There have been many great leaders in the world’s history.
They have varied from Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub of the 1100s to Ronald Reagan, a more recent president. The number of leaders that have helped set a standard for this world is remarkable. All of these great leaders of history had many faults and successes. Identifying these problems and accomplishments is what makes anyone a great leader. In this document the story of John McCain will be covered.The story of his high school and college careers, his time spent in the Navy, his dreadful life as a POW during the Vietnam war, his terms in the Senate, the way he ran for the presidency, and much more.
John McCain is and was a great and successful leader in America, but like all great leaders, he has had a few bumps in his career. John Sidney McCain III was born on the date of August 29, 1936 at a Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone. He moved to from base to base until finally his family settled down in Northern Virginia.In that time John McCain attended a preparatory school called Episcopal High School. At that school John McCain was a troubled student, as he was in his childhood, but here he visited detention a lot. At the school he straightened up because of sports.
He was a varsity wrestler, and he lead his team to many victories in the light weight division. He also was in many other team sports, which he had been greatly involved in. After high school he attended the naval academy (Annapolis) in June 1954, where he had followed the footsteps of his father, grandfather and uncle.His father, John Sidney McCain Jr, and grandfather, John Sidney McCain Sr, had both attended the naval academy prior, and achieved the rank of four star admiral.
John McCain went into the Navy knowing full well that he had a great title to fulfill, and that title was the McCain name. After Annapolis John McCain began his aviation training at Pensacola. John McCain began his career after all of his aviation schooling. He was assigned to the A-1 Sky raider squadrons aboard the aircraft carriers USS Intrepid and USS Enterprise.After these assignments John McCain was assigned to the carrier USS Forrestal.
On that carrier he was flying A-4 Skyhawks for bombing missions in Northern Vietnam, Operation Rolling Thunder. On that carrier he was involved with the USS Forrestal fire accident. McCain was in the middle of the accident. During the fire he tried to save another pilot, and he was injured badly. That incident killed 134 sailors and took 24 hours to contain the fire. After that incident he volunteered for a mission on the carrier USS Oriskany, and on that carrier he continues the Rolling Thunder Operation.
On John McCain’s 23rd mission flying over Hanoi he was shot down and on his way down both of his arms were broke along with one leg. When he landed his parachute nearly drown him in Truk Bach Lake. North Vietnamese found him and they bayoneted and severely injured him before taking him to Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton”. After he was captured the Vietnamese didn’t treat any of his wounds until they realized he was the son of the lead Admiral in the Vietnam War front. After that he was sent to a hospital and was expected to die.
The Vietnamese offered to let him go as a political move, but McCain refused because he wanted the other Americans to go. After that the Viet Cong tortured and beat McCain for four days every hour until he cracked and gave up information. After he confessed he spent the rest of the five and ? years in a POW camp being beat three times a weak hoping because the VCs were trying to get more information out of him. After all of his torture he never gave up another secret, and after he was released he couldn’t lift his arms above his head. After he got back to America McCain went through six weeks of hard physical rehabilitation.After he was released he spent a few more years in the Navy.
In 1976 he then became commanding officer of a training squadron stationed in Florida. He improved that squadron’s safety, moral, and many other small things. After that he became the Navy liaison to the Senate. This job is what managed to pull him into politics and one of the two main reasons for leaving the Navy. The second reason why McCain retired from the navy was due to the fact that he could never make full admiral.
After this he went to Phoenix Arizona where he worked for his Father in law’s company.John McCain ran for Senator in 1987 and got elected. He was elected again after his first term, and after his second term he ran for the 2000 presidency against bush for the republican majority. During his time running he made a few mistakes.
After he failed to gain the republican title for the presidency he ran for senate and was elected two more times until he ran for presidency in the 2008 presidency against our current president Barrak Obama. He lost the election in close call, but the main reason was because he was yet again the underdog and he was politically abused.During the campaign he backed down after false claims were being made, and he never stood up for himself. As of right now John McCain is finishing out his fourth term of Senate. John McCain was a great leader, and he had many leadership styles. It all started when he finally settled down and started out at high school.
He wasn’t a true born leader during high school. He was more of a trouble maker and nuisance to the school. After he graduated he was accepted to the Naval academy. He excelled in the entrance exam scores, and was almost accepted immediately.John McCain was a great leader among his own midshipmen, but he had a very poor ability to follow leaders.
During his time at the Naval academy he disobeyed orders; he fought officers, and made forth from the bottom of his class. This was a talent of great leadership and bad leadership at the same time. To be a great leader you need to follow before you can lead. This showed that John McCain could not follow, because of his actions.
When the “plebe” year came to terms John McCain he said “I thought it was bullshit and I resented the hell out of it.John stood up to any officer or enlisted man that would abuse their power, because of his him and his classmates were midshipmen at the time. In his golden years at the academy he lead the boxing team and lead them to victory a few times throughout the year. Overall John McCain was a great leader person to person, but he missed two great examples that leaders should live by.
The first is to lead by example and McCain failed at this by always disrespecting high ranks and doing horrible in his class. He was ranked 895 of 899 by then end of his college career, and his grades were very poor.The second example is you must follow before you lead, and McCain failed at that as well. He did not succeed in that aspect, because he constantly ignored, disrespected, and was disorderly his entire time. While he was at the Naval academy he managed to get 100 demerits every year.
When he was with just his classmates they respected him for the way he would take charge and show them how to do certain things like sports, Physical Training, and thing that he enjoyed. The main thing that John McCain lacked was initiative. After John McCain graduated he was commissioned as an ensign.He went straight to Naval aviation training school. At that school he earned a reputation of being the party man. At the two Naval air stations that he trained at he didn’t read up on aviation books and didn’t take the initiative to join the elite flying group.
He just keep ruining his career and making his life in the Navy more difficult. At the end of his training he didn’t get much recognition for what he had done. He only started as a sup aviation pilot. After he had graduated his father had a talk with him, and he had seemed to straighten out.He was then assigned to the world famous fighting tigers and he was just a wingman.
He showed a bit of leadership during this time, but he was completely an average officer and pilot. This was a point of his career where it was a stationary point. He was promoted to lieutenant Jr grade for being in the Cuban conflict, but that was the only substantial thing that he accomplished. After his two years with the fighting tigers he was assigned to the USS Forrestal for Operation Rolling Thunder. It was there that he sparked courage as a leader.He continued out many missions as a squadron leader.
He showed courage and skill when he was leading these missions and his style was great. He keep a cool head and finally was leading by example. This was the start of the great leading John McCain, and it would soon go downhill fast. On the date of July 29th there was a horrible accident on the USS Forrestal that is used as a military training operation, and a will be an event that sailors try to prevent to this day. On that say 134 sailors were killed and 161 were injured. During this 24 hour accident John McCain was in the brunt of it.
The start of this accident was a missile firing off of a plane due to a wire mishap. The plane then shot another plane, and a series of explosions began to go off. John McCain was in the middle of the explosions, and he managed to get out, but shards from a plane came out and hit in the legs and chest. He had quite a few injuries during this accident, but he managed to save a few lives and saw many of his friends get blown away and die. This incident showed that John McCain keep his cool, and during this he and a few of his fellow pilots saved a few ives due to his leadership. This shows that his style of leadership is good under stress, and that he can handle himself.
After his incident on the USS Forestall he was transferred to a different career for the same operation. The only thing is, is this time on his 23rd he was shot down and taken as a prisoner of war. During his time as a POW he was tortured to near death, and was made to give information. He regrets what he did in that camp to this day, and he wishes he would have never told.
John McCain had one great of heroism and leadership.This act was when the Viet Cong found out that John McCain’s father was the top Admiral in the Vietnam campaign. The VCs offered to let John McCain go to show that they were merciful and for propaganda purposes, but John McCain said “I will go if you let every other United States POW go”. The VCs refused to John McCain’s demand, and from there he went on to be tortured for 5 and ? years until his release. This was a great leadership because he showed courage and he didn’t want to leave any of his American troops behind.
This was a great act of courage and every man should respect him for this brave act.I believe this is how every leader should act. Once John McCain was released he had a few more years in the military and he became the Navy congress liaison. John McCain has been a senator for four terms, and is currently in his fourth term. During these four terms he completed many things that has affected United States legislature. In his first term he wrote the bill stating that Native American Gambling Industries had more rights when it came to the gambling.
John McCain was also involved with the Keating five scandals, and that was his biggest error.This was to save the Lincoln Savings company, and McCain earned $110,000 from it. He also proposed bills to help POW/MIAs in Vietnam. This failed in turn; because there was not enough evidence to support the claims. In his second term the main thing that he had done is become chairmen of the Senate Commerce Committee, and this lead to him forming and getting the Tobacco tax laws passed. In his third term of senate he wrote a book called Faith of my Fathers.
It was a best seller and a great book to be read. This was the highlight of his third term, excluding him going for the Republican presidential nominee.In his fourth term he ran for president again against Obama, but other than that his Senate career has been fairly calm. His term in Senate shows that even some of the best leaders can become corrupt.
It seems all politicians can accept money from lobbyists, but John McCain was at least one to fess up to his faults, and that shows a great judge of leadership and character.When John McCain ran for president the first time to get the Republican title he made a great debate to get there, but there was instance that stopped him from getting that nomination over George W. Bush Jr, and that was in a debate where he called the Asians “gooks”. This was a great downfall to McCain’s career and it should not have been, considering every politician has said something horrible in the past, but they had no intent. John McCain however said it because of his past, and should not be ridiculed for that mistake. His second time running for president had a much better outcome.
He played all the cards right, except he didn’t dare speak up because of his previous mistake. John McCain sat this Presidential election out, because he didn’t want to stand up and make another mistake.He went to a shell to where he didn’t talk against people like president Obama did to him. His presidency has shown that leaders do come to fall down, but they do get back up and that is what makes a good leader. Realizing your mistakes and fixing them is one of the best things a true leader can do.
In conclusion John McCain is an excellent role model for any man or women trying to become a great leader. This man has shown some of the best styles of leadership and some of the worsed. John McCain was a great leader among his fellow class mates; he was a leader in showing courage, and in stepping up for his actions.He had exposed how not to be a good leader in not taking orders, being a complete jerk to his superiors, not leading by example, and excepting bribes is a horrible and distrusting thing. The ways that he stood up for his fellow troops in Vietnam and his acts of bravery in the USS Forestall will all be remembered in history.
To reconcile all that he has become is that he is a great leader. This is why John McCain has had an outstanding career and why he is still a great leader to this day.
