Analysis: The absolutely remarkable life of John McCain - CNNPolitics

Washington (CNN) - John McCain has brain cancer.

First, let's hope the senator makes a full recovery. But the American body politic should pause and reflect on the remarkable life of the Arizona Republican.

McCain has been part of collective national consciousness for the better part of the last five decades -- ever since his capture and ultimate release five years later (in March 1973) from a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp. The stories of his torture at the hands of the Vietnamese were -- and are -- excruciating. His unwillingness to use his status -- his father was an admiral in the Navy -- to gain early release from the camp exemplifies a selflessness and sacrifice most of us can't even begin to imagine.

Less than a decade after he emerged gaunt and hobbled from that prison camp, McCain was in the US House. Four years after that -- in 1986 -- McCain was elected to the seat left behind by the retirement of Sen. Barry Goldwater. - More

The absolutely remarkable life of John McCain

Sen. John McCain has brain cancer, aggressive tumor surgically ...