Man of the People: The Life of John McCain (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "On September 5, 1945, during a peaceful and beautiful evening in the San Diego area, Vice Admiral John Sidney McCain settled into his home in..." (more)
Key Phrases: unpublished quote, naval biography, whisper campaign, United States, South Carolina, New Hampshire (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Alexander has written lives of Sylvia Plath and James Dean, but he became a political journalist in the 1990s and recently wrote several articles about Republican Senator McCain of Arizona for Rolling Stone. The first two-thirds of this biography retell the stories (third-generation navy, five years as a POW in Hanoi) we've already heard, in McCain's own Faith of My Fathers (1999) and Robert Timberg's The Nightingale's Song (1995) without substantially revising the public understanding of McCain. In fact, Alexander's version occasionally seems politically na‹ve. He deals with McCain's transition from military officer to aspiring congressman, for example, in just a few pages, never questioning the motives for this career change. This lack of political perspective may stem from Alexander's populist adulation of his subject, whom he calls "the one current politician who best articulates the hopes and dreams of the common man." It's no surprise, then, that the blow-by-blow coverage of McCain's run at the White House is sharp, richly detailed journalism. Unfortunately, the story trails off after McCain drops out of the race; there's some material on the campaign finance reform bill, and an interesting rumor that the Democrats tried to lure the senator out of the Republican Party in early 2001, but then there's really nowhere else to go (the book's epilogue was not available for review). Alexander, a fellow at the Hoover Institution and cohost of WABC radio's Batchelor and Alexander, offers an adequate enough account of McCain's life, but it will have a tough time competing against McCain's latest memoir, Worth the Fighting For.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This first complete biography of Sen. John McCain-navy brat, navy pilot, prisoner of war, populist Republican legislator, and presidential candidate-is presented by Alexander, political pundit and biographer of Sylvia Plath (Rough Magic) and J.D. Salinger (Salinger: A Biography). The author admires McCain and believes that he could have been elected president in 2000 by running as an independent. While McCain's five-and-a-half-year ordeal as a prisoner of war in the notorious "Hanoi Hilton" is vividly told, his career as a representative and a senator from Arizona is treated more fully than any other part of his life. McCain's ongoing feud with President Bush over dirty tricks in the 2000 Republican primary is also thoroughly described, as is McCain's signature issue, campaign-funding reform. (Elizabeth Drew nicely tells the story of McCain's leadership of the campaign reform movement in Citizen McCain.) Alexander does not write with the verve and introspection that McCain does in his two autobiographies, Faith of Our Fathers and Worth Fighting For, but he offers an informative, politically astute biography that is recommended for public libraries.
Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047122829X
• ISBN-13: 978-0471228295
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,251,627 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite a hit, January 7, 2003

By	"gclaus7" (Plattsburgh, NY United States) - See all my reviews

Fans of John McCain who want to know about the senator's life history will not be too disappointed. It's all there, from his childhood through his military service through his ascendancy to the national spotlight.
Unfortunately, the book is sloppily written and edited. Alexander repeats himself quite often, and he relies too much on long-winded quotes from other sources. Further, the editing leaves a lot to be desired. Phrases like "centered around," as opposed to the correct "centered on" are commonplace and distracting. Alexander's magazine pieces are much better, which leads me to believe this work suffers from poor editing more than the pedestrian prose.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read into Senator McCain's Life, February 12, 2008

By	F. Poli "Fabrizio Poli" (Chorley,Lancashire, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Man of the People: The Life of John McCain (Hardcover)

I bought this book a few years ago and just recently read it. John McCain hasn't had an easy life and his imprisonment in Vietnam really marked his life. I found the book written quite well.

The author has done his research well and if you are American and thinking about voting this book will help you find out more about what makes John McCain tick. It was interesting to find out that when McCain got back from Vietnam he found his wife had been disfigured in a car accident & couldn't have any more kids, so he started seeing other women, this lead into a divorce. Shortly after McCain met his current wife and started another family. Things to think about I guess when electing a President...