Our Interview with Sen. John McCain

The White House hopeful on how he'd deal with everything from Iraq and Iran to questions about his age and hot temper.

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Confidence, Faith and Hope

The Senator sat down this past January with RD's Washington Bureau Chief William Beaman and Contributing Editor Carl Cannon.

RD: Robert Timberg, a former U.S. Marine, wrote in The Nightingale's Song that at the time of your first campaign in 1982, Ronald Reagan changed the way America looked at veterans, including those who served in Vietnam. Timberg thought this shift helped you. Do you think that's true?
McCain: When I was in prison, I heard all the antiwar statements being made by prominent Americans. But then newer guys started getting captured and they began to tell us about this guy Reagan and his wife and their commitment to the POWs. California had so many of the bases and ships, and when American soldiers came home, he'd have parties for the POWs. At the party I went to upon my homecoming in San Francisco, John Wayne was there -- I think it's one of the great thrills of my life.

I got to know the Reagans quite well. He asked me to speak at his last National Prayer Day Breakfast as governor of the state of California, which was in 1974. He literally was responsible for my career change. I wanted him to be President, and I wanted to be a foot soldier in what became widely known as the Reagan Revolution. But what he did was take a country that was basically broken and restore its confidence, faith and hope for the future. We had riots. We had assassinations. We had schools and universities beset by the worst kind of discord. We had a military where drug abuse and insubordination were rampant. And so here he came with this unshakable and unquenchable optimism and belief that America's greatest days were ahead of it. That was Ronald Reagan's message. And he brought life and vigor -- he turned America around. That really was one of the major motives of my wanting to serve in Congress.

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When it comes to Election Day, what kind of research do you do on candidates?

In-depth: I review their voting records, watch the debates they're in, and research their background Moderate: I read what the experts write about them in the papers and know where they stand on the major issues Minimal: All I know about them is what I see in their campaign ads

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