Tag: Mo Udall

With his hero’s story and honored family, he was one of those few congressional freshmen who automatically attract attention. He also bucked the political trend, having been elected as a conservative Republican in 1982, a year when 26 of his fellow party members lost their House seats. It took a fellow Arizonan to teach the young hothead how to get things done for the people of his district so that he could succeed at his job, not just make speeches. Udall reached out to McCain, including him in events back in the state, giving him credit where credit wasn’t due, surrounding him with good will. And the student took it all in, coming to understand the value of compromise and of comradeship. When Udall was felled by Parkinson’s and couldn’t see or speak, John McCain would visit his mentor regularly, reading to him in the hopes that he could hear. A friendship struck between John McCain, the former POW, and John Kerry, the former anti-war protester, helped lead to America’s restoring relations with Vietnam, where U.S. involvement in the war ended up tearing apart our own country. The regularization of relations with Vietnam was an act of reconciliation at home as well as with the former enemy. For heaven’s sake, he was his party’s standard-bearer in 2008, the most partisan position there is. Being an American -- celebrating, serving, sacrificing for this country defined John McCain’s life.