John S. McCain, Jr.

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John S. McCain, Jr. : biography

17 January 1911 – 22 March 1981

Vietnam War

In February 1967, McCain received his sought-after promotion to admiral (which became effective in May), and became Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe (CINCUSNAVEUR), stationed in London.

 At the change of command ceremony for the Eastern Sea Frontier post, held on his father's old flagship , McCain was awarded a gold star in lieu of a third Legion of Merit for his work during the U.N. assignment.Moritz (ed.), Current Biography Yearbook 1970, p. 261. As the Vietnam War escalated, McCain was a strong advocate for bringing s out of the United States Navy reserve fleets in order to support shore bombardment missions. He ordered a Naval Court of Inquiry to be convened following the June 1967 USS Liberty incident. 

McCain’s son, naval aviator Lieutenant Commander John S. McCain III, became a prisoner of war in North Vietnam in October 1967, after being shot down and badly injured during a bombing raid over Hanoi. McCain’s prominence made the downing of his son front page news. McCain and his wife Roberta treated the news stoically, attending a dinner party in London without indicating anything was wrong even though initial word indicated their son was unlikely to have survived the shoot-down. McCain would later say little about his son’s captivity in public, other than that they had indications he was alive and "that is something to live for."

McCain continued to expand on his vision of the Soviet threat, saying that the Soviets’ maritime goal "encompasses not only the military uses of the sea, but also those relating to world politics, economics, commerce and technology," and likened its propaganda value to the Space Race.

In April 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, McCain was named by President Johnson as Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command (CINCPAC), effective in July 1968, stationed in Honolulu and commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater. In an unprecedented move, Johnson had considered candidates from outside the Navy, including U.S. Army General William Westmoreland, who was leaving as commander of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). But the strong recommendation of Ellsworth Bunker, who had since become U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam, was key in Johnson’s decision. At the change-of-command ceremony for the Europe post, McCain was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

McCain was a strong believer in the domino theory, and as CINCPAC, emphasized what he saw as the grave threat of Communist Chinese expansion of influence.Shawcross, Sideshow, p. 136. He became well-known within the Pentagon and to the press for his fervent briefings on the "Chicom" menace, showing maps with bright-red claws or arrows extending from a bright-red China into much of the area he was responsible for. To some, McCain was the Navy’s most persuasive and energetic briefer,Reeves, President Nixon, p. 192. while to others, he was over-the-top and spoke longer than necessary. McCain believed the Pacific Command’s role was both to confront the major Communist powers with superior and mobile force, and to provide a deterrent force to protect smaller countries from "aggression, whether this be overtly military or by subversion and infiltration."

When the Nixon Administration took office in January 1969, the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 collected views of top officials on the prospects for President Richard Nixon’s policy of Vietnamization. There was a division of thought among those contributing, but McCain was one of those who were relatively optimistic, believing the North Vietnamese had entered peace talks due to military weakness, South Vietnamese pacification progress was real, and the tide of the war was favorably turning.Kissinger, Ending the Vietnam War, p. 50. McCain suffered a mild stroke around this time, but was back at work a month later. Following an inspection tour of South Vietnam in December 1969, McCain remained very optimistic about the course of the war and the ability of South Vietnamese forces to carry greater burdens. McCain did not give much credence to the anti-Vietnam War movement; in reaction to the popular slogan "Make love, not war," he told a 1970 Naval Academy class that they were part of a fraternity "whose members are men enough to do both."