Actually, it was his wife (the one he dumped) who actually was a “foot soldier” for Reagan in the 1976 Florida Presidential primary. She signed on again in 1979, doing scheduling and advance work for Nancy Reagan, working on arrangements for the Republican National Convention and the inauguration. That’s about the time that McCain was off with Cindy.
As to Lebanon, here is a long snip. First paragraphs for context—McCain at the bottom.
By a decisive margin, the House of Representatives approved legislation today that would invoke the War Powers Act in Lebanon and authorize the deployment of American Marines in the Beirut area for an additional 18 months.
The resolution, which had the backing of House leaders of both parties and President Reagan, passed by a vote of 270 to 161. The voting pattern was a ‘’crisscrossed, mixed bag,’’ in the words of Representative Robert H. Michel of Illinois, the Republican leader, as 134 Democrats and 27 Republicans defied their leaders to oppose the measure.
The vote marked the first time that a House of Congress has decided to invoke the War Powers Act, which was approved 10 years ago as a Congressional move to place constraints upon the war-making powers of a President. The Senate will vote on the resolution Thursday and is expected to approve it.
(snip)
Representative Henry J. Hyde, Republican of Illinois, said, ‘’Like it or not, we have leadership of the free world, and sometimes that imposes onerous burdens.’’ Mr. Hyde acknowledged that many lawmakers compared Lebanon to Vietnam, but said that the parallel was not apt.
‘’There is no petroleum in Vietnam,’’ he said.
Opponents of the resolution replied that American goals in the Middle East could not be served by the Marine deployment. ‘’If there is any spot on the globe that doesn’t lend itself to a military solution, it’s Lebanon,’’ said Representative Thomas J. Downey, Democrat of New York,
Representative John McCain, an Arizona Republican and a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, argued that his military training led him to oppose the continued deployment of troops in Lebanon.
“I do not see any obtainable objectives in Lebanon,’’ he said, ‘’and the longer we stay there, the harder it will be to leave.”
Very nice. You’re the go to person.
Thanks for the point about John’s wife also.
In one of the debates John said, “I took the lead for Conservatism durign the Reagan years... well actually I was a foot soldier.”
He knew he was busted as soon as he said it, so he backed off a bit.
I had not realized that John had taken an alternative view in the matter of troops in Lebanon. I do appreciate you filling in that gap for us.