John McCain, the Senate's Most Influential Hawk, Is Dead

John McCain, the last great active American political figure of the 20th century, has lost his battle with cancer at age 81.

_____

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Subscribe to our podcast at iTunes

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.

_____

McCain helped shape the purpose and application of Washington's considerable power for nearly half a century. His passing leaves as an open question what kind of future that McCain-style politics—with its robust, moralistic interventionism both at home but especially abroad—has in a political party and country that elected his rhetorical tormentor, Donald Trump.

A former prisoner of war and two-time presidential candidate, McCain was a man whose irascible restlessness and sense of patriotic honor propelled him to defy his Vietnamese captors, tackle unusual legislative crusades, and wage periodic battles with his own party's leadership. As the Cold War gave way to a U.S.-led new world order, McCain shook off his hard-earned Vietnam Syndrome to become a pivotal figure behind some of the most interventionist foreign policies in modern American history.

Produced by Todd Krainin. Written and narrated by Matt Welch.

Aspirato by Kai Engel is licensed under a AttributionNonCommercial License.

Newsroom by Riot is licensed under a AttributionNonCommercial License

Earthmover by Lee Roseveere is licensed under a AttributionNonCommercial License

27 Ghosts III by Nine Inch Nails is licensed under a AttributionNonCommercial License.

Dry Air by Podington Bear is licensed under a AttributionNonCommercial License.

Subdivision of the Masses by Philipp Weigl is licensed under a AttributionNonCommercial License.

John McCain, with his squadron, Library of Congress

John McCain in Hanoi Hospital (1967) by Crandall/SIPA/Newscom.

U.S. Senator John McCain (RAZ) pins medals on soldiers in Afghanistan (2014) by Lucas Jackson, Reuters/Newscom.

Pvt. Lynndie England holding a leash attached to a prisoner (2006), public domain/US Army.

Abu Ghraib (2004), public domain/Dept. of Defense.

Aerial view of the Pentagon (2003), US Navy

Relatives cry as they carry a coffin outside a hospital morgue in Baquba, Iraq (2006) by Helmiy Al Azawi Reuters/Newscom.

John McCain pulled out of Hanoi Lake (1967) by Crandall/SIPA/Newscom.

Burial services at Covington, Washington (2002), Reuters/Newscom.

John McCain (1974) by Thomas J. O’Halloran, Library of Congress

John McCain and President Ronald Reagan. Library of Congress (1986), by Carol Highsmith.

John McCain (1954) by US Navy,

Emily Johnson sheds tears in front of the headstone for her older brother. U.S. Air Force photo/Sean Kimmons (2015).

Senator John McCain tours Iraq (2008), Rapport Syndication/Newscom.

John McCain convenes a press conference following a campaign town hall (2008), Chris Fitzgerald/CandidatePhotos/Newscom.