Works by
John McCain
(U.S. Senator, Writer)

Audio

• Character Is Destiny (2005) with Arthur Morey
  Inspiring stories every young person should know and every adult should remember.

Biography/Memoirs

• Faith of My Fathers (1999, 2008)
  John McCain is one of the most admired leaders in the United States government, but his deeply felt memoir of family and war is not a political one and ends before his election to Congress. With candor and ennobling power, McCain tells a story that, in the words of Newsweek, "makes the other presidential candidates look like pygmies."
          
  John McCain learned about life and honor from his grandfather and father, both four-star admirals in the U.S. Navy. This is a memoir about their lives, their heroism, and the ways that sons are shaped and enriched by their fathers.
          
  John McCain's grandfather was a gaunt, hawk-faced man known as Slew by his fellow officers and, affectionately, as Popeye by the sailors who served under him. McCain Sr. played the horses, drank bourbon and water, and rolled his own cigarettes with one hand. More significant, he was one of the navy's greatest commanders, and led the strongest aircraft carrier force of the Third Fleet in key battles during World War II.
          
  John McCain's father followed a similar path, equally distinguished by heroic service in the navy, as a submarine commander during World War II. McCain Jr. was a slightly built man, but like his father, he earned the respect and affection of his men. He, too, rose to the rank of four-star admiral, making the McCains the first family in American history to achieve that distinction. McCain Jr.'s final assignment was as commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific during the Vietnam War.
          
  It was in the Vietnam War that John McCain III faced the most difficult challenge of his life. A naval aviator, he was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 and seriously injured. When Vietnamese military officers realized he was the son of a top commander, they offered McCain early release in an effort to embarrass the United States. Acting from a sense of honor taught him by his father and the U.S. Naval Academy, McCain refused the offer. He was tortured, held in solitary confinement, and imprisoned for five and a half years.
                  
  Faith of My Fathers is about what McCain learned from his grandfather and father, and how their example enabled him to survive those hard years. It is a story of three imperfect men who faced adversity and emerged with their honor intact. Ultimately, Faith of My Fathers shows us, with great feeling and appreciation, what fathers give to their sons, and what endures.

Non-fiction

• Hard Call: The Art of Great Decisions (2007) with Mark Salter
  Also known as Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them
  In Hard Call, acclaimed authors John McCain and Mark Salter describe the anatomy of great decisions in history by telling the remarkable stories of men and women who have exemplified composure, wisdom, and intellect in the face of life's toughest decisions. The authors identify six qualities typically represented in the best decisions: Awareness. Timing. Foresight. Confidence. Humility. Inspiration. These qualities are personified by the exceptional individuals in this book, each of whom made a hard call:

  • Branch Rickey's awareness of the opposition he would face in integrating the Brooklyn Dodgers, and his sagacity in choosing the right man, Jackie Robinson, to break baseball's color barrier.

  • Winston Churchill's foresight in preparing England's Navy for war.

  • Anwar Sadat's and Menachem Begin's timing in choosing to risk their lives and political careers by seeking peace in the aftermath of war.

  • Gertrude Ederle's confidence in deciding to swim the English Channel - and her fortitude in continuing the quest against the wishes of her coach, despite the fact that no woman had ever succeeded.

  • Reinhold Niebuhr's humility in deciding to abandon his pacifist views and endorse the use of violence against persecution in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

  • Abraham Lincoln's historic act of inspiration: His decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, the role of faith in his life, and his willingness to suffer for a cause greater than himself.

  Woven into these stories are John McCain's own views on the process and art of decision-making and examples of the hard calls we face in our lives. "When I assess a decision," McCain writes, "I want to know all I can about the character of the decision maker before I examine the properties of the decision, its outcome or how it was arrived at."

  Hard Call is a testament to the people whose choices serve as a beacon for us all.

• Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember (2005) with Mark Salter
  In Character is Destiny, McCain tells the stories of celebrated historical figures and lesser-known heroes whose values exemplify the best of the human spirit. He illustrates these qualities with moving stories of triumph against the odds, righteousness in the face of iniquity, hope in adversity, and sacrifices for a cause greater than self-interest. The tributes he pays here to men and women who have lived truthfully will stir the hearts of young and old alike, and help prepare us for the hard work of choosing our destiny.

• Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life (2004) with Mark Salter
  “Courage,” Winston Churchill explained, is “the first of human qualities . . . because it guarantees all the others.” As a naval officer, P.O.W., and one of America’s most admired political leaders, John McCain has seen countless acts of bravery and self-sacrifice. Now, in this inspiring meditation on courage, he shares his most cherished stories of ordinary individuals who have risked everything to defend the people and principles they hold most dear.
  
  “We are taught to understand, correctly, that courage is not the absence of fear but the capacity for action despite our fears,” McCain reminds us, as a way of introducing the stories of figures both famous and obscure that he finds most compelling—from the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to Sgt. Roy Benavidez, who ignored his own well-being to rescue eight of his men from an ambush in the Vietnam jungle; from 1960s civil rights leader John Lewis, who wrote, “When I care about something, I’m prepared to take the long, hard road,” to Hannah Senesh, who, in protecting her comrades in the Hungarian resistance against Hitler’s SS, chose a martyr’s death over a despot’s mercy.
  
  These are some of the examples McCain turns to for inspiration and offers to others to help them summon the resolve to be both good and great. He explains the value of courage in both everyday actions and extraordinary feats. We learn why moral principles and physical courage are often not distinct quantities but two sides of the same coin. Most of all, readers discover how sometimes simply setting the right example can be the ultimate act of courage.
  
  Written by one of our most respected public figures, Why Courage Matters is that rare book with a message both timely and timeless. This is a work for anyone seeking to understand how the mystery and gift of courage can empower us and change our lives.

• Worth the Fighting For: The Education of an American Maverick, and the Heroes Who Inspired Him (2002) by John McCain and Mark Salter
  In 1999, John McCain wrote one of the most acclaimed and bestselling memoirs of the decade, Faith of My Fathers. That book ended in 1972, with McCain’s release from imprisonment in Vietnam. This is the rest of his story, about his great American journey from the U.S. Navy to his electrifying run for the presidency, interwoven with heartfelt portraits of the mavericks who have inspired him through the years—Ted Williams, Theodore Roosevelt, visionary aviation proponent Billy Mitchell, Marlon Brando in Viva Zapata!, and, most indelibly, Robert Jordan. It was Jordan, Hemingway’s protagonist in For Whom the Bell Tolls, who showed McCain the ideals of heroism and sacrifice, stoicism and redemption, and why certain causes, despite the costs, are . . .

• Odysseus in America (2002) by John S. McCain, Jonathan Shay, and Max Cleland

• Glory Denied: The Saga of Jim Thompson, America's Logest-Held Prisoner of War (2001) by John S. McCain and Tom Philpott

• Impact of Emerging Trade Issues on U.S. Consumers: Hearing Before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. Senate (1997)

See also:

• The Perfect Villain: John McCain and the Demonization of Lobbyist Jack Abramoff (September 2008 release) by Gary S. Chafetz

• Third Term: Why George W. Bush ♥ John McCain (September 2008 release) by Paul Begala

• 72 Things Younger Than John McCain Joe Quint

• Barack Obama vs. John McCain - Side by Side Senate Voting Record for Easy Comparison (2008) by Barack Obama and John McCain
  t is often difficult to ignore the hype and find out what the candidates really believe in. During this election, however, voters have the unique advantage of access to the actual voting records of both candidates.

  • This book lists every legislation considered by the U.S. Senate between January 6, 2005 and May 22, 2008 and shows you how Senator Obama and Senator McCain voted on each of these issues.

  • Here are hundreds of votes each of them cast (or didn't cast-the book also shows every legislation the candidate didn't vote on). Each candidate's votes are listed side by side for easy comparison.

  • The book also includes a one-page summary of votes that shows, among other statistics, how many times each has voted with the other and how many times each has voted against the other.

  • Finally, for those readers who want to obtain more extensive details on the legislation mentioned in this book, the book gives clear instructions on how to access such information using the internet (there is no cost for accessing this information).

• Free Ride: John McCain and the Media (2008) by David Brock and Paul Waldman

• Fresh, New Jokes About John McCain: A Republican Presidential Candidate Run Amok (2008) by William Tapscott

• Gook: John McCain's Racism and Why It Matters (2008) by Irwin A Tang

• John McCain (2008) by Gail B. Stewart

• John McCain - A Man of Straight Talk (2008)

• John McCain: An American Life (2008) by Spencer Williams
  Ages 4-8.

• Man of the People: The Maverick Life and Career of John McCain (2008) by Paul Alexander

• McCain's Promise: Aboard the Straight Talk Express with John McCain and a Whole Bunch of Actual Reporters, Thinking About Hope (June 2008) by David Foster Wallace
  Is John McCain "For Real?"
  
  That's the question David Foster Wallace set out to explore when he first climbed aboard Senator McCain's campaign caravan in February 2000. It was a moment when Mccain was increasingly perceived as a harbinger of change, the anticandidate whose goal was "to inspire young Americans to devote themselves to causes greater than their own self-interest." And many young Americans were beginning to take notice.
  
  To get at "something riveting and unspinnable and true" about John McCain, Wallace finds he must pierce the smoke screen of spin doctors and media manipulators. And he succeeds-in a characteristically potent blast of journalistic brio that not only captures the lunatic rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign but also delivers a compelling inquiry into John McCain himself: the senator, the POW, the campaign finance reformer, the candidate, the man.

• My Dad, John McCain (September 2, 2008 release) by Meghan McCain with Dan Andreasen, Illustrator

• Recent Speeches of Senator John McCain (2008, Kindle Edition)

• The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him and Why Independents Shouldn't (2008) by Cliff Schecter
  Thinking about voting for McCain? Read this book.
  Cliff Schecter's hard-hitting profile explores the gap between the public record of Senator John McCain and his media image. Drawing on a range of sources and adding his unique perspective and humor, Schecter guides the reader though McCain's long history of expedient flip-flops--especially on his signature issues of national security and campaign finance reform.
  
  Far from a straight-talking maverick, McCain emerges as a temperamental political chameleon who will do or say virtually anything to become president of the United States. On issue after issue--including the invasion and occupation of Iraq, torture, abortion, and gay rights--The Real McCain reveals a politician who started as a Goldwater Republican, experienced a brief period after sanity after his loss to George W. Bush in 2000, and began pandering to the very groups he challenged after deciding to run again in 2008.

• John McCain (2007) by Catherine Wells

• John Mccain: Profile of a Leading Republican (2007) by Kira Wizner

• Citizen McCain (2002, 2008) by Elizabeth Drew

• Man of the People: The Life of John McCain (2002) by Paul Alexander

• John McCain (2001) by Richard Kozar
  Ages 4-8.

• John McCain (2000) by Barbara Jane Feinberg

• John McCain: An Essay in Military and Political History (2000) by John Karaagac

• John McCain: An American Odyssey (1995, 1999, 2007) by Robert Timberg