I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—character matters. When forming judgments about people or institutions, the most important factor to consider is character. Although the saying that past performance does not guarantee future results may apply to investments, the past behavior of a person is the best indicator of their future behavior. Promises have no meaning unless the person making them has a history of living up to them.

Thirty-five years ago today, John McCain came home from the Hanoi Hilton where he spent five and a half years of his life. John McCain is a hero but he is a real hero, not one of the new-fangled heroes we have today. The term hero is thrown around so much these days that it has almost lost it meaning—but McCain is a hero in the truest sense of the word.

He is not a hero because he fought in Vietnam. He is not a hero because he was shot down while completing a bombing mission. He is not even a hero because he spent time in a POW camp. Those actions were merely part of or a result of doing the job he willingly chose to do. John McCain is a hero because of what he did, and what he did not do, while a POW.

During his time in the Hanoi Hilton, John McCain was offered early release because of who he was. He was not only severely injured while ejecting from his airplane as it was hit with a surface to air missile, he was injured further by his captors. The easy thing to have done would have been to accept the release. I honestly think that most people would have understood had he accepted the release. Instead, he stood fast and said he would go home as soon as everyone who had been there longer than he had was also released.

John McCain is a hero because after he came close to death in the fire on the USS Forrestal, he requested a transfer to the USS Oriskany so that he could continue to fly missions. It was from the Oriskany that he would fly his mission before being captured.

To see more about this check out this video.

Is John McCain perfect? No. Do I agree with everything he has done? No. Do I think he will be elected as President and then never make a decision I disagree with? No. Do I think he will be a man of character and make decisions for the good of the country, as best as he can? Absolutely. Why? Because he has character. He has the character that will allow him to put country before self. He has shown he can make the hard decisions—even they have significant personal costs.

Senators Clinton and Obama seem to be fine people but what we know of their character? Senator Clinton and her husband have yet to release records that could show her character. Senator Obama has done nothing but talk about change without really defining what that was. He has yet to point to any decisions he has made that had a personal cost.

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