John McCain Quotes (169 quotes, page 3)

“I've never lived a day, in good times or bad, that I didn't thank God for the privilege.”

John McCain

2000s, 2008, (2008)

God , Time

“I've got to give you some straight talk: Some of the jobs that have left the state of Michigan are not coming back. They are not. And I am sorry to tell you that.”

John McCain

, http://boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/14/same_state_different_message_for_michigans_economy/
2000s, 2008

“There is no greater vocation than to serve. But there is no greater purpose than to love. Live a life that does both, and you’ll be truly happy.”

John McCain

Letter of advice to British diplomat Tom Fletcher's son. https://twitter.com/TFletcher/status/1033597850729570304
2000s, 2008

Love , Life , Happiness

“Today’s press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory. The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. … President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin. He and Putin seemed to be speaking from the same script as the president made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the world. … No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant. Not only did President Trump fail to speak the truth about an adversary; but speaking for America to the world, our president failed to defend all that makes us who we are — a republic of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad. American presidents must be the champions of that cause if it is to succeed. Americans are waiting and hoping for President Trump to embrace that sacred responsibility. One can only hope they are not waiting totally in vain.”

John McCain

Official statement: "SASC Chairman John Mccain on Trump-Putin Meeting" (16 July 2018) https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=press-releases&id=A99FDA26-673D-4560-B4EA-5AEDF0685EC5
2010s, 2018

People , Truth , World , Hope

“I don't work for myself. I work for you. I've fought corruption, and it didn't matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust, and they had to be held accountable.”

John McCain

2000s, 2008, (2008)

“Our government has a responsibility to defend our borders, but we must do so in a way that makes us safer and upholds all that is decent and exceptional about our nation.It is clear from the confusion at our airports across the nation that President Trump's executive order was not properly vetted. We are particularly concerned by reports that this order went into effect with little to no consultation with the Departments of State, Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security.Such a hasty process risks harmful results. We should not stop green-card holders from returning to the country they call home. We should not stop those who have served as interpreters for our military and diplomats from seeking refuge in the country they risked their lives to help. And we should not turn our backs on those refugees who have been shown through extensive vetting to pose no demonstrable threat to our nation, and who have suffered unspeakable horrors, most of them women and children.Ultimately, we fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism. At this very moment, American troops are fighting side-by-side with our Iraqi partners to defeat ISIL. But this executive order bans Iraqi pilots from coming to military bases in Arizona to fight our common enemies. Our most important allies in the fight against ISIL are the vast majority of Muslims who reject its apocalyptic ideology of hatred. This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that America does not want Muslims coming into our country. That is why we fear this executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security.”

John McCain

Statement by Senators McCain & Graham on Executive Order on Immigration (January 27, 2017) from the Office of Senator John McCain http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/1/statement-by-senators-mccain-graham-on-executive-order-on-immigration regarding [Donald J. Trump]'s Executive Order 13769 entitled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States", as quoted by Jacob Sallum from Reason magazine in Here Is What Republican Critics of Trump's Immigration Order Are Saying on January 31, 2017 http://reason.com/blog/2017/01/31/here-is-what-republican-critics-of-trump
2010s, 2017

Women , Fear , Justice , Way

“Late evening with Col. Qadhafi at his "ranch" in Libya - interesting meeting with an interesting man.”

John McCain

As quoted in Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/senjohnmccain/status/3331878099 (2009)
2000s, 2009

“I know there is profound concern across Europe and the world that America is laying down the mantle of global leadership. I can only speak for myself, but I do not believe that that is the message you will hear from all of the American leaders who cared enough to travel here to Munich this weekend. That's not the message you heard today from Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. That is not the message you will hear from Vice President Mike Pence. That's not the message you will hear from Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly. And that is certainly not the message you will hear tomorrow from our bipartisan congressional delegation. I refuse to accept that our values are morally equivalent to those of our adversaries. I am a proud, unapologetic believer in the West, and I believe we must always, always stand up for it. For if we do not, who will?”

John McCain

Speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/17/john-mccain-just-systematically-dismantled-donald-trumps-entire-worldview/?postshare=6141487371896434&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.e02d0323a302 (February 2017)
2010s, 2017

World , Travel

“We live in a land made of ideals, not blood and soil. We are the custodians of those ideals at home, and their champion abroad. We have done great good in the world. That leadership has had its costs, but we have become incomparably powerful and wealthy as we did. We have a moral obligation to continue in our just cause, and we would bring more than shame on ourselves if we don't. We will not thrive in a world where our leadership and ideals are absent. We wouldn't deserve to.”

John McCain

Speech at the National Constitution Center in Pennsylvania http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/16/politics/john-mccain-joe-biden-liberty-medal/index.html (October 2017)
2010s, 2017

World , Home

“Many families could not and should not have been expected to abandon hope that their sons, husbands, and brothers who had disappeared in the jungles of Vietnam might yet be returned to them. And many good people, who shared their hope and had come to their assistance, were motivated by the most admirable of intentions, to keep faith with Americans who had done all that duty asked of them. But these good intentions and understandable emotions also drew the attention of people with less honorable purposes. There came to exist in America, and elsewhere in the years that followed the Vietnam War, a small cottage industry made up of swindlers, dime-store Rambos, and just plain old conspiracy nuts who preyed on the emotions of the families and on the attention of ofﬁcials who were dedicated to the search for our missing. They had helped convince many of the families and a few members of Congress that the US. government had knowingly abandoned American servicemen in Vietnam and that ﬁve successive presidential administrations had covered up the crime. It was among the most damaging and most hurtful of all the lies about the Vietnam War that I ever encountered.”

John McCain

Source: 2000s, 2002, Worth the Fighting For (2002), pp. 235 - 236

War , People , Family , Faith

“I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.”

John McCain

Criticizing Hillary Clinton's health-care plan as being "eerily reminiscent" of the plan she advocated as First Lady, 11 October 2007 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-campaign10-2008sep10,0,311675.story
2000s, 2007

Thinking

“The tide of war dose not recede just be cause we wish it to.”

John McCain

Remarks to AJC Global Forum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHcr2baBftE&t=185s (12 May 2014)
2010s, 2014

War

“Make no mistake: I do not valorize our military out of some unfamiliar instinct. I grew up in a military family, and have my own record of service, and have stayed closely engaged with our armed forces throughout my public career. In the American system, the military has value only inasmuch as it protects and defends the liberties of the people.”

John McCain

2010s, 2016, Statement regarding the Khan family (1 August 2016)

People , Family

“Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan and Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.”

John McCain

Address at Virginia Beach (2000), as quoted in The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20000228/aponline165646_000.htm (28 February 2000).
2000s

“The first telephones cost a thousand dollars and they were about that big! We all remember that!”

John McCain

As quoted in Albaquerque Town Hall Meeting http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/john-mccains-fake-town-ha_b_113041.html (15 July 2008)
2000s, 2008

“Sen. Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power. But Americans know better than that. We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and restore the health of our planet.”

John McCain

2000s, 2008, (2008)

Health , Thinking

“I don't know if you could ever say, quote "mission accomplished," as much as you could say "Americans are out of harm's way."”

John McCain

On George W. Bush's address aboard a ship with a banner reading "mission accomplished" behind him, at a town hall meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24418639/ (1 May 2008)
2000s, 2008

Way , Quotes

“It's common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq. That's well known. We continue to be concerned about the Iranians taking al-Qaeda into Iran and training them and sending them back…. I am sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda, not al-Qaeda, I am sorry.”

John McCain

During an official visit in Amman, Jordon, making a statement and then being corrected by Senator Joe Lieberman http://web.archive.org/web/20080324115205/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gtqD_x9yYIuq_7S2dimSjMV5qRmg (18 March 2008)
2000s, 2008

Knowledge , Training

“[On presidential candidates not condemning the controversial MoveOn. org ad in The New York Times. ] If you're not tough enough to repudiate a scurrilous, outrageous attack such as that, then I don't know how you're tough enough to be president of the United States.”

John McCain

As quoted in The Boston Globe http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/09/16/sister_souljah_moments/ (16 September 2007)
2000s, 2007

Time

“By 2008, I think I might be ready to go down to the old soldiers home and await the cavalry charge there.”

John McCain

As quoted in NewsHour with Jim Lehrer http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/election/july-dec00/mccain_8-1.html (1 August 2000).
2000s

Home , Thinking

“I believe that Carly Fiorina is a role model to millions of young American women. She started out as a part-time secretary and she ended up a CEO of one of the major corporations in America. I’m proud of her record and so I want everybody to know that Carly Fiorina is a person that I admire and respect.”

John McCain

On campaign economic advisor Carly Fiorina, 23 September 2008 http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/23/mccain_fiorina_a_role_model.html
2000s, 2008

Women , Time , Parting , Personality

“I'd like to say to Mr. and Mrs. Khan: thank you for immigrating to America. We're a better country because of you. And you are certainly right; your son was the best of America, and the memory of his sacrifice will make us a better nation -- and he will never be forgotten.”

John McCain

2010s, 2016, Statement regarding the Khan family (1 August 2016)

Memory , Country

“I love him dearly. On issues of economics and … family values, there's nobody that I know that's stronger.”

John McCain

On campaign economic adviser Phil Gramm; 18 January 2008; http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/011908dnpolgramm.2d19db0.html
2000s, 2008

Love , Family

“I hate war. It's terrible beyond imagination.”

John McCain

2000s, 2008, (2008)

Hate , War , Imagination

“Because I know that as successful as I believe we will be, and I believe that the success [in Iraq] will be fairly easy, we will still lose some American young men or women. And that's a great tragedy.”

John McCain

Appearance on Larry King Live http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0209/24/lkl.00.html, (24 September 2002)
2000s, 2002

Women , Men , Success

“I think one of our big problems has been the fact that many Iraqis resent American military presence. And I don't pretend to know exactly Iraqi public opinion. But as soon as we can reduce our visibility as much as possible, the better I think it is going to be.”

John McCain

As quoted in MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6895182/ (31 January 2005)
2000s, 2005

Problem , Thinking

“I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency, for its faith in the wisdom, justice, and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again; I wasn't my own man anymore; I was my country's.”

John McCain

2000s, 2008, (2008)

Love , Life , Wisdom , People

“Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be. We’ve wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives.”

John McCain

Discussing the Iraq War on the Late Show with David Letterman (28 February 2007)
[Associated Press, McCain to formally announce bid in April, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17389011/, MSNBC.com, 2007-03-01, 2007-03-01]
2000s, 2007

“If I am elected President, I will work with anyone who sincerely wants to get this country moving again. I will listen to any idea that is offered in good faith and intended to help solve our problems, not make them worse. I will seek the counsel of members of Congress from both parties in forming government policy before I ask them to support it. I will ask Democrats to serve in my administration. My administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability. I will hold weekly press conferences. I will regularly brief the American people on the progress our policies have made and the setbacks we have encountered. When we make errors, I will confess them readily, and explain what we intend to do to correct them. I will ask Congress to grant me the privilege of coming before both houses to take questions, and address criticism, much the same as the Prime Minister of Great Britain appears regularly before the House of Commons.”

John McCain

[Text of McCain's Speech on First-Term Goals, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/05/15/text_of_mccains_vision_of_2013.html, washingtonpost.com, 2008-05-15, 2008-06-01]
2000s, 2008

People , Faith , Error , Idea

“In this country, we believe everyone has something to contribute and deserves the opportunity to reach their God-given potential, from the boy whose descendents arrived on the Mayflower to the Latina daughter of migrant workers. We're all God's children, and we're all Americans. We believe -- we believe in low taxes, spending discipline, and open markets. We believe in rewarding hard work and risk-takers and letting people keep the fruits of their labor.”

John McCain

2000s, 2008, (2008)

God , Children , People , Boy

“I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated.”

John McCain

As quoted in Wall Street Journal http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007600 (26 November 2005), by Stephen Moore
2000s, 2005

Education

“You know, it's interesting for the president to say something that juvenile. I'm not picking on anyone. Again, as we just said, four Americans died! Is that picking on anybody when you want to place responsibility and find out what happened so that we can make sure it doesn't happen again?”

John McCain

On the Record w/Greta van Susteren http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/2012/11/15/mccain-obama-were-not-picking-anybody-we-want-answers-and-buck-stops-your-desk-mr-preside, Fox News,
regarding McCain's opposition to the potential nomination of ambassador Susan Rice to Secretary of State over her statements about the 2012 Benghazi attack, and President Obama saying in a press conference, "If Senator McCain and Senator Graham and others want to go after someone, they should go after me. And I'm happy to have that discussion with them. But for them to go after the United Nations ambassador, who had nothing to do with Benghazi and was simply making a presentation based on intel she had received, and to besmirch her reputation, is outrageous."
2010s, 2012

“Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier, because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.”

John McCain

2000s, 2008, (2008)

Life , Country , Happiness

“At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.”

John McCain

Taken from The Real McCain by Cliff Schecter, referring to his wife, Cindy McCain. Overheard by three anonymous reporters during his 1992 senate bid. http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCain_temper_boiled_over_in_92_0407.html
Disputed

“We are paying a very heavy price for the mismanagement -- that's the kindest word I can give you -- of Donald Rumsfeld, of this war. The price is very, very heavy and I regret it enormously. I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history.”

John McCain

[Associated Press, McCain blasts Rumsfeld for Iraq war missteps, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17231371/from/RS.5/, MSNBC.com, 2007-02-19, 2007-02-20]
2000s, 2007

War , History , Thinking

“America, the only nation ever founded in the name of liberty, never had a more ardent champion of liberty than Barry Goldwater. Simply put, Barry Goldwater was in love with freedom.”

John McCain

As quoted in "Goldwater Called 'Great Patriot'" at CBS News (29 May 1998) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/05/29/national/main10557.shtml http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLATQAU-Hw0
McCain was Barry Goldwater's 1986 senate successor from Arizona.
1990s

Love , Freedom

“Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.”

John McCain

GOP fund-raiser, Washington D.C., (June 1998)
1990s
Source: [the Flash, Flashes - That's Senator McNasty to You, http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1998-06-18/news/flashes/, Phoenix New Times, Village Voice Media, 1998-06-18, 2007-02-19, The Washington Post broke the news last week of yet another McCain gaffe, made during a GOP fund raiser at a D.C. steak house. But neither the Post nor any other national publication that the Flash knows of actually printed the joke. To its credit, the Arizona Republic did. Here goes: ...]
Source: A joke too bad to print?, 2007-02-09, Corn, David, Salon.com, Salon.com, http://web.archive.org/web/20000229090904/http://www.salon.com/news/1998/06/25newsb.html, 1998-06-25 http://www.salon.com/news/1998/06/25newsb.html,
Source: McCain's Out-of-Control Anger, 2007-02-09, Kessler, Ronald, 2006-07-05, NewsMax.com, NewsMax.com, 2007-02-08, http://web.archive.org/web/20060721082127/http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/7/5/00548.shtml, "… only a few news outlets, like the Phoenix New Times in Arizona and the National Journal, that ran an Associated Press story reporting McCain's 1998 joke suggesting that Chelsea Clinton was ugly and Janet Reno and Hillary Clinton were lesbians." http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/7/5/00548.shtml,

“In all candor, if I'd been President of the United States, I'd have ordered the plane landed at the nearest Air Force base, and I'd have been over here, ok?”

John McCain

On how he would have acted when Katrina made landfall if he had been president, LA Times http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mccain25apr25,1,7654195.story, despite being in Arizona with Pres. Bush during Katrina's landfall http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24352103/; 25 April 2008
2000s, 2008

“I hate the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live.”

John McCain

Statement about his North Vietnamese prison guards, in response to a question asked by reporters aboard his campaign bus. (17 February 2000) He later refused to apologize for using a racial slur, stating: "I was referring to my prison guards, and I will continue to refer to them in language that might offend some people because of the beating and torture of my friends." San Francisco Chronicle (18 February 2000) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/02/18/MN32194.DTL
2000s

Hate

“Vietnam vet: We haven't heard why you voted against your colleagues' proposals to increase health care funding in 2004, '05, '06, and '07, when we had troops coming back from two wars.
Madow: Instead of the answer the questioner is looking for, McCain now takes credit for the GI bill and takes a political shot at Jim Webb.
McCain: On the issue of the GI bill, I was disappointed that Senator Webb didn't support making it permanent. Senator Graham, other veterans and I will be looking to extend that to all veterans, not just 2001. I hope you'll urge Senator Webb to agree with that.
McCain: I received every award from every major veterans' organization in America. The reason is I have a perfect voting record from organizations like Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and all the other veterans service organizations because of my support of them.
Vietnam vet: You do not have a perfect voting record by the DIV and the VFW. That's where these votes [of yours against increasing vet health care] are recorded. The votes were proposals by your colleagues in the Senate to increase health care funding of the VA in 2003, '04, '05, and '06 for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and you voted against those proposals. I can give you specific Senate votes, the numbers of those Senate votes right now.
McCain: I thank you, and I'll examine your version of what my voting record is, but again, I've been endorsed in every election by all of the veterans' organizations that do that. I've been supported by them, and I've received their highest rewards, from all of those organizations, so I guess they don't know something you know.
Rieckoff: [McCain's] voting record is not very strong. The Disabled American Veterans gave him a 20% rating out of 100. Our organization, the IAVA, gave him a D rating in the last voting session. He does not have a perfect voting record from the VFW. He's consistently voted against increased funding of the VA, and he's been a major opponent of the new GI bill.”

John McCain

Paul Rieckhoff of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans for America and author of Chasing Ghosts, on Countdown, discussing a town hall exchange between McCain and another Vietnam vet; 9 July 2008; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnyEMLXvgV8
IAVA ratings: McCain: D; Obama: B+ http://www.iava.org/full-ratings-list; DAV: McCain: 20%; Obama: 80%; the AL and VFW don't perform such voting record ratings http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/does_mccain_have_a_perfect_voting_record.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnyEMLXvgV8
2000s, 2008

War , Health , Hope , Disappointment

“I'm not running for president to be somebody, but to do something; to do the hard but necessary things not the easy and needless things.”

John McCain

Senator McCain's announcement speech for his 2008 presidential bid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain_presidential_campaign,_2008 (25 April 2007)
Full text of the speech can be found here on The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/25/us/politics/26mccain_text.html
2000s, 2007

“L. A. Times: You voted against coverage of birth control, [against] forcing health insurance companies to cover birth control in the past. Is that, is that still your position?
John McCain: I'll look at my voting record on it, but … I don‘t recall the vote.
L. A. Times: [Your campaign advisor's] statement was that it was unfair that health insurance companies [are forced by the government to] cover Viagra but not birth control. Do you have an opinion on that?
John McCain: I don‘t know enough about it … I hadn‘t thought about it much.”

John McCain

On McCain campaign advisor and former HP CEO Carly Fiorina's presenting mandatory birth control coverage as McCain's own position: "Many health insurance plans cover Viagra, but won‘t cover birth control medications. Those women would like a choice." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25639007/
2000s, 2008

Health , Birth , Time , Past

“As you know, there are al-Qaeda operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders, and they're moving back into Iraq.”

John McCain

The Hugh Hewitt Show. , http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/talkradio/transcripts/Transcript.aspx?ContentGuid=ae522a49-6c82-4791-a76e-44ebb718bf32
2000s, 2008

Training

“They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so... but it's a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.”

John McCain

Interview with James P. Rubin http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/16/1029617.aspx (2006)
2000s, 2006

Life , People , Way , Democracy

“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.
I urge all Americans … I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited. Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.”

John McCain

2000s, 2008, Concession speech (2008)

Children , World , Way , Support

“Bomb, bomb! Bomb, Iran!”

John McCain

As quoted in "Maybe John McCain will bring back 'Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran'" http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2008/10/maybe-john-mcca.html (9 October 2008),The Los Angeles Times.
2000s, 2008