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The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations Hardcover – May 22, 2018
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“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here. Maybe I’ll have another five years. Maybe, with the advances in oncology, they’ll find new treatments for my cancer that will extend my life. Maybe I’ll be gone before you read this. My predicament is, well, rather unpredictable. But I’m prepared for either contingency, or at least I’m getting prepared. I have some things I’d like to take care of first, some work that needs finishing, and some people I need to see. And I want to talk to my fellow Americans a little more if I may.”
So writes John McCain in this inspiring, moving, frank, and deeply personal memoir. Written while confronting a mortal illness, McCain looks back with appreciation on his years in the Senate, his historic 2008 campaign for the presidency against Barack Obama, and his crusades on behalf of democracy and human rights in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Always the fighter, McCain attacks the “spurious nationalism” and political polarization afflicting American policy. He makes an impassioned case for democratic internationalism and bi-partisanship. He tells stories of his most satisfying moments of public service, including his work with another giant of the Senate, Edward M. Kennedy. Senator McCain recalls his disagreements with several presidents, and minces no words in his objections to some of President Trump’s statements and policies. At the same time, he offers a positive vision of America that looks beyond the Trump presidency.
The Restless Wave is John McCain at his best.
- Print length416 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSimon & Schuster
- Publication dateMay 22, 2018
- Dimensions6 x 1.25 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101501178008
- ISBN-13978-1501178009
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"You can see McCain in this book struggling to reconcile himself to what his Republican Party has largely become…The six-term senator from Arizona slips in a few careful mentions of Donald J. Trump, and expresses concern about the rancor that has overtaken the country…He consistently returns again and again to what seems for him to be a core commitment: a fervent belief in American exceptionalism...his faith in his country’s beneficence remains undimmed." —Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
"In what may be his final public act, John McCain this month will publish a book that bequeaths us a rare gift....the volume does not burden us with a lot of high-minded advice based on lessons learned, nor does it pull us down into treacly memoir. McCain is still very much McCain....What he does offer, though, at this peculiar moment of our history, is far more precious: a reminder of the values and principles that our nation has long stood for, and a spur to us to recover from this unhealthy interlude and stand for them again. Without preaching, instead by recounting stories of battles won and (often) lost, McCain unspools something akin to a self-help manual for a country that has, at least for the moment, lost its way." —Fred Hiatt, The Washington Post
“It should be required reading for anyone who wants to lead in a democracy.” —Senator Lindsey Graham, The New York Times
“History matters to McCain, and for him America is and was about its promise. The book is his farewell address, a mixture of the personal and the political. 'I have loved my life,' he writes. 'All of it.' The Restless Wave is a fitting valedictory for a man who seldom backed down.” —The Guardian, US
"Remarkable....a book-length meditation on what it means to face the hard challenges of long life and the sobering likelihood of imminent death. John McCain’s valedictory message, at the booksellers under the title The Restless Wave, is a 400-page reflection on hardship, a homily on purpose, a celebration of life — and a challenge to Americans to live up to their values and founding principles at a time when both are in jeopardy." —The Boston Globe
"This is not just a book that offers a vision of how politics might be done differently, it is essentially a blueprint for how to live a life well." —The New Statesman
“In this thoughtful valedictory, [McCain] delivers…Unlike the previous six books McCain and Salter have composed together, this one wasn’t written for voters. It was written for history…With what time he has left, the “maverick” — an appellation he has worn throughout his career, at some times more comfortably than at others — is going to put country first and tell the truth…His book will be remembered for its genuine concern about the future of our republic and the West.” —James Hohmann, The Washington Post
"McCain’s The Restless Wave coalesces a series of poignant and striking warnings of the perils facing the United States, from Russian aggression worldwide to an escalated American divide and partisanship fights to isolationist efforts and racism…He also expresses a theme of gratitude for living a life larger than he envisioned." —Stars and Stripes
“Written in McCain’s plain-spoken, occasionally brusque manner, the senator and Vietnam war veteran…offers a wide-ranging appraisal of his own career, one marked by unrealized presidential ambitions and a lofty view of America on the international stage.” —The Guardian
“John McCain always said he’d go down fighting, and so he has…McCain became, throughout his career, the embodiment of the noble nonconformist on the Hill, the politician who was all too willing to sacrifice party loyalty to do what he thought was right for the country, to do so loudly and consistently, and to fearlessly pronounce everyone, including the occupant of the Oval Office, dead wrong if they disagreed with him. Over nearly four decades in Washington, McCain has given a master class in maverickism, and it is for this he will be most remembered. So it is fitting, perhaps that the inveterate fighter is taking on Trump—another Republican politician who rose by bucking GOP orthodoxy—in his final battle, and bequeathing to the nation a bookful of advice on how to be the right kind of maverick.” —Politico
“It is clear McCain wants this book—sure to be his last—to be a guide for standing up for oppressed people around the globe, as he has done for decades.” —CNN
“Republican Senator John McCain is known as a maverick, familiar with tough fights, from prison camps in Vietnam to the floor of the U.S. Senate. Recently, he has been staying close to the Arizona ranch he calls home, as he undergoes treatment for brain cancer…but he still speaks his mind…[In The Restless Wave] there are reflections about living and past decisions, but it also makes clear that McCain still has plenty to say about America, American society, and politics in the age of President Trump.” —PBS NewsHour
"The Restless Wave is the seventh and final book McCain has written with longtime collaborator Mark Salter. Focused on his past 20 years of public life and a few major topics, it's McCain on McCain, even more uncensored than usual. Which makes it fun, no matter your politics." —New York Daily News
"Sometimes rueful, sometimes defiant, always affecting. Even McCain’s political opponents should admire the fiery grace with which he’s exiting the world." —Kirkus Review
"It is rich in his beliefs on a number of subjects critical to America....He has a particular gift for illustrating his points with stories of a wide variety of people whom he has encountered, at home and abroad....Mr. McCain as a politician was positive and irascible, an interesting combination. His well-known disposition toward 'straight talk' is evident throughout the book....America will miss this man in our public life. This book makes it very clear why." —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"If you haven't gotten the book, it is really worth getting. You don't need to agree politically, but as an American and as a human being, I think this is a book everybody should read." —Whoopi Goldberg, The View
“An elegiac memoir… the maverick Republican senator from Arizona has produced a personal memoir that is frank, poignant and ultimately a sobering commentary about the state of American democracy and world leadership.” —The Financial Times
"Moving....Rather than a response to extraordinary times, this fine memoir reads more like a requiem of a long, patriotic life." —Publishers Weekly Online
"Revisit a life fully lived in Senator John McCain’s swan song, The Restless Wave." —Entertainment Weekly
"This is a very different look back at a remarkable life and career....McCain and Salter’s book is definitely worth reading; in fact, it’s one that I wish every member of Congress and staffer would read. His vantage point on what has happened in politics and in Congress, through the eyes of someone who has lived through what he has, makes it all the more worthwhile." —National Journal
"Even if you had never heard of John McCain, reading The Restless Wave would make you want to pick him for your team." —VVA Veteran
About the Author
Mark Salter has collaborated with John McCain on all seven of their books, including The Restless Wave, Faith of My Fathers, Worth the Fighting For, Why Courage Matters, Character Is Destiny, Hard Call, and Thirteen Soldiers. He served on Senator McCain’s staff for eighteen years.
Product details
- Publisher : Simon & Schuster; Mark Salter edition (May 22, 2018)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 416 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1501178008
- ISBN-13 : 978-1501178009
- Item Weight : 1.25 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.25 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #167,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #29 in U.S.Congresses, Senates & Legislative
- #850 in Political Leader Biographies
- #4,846 in Memoirs (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author
Senator John McCain entered the Naval Academy in June of 1954. He served in the United States Navy until 1981. He was elected to the US House of Representatives from Arizona in 1982 and to the Senate in 1986. He was the Republican Party’s nominee for president in the 2008 election. He is the author of Faith of My Fathers, Worth Fighting For, Why Courage Matters, Character Is Destiny, Thirteen Soldiers, and The Restless Wave.
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In preparing for my review of John McCain’s most recent memoir, I went searching for quotes pertaining to patriotism and nationalism. As I did so, I found one that struck home for me, due to my many years living in countries other than the United States:
The proper means of increasing the love we bear our native country is to reside some time in a foreign one – William Shenstone.
Demakis, Joseph. The Ultimate Book of Quotations (p. 390). Kindle Edition.
Living in a country, as your choice, will not only increase your love and appreciation for your own country, it will foster a better understanding and, often, increase your empathy for those people fighting daily to survive in their country. At least this proved true for me.
Of course, John McCain, while serving in the navy, did spend some years living in another country, but it was not due to his choice, unless you consider that his choice was to serve his country in combat against people who would capture and torture him. That is about as clean a segue as I can muster for this review of “The Restless Wave.”
BLUSH FACTOR: The writing is free of almost all profanities. So clean that you can feel free to read this to most any audience. Indeed, if you have any interest American History during the second half of the 20th Century, or in American politics, I implore you to read this book or listen to the Audible edition, narrated by John McCain and Beau Bridges.
What most comes through in this narrative is, John McCain has matured into a statesman, rather than living always true to the ‘Maverick’ label that is so often ascribed to him. Perhaps it is that transition that doomed his campaign in 2008, but I’ll leave that for others with brighter insight than I have.
As to the writing, I am, frankly, going to tell it as I see it. As with most senior elected officials who are recollecting their successes, errors, friendships and adversaries, and doing so while maintaining dignity and composure, McCain comes across a bit too careful or respectful, than today’s political pundits, inside-the-beltway politicians and whatnot. I state this with admiration and respect, but, I also admit I would have taken pleasure in reading something written with a little more spice and flair.
In other words, McCain has been sincere, but without rancor. These days, many express dismay (while others take great glee) when hearing or reading of comments of the people currently working in the White House.
I may be wrong, but, I’m thinking he expressed himself in this way to maximize his legacy. I suspect then-candidate Donald Trump hurt Senator John McCain much when he said, “I appreciate heroes who don’t get captured.” Rather than punch back, the elder statesman simply now states his preference that President Donald Trump not attend his funeral.
To be sure, there is plenty of discussion on other politicians, including Trump. None of the arrows in his quiver, though, had any poison applied to their tips. For a better understanding of what I am trying to convey, please glance at the below excerpt.
EXCERPT
NOTE – You’ve probably read or heard an excerpt in which McCain indicates his regret in choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin instead of Sen. Joe Lieberman. I recall Palin telling the news media she felt like she had been gut-punched. Perhaps she will take some solace from this excerpt, in which McCain tells us what he loved about her and why he chose her:
‘…I liked her right away. She spoke with genuine passion about government reform and fighting corruption. She acknowledged our differences, but noted that we shared an independent streak that put the country above party. She is uncannily self-possessed, and has an authentic warmth as a campaigner. I sensed how appealing a performer she would be, and her self-confidence allayed concerns we had that she might not be able to withstand the scrutiny and rigors of a presidential campaign. I walked away from our meeting confident that she could. Whatever stumbles she would have in the blindingly intense experience she was about to enter would be on us, on our judgment, not hers.
Cindy sat with Sarah after we finished our conversation, and showed her around the place while I talked with Salter and Schmidt. I’d spoken to A. B. earlier, who counseled that she would be a “high risk, high reward” pick. He saw her appeal and potential, and the vulnerabilities that could be exposed by the battering of a national campaign that can test the fortitude of more experienced politicians. Salter worried that Sarah’s scant exposure to national politics, and her self-admitted knowledge deficiency in national security issues, would undermine the experience advantage we had over Obama. He argued for Tim Pawlenty. Schmidt made the case for her, which essentially boiled down to “she could shake up the race and the other candidates can’t.” She was a fresh face, an outspoken reformer, a wife and mother who had fought the special interests and won. She could appeal to conservative Democrats and women voters not yet sold on Obama or me. She was tough and could handle pressure. She was smart, hardworking, and willing to learn. We had three opportunities, he argued, to stop the race from trending inevitably to the challenger in an environment where over 70 percent of voters believed the country was going in the wrong direction: my vice president selection, my convention speech, and the debates. If we failed to use any one of those opportunities to convince voters we would bring change to Washington, we would lose. Sarah was the biggest change message on the list of possible choices. I thought Schmidt made the better argument probably because it echoed my own thoughts about Sarah and the challenges ahead. I walked back to the deck of our house where Cindy and Sarah were sitting, and offered her the nomination. We talked a while longer, then she left with Salter and Schmidt to fly to Dayton, Ohio, where we would announce her the day after the Democratic convention had closed with Obama’s soaring acceptance speech…’
McCain, John. The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations (Kindle Locations 786-804). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.
BOTTOM LINE
If I were rating this book based on my respect and admiration for John McCain, I would rate it five stars. I am, however, rating the writing and my feelings as I read it. How did it affect me?
Four stars out of five.
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This book isn’t getting the air or attention that Trump’s book did. Sadly. It’s not a fluff piece; it’s a long, hard read. I found myself crying more than once over the circumstances of an interrogation, a battle, the image a POW sewing an American flag inside his shirt… That’s what I take from this book the most, that John McCain is a patriot who values what that flag stands for, and he’d like us all to remember to be patriots above all.
McCain would like us to behave with honor toward our countrymen, to our friends, and to our enemies. He’d like us to place human rights first, even when our lives are at risk: “I want to urge Americans, for as long as I can, to remember that this shared devotion to human rights is our truest heritage and our most important loyalty.”
And I think that’s where this book really shines, where McCain reminds us that our country needs us to hold our government and leaders to the ideals America was founded upon. We cannot let fear change us. “We’re not always right. We’re impetuous and impatient, and rush into things without knowing what we’re really doing. We argue over little differences endlessly, and exaggerate them into lasting breaches. We can be selfish, and quick sometimes to shift the blame for our mistakes to others. But our country ‘tis of Thee.’ What great good we’ve done in the world, so much more good than harm.” And he points out where our country has harmed its reputation and its integrity by denying others their rights simply because they’re different or we think they’re the enemy. He points out what went wrong after 9/11 with the treatment of prisoners and what’s been done since to correct that. We can only pray that nothing like that ever happens again.
He admits that we haven’t always been in the right, but that when we were wrong, it was because we were denying the rights of others, even to the point that things were happening so against the Geneva Convention that in McCain’s view, we were acting worse than the Vietnamese acted toward him and his fellow POWs. That’s pretty sad, when we do worse than those we hold up as despicable.
“Will we act in this world with respect for our founding conviction that all people have equal dignity in the eyes of God and should be accorded the same respect by the laws and governance of men? That is the most important question history ever asks of us. Answering in the affirmative by our actions is the highest form of patriotism, and we cannot do that without access to the truth. The cruelty of our enemies doesn’t absolve us of this duty. This was never about them. It was about us.” We cannot allow our enemies to change what our country stands for.
The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations is a tome with much attention to detail, fascinating in its coverage of the various areas of conflict, the strategies, the personalities, successes, and errors. It’s refreshing to be reminded of how many times McCain voted against the party line, worked with Democrats, and was friends to those on both sides of what has become a crippling divide in our country. And how many times he tried to do the same in other countries where we were involved in conflict. I hope there are many others who are trying to cross divides to meet the other side so that both sides can ultimately win.
I would have liked to see John McCain or anyone, actually, elected and acting as a true bipartisan president. I’d like to think someone could do that. We could use one.