Honoring the leadership legacy of John McCain

Setting aside issues of policy or politics, these #Stout quotes from those he worked with highlight John McCain’s leadership, courage, conviction to his core belief in service and an (often unusual in politics) willingness to admit and apologize when he got things wrong.

Retired Col. Jack Jacobs

“He is among the minority of us who are able to come to grips with what we perceive as our personal failings and vow to learn from them. John McCain represents the uplifting and productive notion that one can’t repair the past. But one can influence the future.”

Former President Barack Obama

“Few of us have been tested the way John once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did. But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own. At John’s best, he showed us what that means.”

Journalist Matt Laslo

“He argued for what he believed, and he was proud of those often-controversial views. He defended and fought for those positions until his end, both outside and especially inside of his own political party. As a man who got a lot wrong in his 81 years on this earth, McCain didn’t demand or even expect perfection from others. That was the beauty of McCain: He was a man and not a god. He knew it; we knew it too.”

“It is your character, and your character alone, that will make your life happy or unhappy. That is all that really passes for destiny. And you choose it. No one else can give it to you or deny it to you. No rival can steal it from you. And no friend can give it to you. Others can encourage you to make the right choices or discourage you. But you choose.”
– Senator John McCain