He's better in Arizona, I think, health-wise,

but we sort of collectively made the decision

that if he doesn't work, that he would...

he would probably get sick faster,

because work feeds him and it's so much of a part of who he is,

so I'm very supportive of him being in DC.

John: All right, guys, good morning, good morning.

Good morning, good morning.

Good morning. Good morning.

Hup! Back! Back!

Come on!

Come on!

Good morning. You can-- you can--

Cameraman: Good morning, Senator. John: Good morning.

How are you, my friend from TMZ?

Cameraman: Did you watch the football game last night?

Yes, I did. That's why I'm in such a bad mood this morning.

Well, I hope things get better. John: Thank you.

How about that catch from Larry Fitzgerald?

Mark Salter: He's authentic. He can't help himself.

Sometimes his authenticity is a political problem,

and other times it's a great advantage.

David Brooks: None of us like to be unpopular in our workplace,

and I've seen McCain be unpopular time and time again,

sometimes for excellent reasons, sometimes for not great reasons.

Lindsey Graham: We don't always agree.

I've got a job to do,

he's got a job to do,

but I never doubt his motivation as to why he's doing it.

John: We're not gonna bet against the United States of America.

You know?

Hillary Clinton: He tries to study an issue,

he tries to come to a conclusion

that's in keeping with his values

but, also, you know, rooted in reality.

Now it's 3,500 troops, all this kind of stuff.

Grant Woods: He knows this is not a straight line in life.

There's gonna be curves and corners,

and that's the way it goes. Nobody's perfect.

You're gonna make mistakes.

The question is: How do you handle those mistakes?

John: What's going on in Syria?

Yes, good morning. How are you? Good morning.

Joe Lieberman: I wouldn't bet against him.

He faces his mortality now

with the same...

kind of fearlessness

that has characterized his life.

We're gonna keep people waiting here.

Man: I'm gonna grab the elevator right over here.

Salter: If you want to really know him,

his favorite book is For Whom the Bell Tolls,

and the protagonist in that, Robert Jordan,

goes to fight in the Spanish civil war.

And he knows that it's a hopeless cause,

and yet he gives his life for it.

Man: Senator McCain? John: Yeah?

Army nominee, secretary, are we gonna get a hearing soon?

Salter: That's a very McCain-esque view of himself in the world.

The harder the cause, even lost, the better the cause.

Man: Senator, on health care-- I gotta go.

When I was 12 years old, I found a four-leaf clover.

I went to my father's library

to put that four-leaf clover in a book.

I started reading that book,

and I was mesmerized,

and I didn't stop reading until I was finished.

It is still the lodestone, the guide that I have,

and it's called For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Robert Jordan is my hero,

then when I was that age,

and Robert Jordan is my hero today.

Nothing is better than a story of someone who sacrifices

for causes greater than themselves,

and Robert Jordan was that.

I was born on the 29th of August, 1936,

at a naval base in the Panama Canal Zone.

My family goes back militarily all the way to the Revolutionary War.

And my life seemed to be charted out for me.

I did feel pressure, from the time I was very small, to do well.

As a young man in going to the Naval Academy,

I was following in the footsteps

of my father and my grandfather.

Yes, I was once one of you,

six decades ago, in the age of sail.

I was...

I was an undistinguished member of the class of 1958.

My superiors didn't hold me in very high esteem in those days.

Their disapproval was measured in the hundreds of miles

of extra duty I marched in my time here.

But I realized a little later in life

that I hadn't fully appreciated

all that the academy was trying to teach me.

Lessons about sacrificing for something more important than yourself.

Lessons about courage and humility.

God only knows how I graduated from the Naval Academy.

I didn't enjoy studying.

I just knew what I had to do to get by.

There's no doubt that I was a rebel and always breaking the rules.

Everybody knew who my father was,

and so, I'd thumb my nose at 'em.

But at the same time, I didn't want to embarrass my family.

John's father just emanated

power and strength.

One day, his father came down on a Saturday to take us to lunch,

and for some reason they got into a bit of an argument.

John was walking at a fast pace, swinging his left arm,

and I remember his father was walking

the same way, swinging his left arm.

I said, "These guys are so much alike."

They're combatants with a penchant for leadership.

It was just a natural ability.

You can't teach that kind of leadership.

You have to be born with that.

Admiral McCain, what would you say

about the importance of leadership in the Navy?

Leadership is the single most important factor

as far as achievement, success,

and the completion of a job to be done.

And furthermore, you have got to have a tolerance

for the failings of individuals

because all of us have them.

My father was a submarine commander in World War II in the Pacific.

My grandfather was the commander of the aircraft carriers in the Pacific.

But I always knew that I was gonna be a naval aviator.

I was gonna go out there

and fly airplanes and shoot down MiGs.

Newsman: So far in 1967,

the number of US troops killed in Vietnam has nearly doubled.

Airpower is the one thing we most conspicuously have

and the enemy has not.

John: During that period of time,

they decided to escalate the air war over North Vietnam.