Memoir explores John McCain’s unique leadership style

When Sen. John McCain died in 2018, his legacy as a Navy veteran, Vietnam POW, and presidential hopeful was well established. Author Marla Sheiner, in her recent memoir, “McCain’s Navy* Class of ’82,” gives readers an even closer look at McCain’s leadership style based on his approach to his first congressional campaign. She had a front row seat then, serving as his first press secretary.

Sheiner explains the inspiration for the book, which published in June 2024. “I was inspired to show how McCain laid the foundation for his iconic 40-year public service career with the Navy’s 11 leadership principles as a centerpiece of his start-up campaign.”

A significant number of our country’s leaders kick-started their respective professions after a stint or career in the military, as McCain did. A Navy fighter pilot, McCain served in the military for 22 years. Five-and-a-half of those years were spent in a north Vietnam prison after his jet was shot down over Hanoi.

McCain’s father and grandfather both served as U.S. Navy admirals, and he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1958. After retiring from the military in 1981, McCain continued his service to the country, this time as a politician.

With the 11 Leadership Principles impressed on him by the Navy, this dedicated public servant continually employed them throughout his career, be it military or civilian. They are:

Know your people and look out for their welfare.
Keep your people informed.
Know yourself and seek self-improvement.
Be technically and tactically proficient.
Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions.
Make sound and timely decisions.
Set the example.
Develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinates.
Ensure that the task is understood, supervised, and accomplished.
Train your people as a team.
Employ your unit in accordance with its capabilities.

Sheiner explains, “This memoir, together with its rare public documents from his first campaign, is a priceless retrospective for future leaders and students of leadership in democratic societies – freedoms which John McCain sought to protect throughout the globe.” She adds, “The Navy’s leadership principles, as practiced by McCain and his first campaign, provide a looking glass and litmus test for today’s Americans searching for quality leaders.”

While McCain, his wife Cindy, and Sheiner were the main players during the 1982 campaign in Phoenix, Arizona, a host of volunteers also played critical roles. To lighten the load and create a fun working atmosphere, the group nicknamed themselves “McCain’s Navy.”

“Our nickname was taken from the 1960s sitcom McHale’s Navy,” says the author. “Like the plot in the sitcom, where the non-commissioned officers were always trying to put one over on the commissioned, we had our inside jokes and antics that would double us over in laughter. There we were, a bunch of civees (civilians), military veterans, and everyday citizens from many walks of life, whose bonding was inevitable as staff and volunteers. We would have never met if not joined in common purpose by a man we all saw as having the potential of being a leading public servant and political figure grounded in duty, honor, and service to the country.”

Sheiner adds, “This book presents an opportunity for readers to be reminded of how McCain’s principled leadership guided his actions and protected American freedoms. All Americans can use this book as a guide for what we should look for in every candidate we elect and leader we put our faith in to lead us. It is a personal and reflective call-to-action, with interesting short stories, allowing the reader to deduce why and how we must protect democratic freedoms based our personal value system – from the boardroom to the public pulpit.”