Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them

by John McCain, Mark Salter

Senator John McCain, one of America's most inspiring politicians, pays tribute to men and women who have exemplified composure, wisdom, and intellect in the face of life's toughest decisions.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Biography, Leadership, Audiobook, Business

480 pages, Hardcover

Published August 14, 2007

About the author

John Sidney McCain III was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death. He was the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 election, which he lost to Barack Obama.

McCain graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958 and followed his father and grandfather—both four-star admirals—into the U.S. Navy. He became a naval aviator and flew ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. While McCain was on a bombing mission during Operation Rolling Thunder over Hanoi in October 1967, he was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973. McCain experienced episodes of torture and refused an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer. The wounds that he sustained during the war left him with lifelong physical disabilities. He retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, where he entered politics. In 1982, McCain was elected to the United States House of Representatives, where he served two terms. He entered the U.S. Senate in 1987 and easily won reelection five times, the last time in 2016.

While generally adhering to conservative principles, McCain also had a media reputation as a "maverick" for his willingness to disagree with his party on certain issues. After being investigated and largely exonerated in a political influence scandal of the 1980s as a member of the Keating Five, he made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns, which eventually resulted in passage of the McCain–Feingold Act in 2002. He was also known for his work in the 1990s to restore diplomatic relations with Vietnam, and for his belief that the Iraq War should have been fought to a successful conclusion. McCain chaired the Senate Commerce Committee and opposed pork barrel spending. He belonged to the bipartisan "Gang of 14" which played a key role in alleviating a crisis over judicial nominations.

McCain entered the race for the Republican nomination for President in 2000, but he lost a heated primary season contest to Governor George W. Bush of Texas. He secured the nomination in 2008 after coming back from early reversals, but was defeated by Democratic nominee Barack Obama in the general election, losing by a 365–173 electoral college margin. He subsequently adopted more orthodox conservative stances and attitudes and largely opposed actions of the Obama administration, especially in regard to foreign policy matters. By 2013, however, he had become a key figure in the Senate for negotiating deals on certain issues in an otherwise partisan environment. In 2015, McCain became Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. In 2017, he reduced his role in the Senate after a diagnosis of brain cancer. He died at the age of 81 on August 25, 2018.

Reviews

[Carol Jones-Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

No one is more surprised than me that I checked out such a book, and more importantly by John McCain. After the political bruhaha two elections ago, I never wanted to see his face or hear his voice again. When walking the aisles at the library, I came upon this book, which has been a complete and delightful surprise. The preface of this book is that making difficult decisions takes skills and insights. He and Mark Salter touch on many different areas that history has shown what could have happened if different decision making skills were used. Lives could have been saved, a lot of money saved, and many quite fascinating stories. Very interesting preface. I enjoyed this Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them is a book written by United States Senator John McCain with Mark Salter. Its theme is decision-making based on personal principles. The hardcover edition was released August 14, 2007, and the paperback edition was subsequently released on February 29, 2008.

McCain outlines a six-part structure for "hard calls," with several detailed anecdotes illustrating each of the six parts:

Awareness: Jackie Robinson "intruding" into all-white baseball; and Wernher von Braun, the rocket scientist.

Foresight: Winston Churchill; Alexander Graham Bell; and Ronald Reagan when standing up to the Soviet Union.

Timing: Boeing's production of the commercial jet aircraft; Gillette's invention of the disposable razor; and Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin meeting for the peace process.

Confidence: Civil War General George B. McClellan; Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel; and the Apollo 11 astronauts.

Humility: The founding of Liberia; Harry Truman; and Gerald Ford's pardoning of Richard Nixon.
Inspiration: The white commander of America's first black regiment; Alexander Solzhenitsyn; and Abraham Lincoln.book.

Inspiration: The white commander of America's first black regiment; Alexander Solzhenitsyn; and Abraham Lincoln.

During the John McCain presidential campaign, 2008 the Wall Street Journal wrote that "When it comes to Sen. McCain's image, Mr. Salter, 53 years old, is the campaign's chief creator, shaper and enforcer. For two decades, he has been the presumed Republican nominee's speechwriter, adviser and confidant."He almost left the campaign in mid-2007, when it suffered a collapse[clarification needed] and there were many personnel shake-ups. During the latter stages of the campaign Salter frequently criticised media treatment of the candidate, which he said was consistently tilted in his rivals' favor.

Some observers who?] have credited McCain's public servant persona as a literary project due to Salter's efforts.

Of their writing process, Salter said in 2008: "It's his voice, but I'm going inside his head to speak some psychological truth about him. I'm drawing a conclusion based on my observation of him. I always show him: 'This is what I've written. This is what I think about you. Is this fair?' " Observers of the two have likened their sharing to that of a Vulcan mind meld.

Howard Fineman wrote in a 2008 Newsweek article: "McCain and Salter are stylistically similar and share a world view: they like to operate in intimate settings, with a loyal band of brothers, a clear enemy in sight and an almost joyful fatalism in the face of long odds." He compared Salter's role to that of Boswell.

He was portrayed as a sympathetic figure by actor Jamey Sheridan in the 2012 HBO production of Game Change for his role in the latter months of McCain's unsuccessful 2008 Presidential campaign.[citation needed]

Following the 2008 campaign loss, Salter became less of a presence in the McCain political operation.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

luck is unreliable, Ft Riley Lewis Robinson, Life of Christ Giovanni Papini book, the guts not to fight back, nasa overrides Challenger, Orbiter project Navy politics, man belongs wherever he wants to go, awareness and foresight, curiosity and discernment to check vices, checks/balances as not to presume virtues, good over evil Reagan, decreased oil prices shorted ussr, sdi vs madd, belief in country and values, an idea whose time has come, Boing risks, Sadat gracious turn-out Soviets strength to welcome you in sincerity Shalom, tell a leader by arrows in ass, Truman kkk anti-catholic equality of opportunity dixiecrats, Wilson segregated military Harry opened humility sound character son of confederates, paradox of war to hate enemy Bonhoeffer like Christ needs of neighbor Book of Ethics, inherently corrupted by self-interest justification against corruption of power, pacifists morally irresponsible as parasites need freedom against tyranny to serve justice defend right against wrong, Solzhenitsyn officer frozen salamander felt the finger of God, totalitarianism task and Pravda discredited, Lincoln reference Bible and Hamlet psalms predestination mind held to greater power humility w/o divine being cannot succeed and with cannot fail, in the hands of Almighty, almost chosen people, last best hope, do justice for awful wrong of slavery, if slavery is not wrong nothing is, not north or south of country, God decided Emancipation Proclamation, God conscience reason, can summon better angels, do the right thing virtue to serve cause greater self, McCain worst decisions benefit self when lack humility and inspiration, core principals and optimism.

[Sandra Strange · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very pleasantly surprising, from the former Republican candidate for President. McCain, with collaborator Mark Salter, identifies the qualities he believes leaders need to make good decisions on important matters, then, after a brief definition (with specific examples) of the quality and why he considers it so essential to good "hard calls," he tells stories of several historical decisions that illustrate each quality, along with the character, biographies and accomplishments of those who made those decisions. The people he describes range from Churchill and Truman to Branch Rickey, "Ma Ellen" of Liberia, and Robert Gould Shaw; each of these people made crucial, hard decisions that affected many others beyond their own lives. The qualities McCain identifies are positive and surprising, including humility and inspiration. The stories are all inspiring. What a good, uplifting read!

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like John McCain anyway, but this was a really interesting book about decision-making. He looks at the traits of great decision-makers and also at the things which can hinder making good decisions. Each chapter focuses on the story of a person in history who made good or poor decisions and what we can learn from them. My favorites were:

1. King Campu Gillette (seriously... that's his name), the inventor of disposible razors

2. Gertrude Caroline Ederle, an American swimmer who swam the Channel through a crazy storm with twenty foot swells

3. Neil Armstrong

4. Harry Truman

[Clare · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is full of good stories about people who have achieved great things but the narrative style of writing has no oomph, no drama. I found it hard to get through.

[Tom Anstett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever hear of Robert Goddard, Reinhold Niebuhr, Robert Gould Shaw, Ma Ellen, or Judah Folkman? Here's your chance. In Hard Call, remarkable and relatively unfamiliar, yet significant historical figures are put into center stage in readable, short biographies. Readers will enlarge their scope, knowledge, and appreciation of people who played roles in the formation of particular disciplines, and therefore, in the identity/history of many countries. Although the writing is straightforward, the lives of the people overcome that minor deficiency. Moreover, the above list is only a portion of the citizens recorded in the book. Worth the time.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains lots of interesting stories and mini-biographies. Good decisions and bad decisions, which I appreciated. I enjoyed the individual stories, but the attempt to pull them together into a cohesive book about decision-making was a little weak. 3.5 stars.

[Karen]

In this book, Senator McCain and Mark Salter use experiences of both extraordinary people and people in extraordinary circumstances to dramatically describe the anatomy of a great decision.

Highlights include: - Henry Ford's decision to sacrifice his company's competitive edge by reducing the work day and guaranteeing a minimum wage. - Branch Rickey's decision to offer Jackie Robinson a contract to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the face of public opposition. - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf 's decision to return to wartorn Liberia after receiving an economics degree from Harvard. - General Fred Weyand's decision to redeploy fifteen of his battalions despite resistance from senior American military commanders in Vietnam. Each of his choices--Lincoln, Churchill, Sadat and Begin; baseball manager Branch Rickey and swimmer Gertrude Ederle; and philosopher of religion Reinhold Niebuhr--faced difficult choices, or hard calls, and McCain walks us through their thought processes, and his own, to show how character and decision-making are intertwined.

[Mike Petty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first half of this book on a 6 hour flight to California. I couldn't sleep, and had to get my mind off of the loud drone of the engines, which this book helped me do. It provides interesting miniature biographies, and some interesting facts but doesn't really dissect what makes good decisions. I had hoped to finish the second half on the way back home but could not get back into it. The stories became less interesting, the decisions more of a stretch, and I found myself skipping sections about people I could tell right away I had no interest in. In the Lincoln chapter, I read only the quotes from Lincoln himself, his beautiful speech filling in the enormous gaps in the suthor's own limited writing. This book was to be a Christmas gift for a girl who never called me back, so I kept it for myself. In retrospect, I wouldn't have wanted her to read it anyway, it turned out to be rather dull.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

a wide variety of accounts of contemporary and historical figures; some known, some unknown, who have made some tough choices for the good of others. hilight of the book was the section on abraham lincoln's determination to save the union and his complete reliance on god during those very dark days of his presidency. i was amazed how perfectly lincoln understood the connection between the nation's sin of slavery and the hellish punishment brought about by the civil war. that god sent this great man for a time when he was needed to preserve our nation became perfectly clear as i read mccain's account.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a 'Profiles in Courage' type book, with biographies of people who made 'courageous choices under dificult circumstances.' Some of the people proviled were Gerald Ford's pardoning of Nixon, Neil Armstrong's landing on the moon, and Jackie Robinson's integration of baseball. It was a good representation of individuals from various areas of life, with emphasis on the particular situation that showed "awareness, forsight, timing, confidence, humility, and inspiration." I was reminded again how flawed people can sometimes rise to the occasion when things really matter.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me, this was seemingly a take-off by Senator McCain on Profiles in Courage by President Kennedy. Offering profiles on multiple historical figures from baseball executive Branch Rickey to Presidents Lincoln, Truman, and Reagan; the book gave detailed accounts of the complex decisions that proved the leadership abilities of each figure. It gave great insights into the lives of each figure and commentaries offered by Senator McCain gave a unique perspective on his world-view. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it!

[MEK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am listening to this very interesting book. Werner Von Braun, Goddard, Reagan, Gorbachev, Alexander Graham Bell, AND Jackie Robinson! Whew! Wow, just finished this book. Since I will have to vote for McCain I thought I should know something about what he values. I never knew that Truman integrated the military and the federal govt. This is a fine book about fine people who faced difficult challenges and, for the most part, made the right choices.

[Betsie Bush · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure what compelled me to listen to this book. It is mostly boring history, and I really didn't pay close attention to most of the book. I guess I am just intrigued by John McCain and was pleased with the idea of him choosing this particular topic. For true history buffs this would be at least a 4-star read, but I couldn't give it the attention it deserved. I would have liked to have heard more about "hard call" decisions made by women as well.

[Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was obviously a veiled pre-campaign campaign for McKain, but I enjoyed all the anecdotes both well-known and not so well-known. However, it really had little to do with making hard calls, but mainly stories about great Americans (who did not necessarily have to make hard calls). In any case, it left me with the positive impression of McKain as a well-read and well-informed legislator -- which went a long way to what I think of him as a candidate.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did the world need another recounting of how and why rich white men succeeded? No. No, it did not. (Yes, there are one or two exceptions to the above; they rather prove the rule.) For bonus angst, McCain pretty clearly espouses none of the values he outlined here.

Look: these are not uninteresting stories. Nor are they poorly told. But this is a political book, which means it intends to Make a Statement, and frankly, that statement sucks.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book detailing various interesting points in history where people had to make important decisions, some of which were fantastic successes and some awful failures.

The book gives background on their decision making, the history of the people up until that point in their careers and as such is a fascinating insight into some critical turning points in history.

[Saadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an impressive collection of stories: american heroes of the past 2 centuries described among their personal and historical backgrounds and their moments of decisive actions. In addition, the book reflects well on McCain as a person, sharing this pantheon of heroes which make up his value system.

[Jeannie]

What a truly great and honest man. It is a pity he has let others make his decisions for him lately. He should run with Ron Paul. He would win by a landslide. BUT he needs to make his own decisions, not listen to the Republican Machine! I know he has the fortitude but does he have enough energy any more. sigh

[pianogal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great inspirational read for anyone facing hard decisions in their lives. It got a little bogged down in military decisions, understandable given the author's background, but still managed to be enjoyable. If you can't decide what to do, just read it.

[Kipi (the academic stitcher) · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read. Nothing terribly compelling, but interesting enough to finish. I was somewhat distracted by the large number of grammatical errors in this book, errors that will surely be corrected in later editions.

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some good stories that I hadn't come across before; the reasons for the success of Boeing Aircraft in the last half of the last century was the one that I found most interesting. I would read this again.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Changed my opinion of John McCain. If these are his heroes, he cannot be the madman that I believed him to be.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories of those who made tough calls were interesting and memorable.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

extremely interesting. I recommend it to all. Although it's not about McCain, his underlying values come through.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific insights into 20+ men and women who have made difficult decisions and have shaped history.

[Rose]

920 McC

[Charlie Schnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stories, some not so much. The real problem with the book is the writing - very dry. My respect for Senator McCain probably raised the score a bit.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book on making tough decisions. Self help people (Bryan) might like it. I thought the best part was the introduction, which was good.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

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