BOOK REVIEW: The Restless Wave: John McCain, Mark Salter

Published 9:30 am Saturday, September 8, 2018

For folks not overwhelmed by the week-long coverage of John McCain’s death, tributes and funeral, his last book is a powerful and insightful read into the mindset of the late Arizona senator and one-time Republican presidential candidate, as well as an interesting study into events of the past decade-plus.

With help from long-time associate Mark Salter, McCain writes about his failed 2008 presidential campaign against Barack Obama and the years following.

McCain wrote “The Restless Wave” after his terminal diagnosis of brain cancer.

He holds no punches whether he’s talking about things that happened during the George W. Bush, Obama or Donald J. Trump presidential administrations. If he disagreed with a policy, from the the war in Iraq, to the economic meltdown, to how the U.S. responds to Russia and Vladmir Putin, McCain states how he thinks America should have responded and where he thinks a particular administration failed.

Reading this book emphasizes the point of his inviting former Presidents Bush and Obama to speak at his funeral, but pointedly didn’t invite President Trump. Political disagreement doesn’t mean we’re not all Americans.

It’s a strange and powerful gift reading the words of a man so shortly after his death, especially when they are written by a man who is growing to expect his passing is imminent.

“The Restless Wave” is as interesting as its author. Again, this isn’t a life memoir. McCain refers to his time being held by the Vietnamese but it is not the framework for the book.

Again, it looks more closely at the last decade-plus of his life and career. 

Still, a period of busy activity and involvement in many of the political fights that have shaped the earliest decades of the 21st century.