Renewing the ‘presidential temperament’ question

March 31, 2008

A couple of months ago, Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, one of John McCain’s conservative Republican colleagues and a man who’s worked with McCain for years, raised serious doubts about McCain’s temperament. “The thought of him being president sends a cold chill down my spine,” Cochran said. “He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me.”

The number of examples to bolster these concerns keeps going up.

“We need to listen,” John McCain was saying, “to the views … of our democratic allies.” Then, though the words weren’t in the script, the Arizona senator repeated himself, as if in self-admonishment: “We need to listen.” … Not surprisingly, after the speech last week at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, McCain’s campaign could not talk enough about international cooperation—what McCain had called a “new compact.” “He has such a deep relationship with so many Europeans and those in other regions, including Asia and the Middle East,” said one adviser, Rich Williamson, who added that McCain has kept up his global profile by “going each year to the Munich Security Conference.”

It was all very reassuring. There’s just one problem: John McCain doesn’t always behave according to his own statesmanlike script. In fact, while attending that same Munich conference in 2006, the Arizona senator had another one of what have come to be known as McCain Moments. In a small meeting at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof, McCain was conferring with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the foreign minister of Germany — one of America’s most important allies — when the others heard McCain erupt. He thought the German was being insufficiently tough on the brutal regime in Belarus. Raising his voice at Steinmeier — who’s known for speaking in unclear diplomatese — McCain “started shaking and rising out of his chair,” said one participant, a former senior diplomatic official who related the anecdote on condition of anonymity. “He said something like: ‘I haven’t come to Munich to hear this kind of crap’.”

McCain’s old pal Joe Lieberman jumped in. “Lieberman, who reads him very well, put his hand on McCain’s arm and said gently, ‘John, I think there’s been a problem in the translation.’ Of course Lieberman doesn’t speak German and there hadn’t been any problem in the translation … It was just John’s explosive temper.”

As Newsweek noted, this didn’t amount to an international incident, and “the Germans later said all was forgiven.” It was, however, just McCain being McCain. He’s an equal-opportunity hothead, berating Republicans, Democrats, the powerful, the powerless, and anyone who annoys him in this country or any other.

Just the kind of guy we want leading the most powerful military on the planet during a time of war, right?

The incident in Germany, of course, is hardly unique.

* In a “heated dispute over immigration-law overhaul” last year, McCain screamed at Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), “F**k you!” He added, “This is chickens**t stuff…. You’ve always been against this bill, and you’re just trying to derail it.” [5/19/07]

* In a discussion over the “fate of Vietnam MIAs,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) asked McCain, “Are you calling me stupid?” “No,” replied McCain, “I’m calling you a f**ing jerk!” [Newsweek, 2/21/00]

* At a GOP meeting in fall 1999, McCain “erupted” at Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and shouted, “Only an a**hole would put together a budget like this.” When Domenici expressed his outrage, McCain responded, “I wouldn’t call you an a**hole unless you really were an a**hole.” [Newsweek, 2/21/00]

And these examples, of course, are the tip of the iceberg, and have even raised concerns among military officials about the senator’s temperament.

If the presidential campaign ever gets around to a one-on-one dynamic, in which issues like these can be explored in some detail, it’s a personality trait that may get a closer look. We can hope.

Post Script: One other thing about the anecdote from Germany — notice that it was Joe Lieberman coming to McCain’s rescue again. This seems surprisingly common, doesn’t it?

It’s sad to admit it, but I actually agree with McCain, in regards to his responses to his fellow Republicans… After all, didn’t they deserve it? I mean… look at the moronic positions they were pushing.

Sure he needs to learn to hold his temper, but I’ll make an exception, as long as his hotheadedness is geared to the well deserving Republicans.

🙂

  • Oooh… opportunity! Someone needs to find one of his buttons for a special debate moment in the general election season. Then just let him go off… Who is it that said to never interrupt your enemy (in this case, opponent) when they are making a mistake.

  • When Alzheimer’s disrupts memory, language, thinking and reasoning, these effects are referred to as “cognitive symptoms” of the disease. The term “behavioral and psychiatric symptoms” describes a large group of additional symptoms that occur to at least some degree in many, but by no means all, individuals with Alzheimer’s.

    In early stages of the disease, people may experience personality changes such as irritability, anxiety or depression. In later stages, other symptoms may occur, including sleep disturbances; agitation (physical or verbal outbursts, general emotional distress, restlessness, pacing, shredding paper or tissues, yelling); delusions (firmly held belief in things that are not real); or hallucinations (seeing, hearing or feeling things that are not there).

    Four more years! Four more years!

  • Someone somewhere (here?) linked to a page containing biographical information on McCain that included “interesting trivia”. One piece of “interesting trivia” was that, when angered as a child, he would hold his breath until be blacked out. Not many children have that level of resolve. Clearly he will make a superior president … or he’ll hold his breath until he blacks out.

  • As you can well imagine, there’s a long line of people in Texas who would like to say “F**k you” (in English or in Spanish) to John Cornyn. This could be a plus for McCain.

  • John McCain- he’s George W. Bush without all the charm. In case there any nations W hasn’t pissed off yet, we know McCain will be up to completing the job.

  • So he’s a guy who can’t control his temper, who also thinks the idea of bombing Iran is really funny, and who can’t be bothered to figure out the basics of middle eastern politics. How much harm could a president like that really cause?

    I’m sure it’s more important to consider whether an old black minister said something “unpatriotic”.

  • Danp @ 3, the only reason I’ve got to call Shenanigans is because you’re implying McCain’s temper could be a result of the cognitive damage incurred during the onset of Alzheimer’s.

    Based on what I’ve read and seen and heard, McCain’s always been like this.

    In any event, I agree (to a degree) with Bruno @ 1: It’s hard to be mad at someone who sees people acting imbecilic and calls them out on it. I often feel that the leaders in the Democratic Party have lacked the will to stand up to the bad behavior on the other side, and the GOP has by and large used that timidity to their advantage. Leveling that temper against those who are standing in the way of progress is one of the reasons McCain has that Straight Talkin’ Reputation.

    HOWEVER…

    What becomes troubling is not knowing if he can keep his temper directed at those who truly deserve it. Calling Americans “little jerks” because they ask a question he doesn’t like, no matter how much he plays it off as humor, comes across as hostile, and hints at a temper that might be hard to contain were it unleashed. In other words, I appreciate “Straight Talk” when it comes to telling friends they’re acting like a-holes, or colleagues that they’re out of line grabbing intern’s asses. I expect politicians, especially those running for Presient, to be able to temper that Straight Talk with tact and diplomacy. You can get your point across without raising your ire. You can use sarcasm without raising your voice. You can get the points across that you think someone is stupid without calling them stupid. Developing those skills might make McCain less of a man you’d want to have a beer with, but it also might make him more of a person you won’t mind having his finger on the nuclear button.

    Nah, I don’t think it’ll happen either, and I’d be hard pressed to imagine a scenario where I’d be pulling his name in the voting booth come November. Just playing a li’l Devil’s Advocate while acknowledging that the man he oughta be is not the man he is, nor will he probably ever be.

  • You guys are way too funny, I’m having a hard time chewing my lunch because I can’t stop laughing. Standouts are Smiley @ #4 and RacerX @ # 7. Classic.

  • Danp said:

    smiley: Might this be the bio you’re referring to?

    Yep. That’s it. I didn’t notice previously that it was from his own book. Apparently it’s something he admires about himself.

  • […] when angered as a child, he would hold his breath until be blacked out. Not many children have that level of resolve — smiley, @4

    Actually, quite a lot of them do, starting as infants; I think it must be instinctive. The trick is not to give into this sort of “blackmail”. My husband says his oldest son (from the first marriage) used to do it regularly, which scared everyone rigid and made them do what he wanted. When our son — aged 4 months — started holding his breath and turning blue, both my husband and I were equally paralyzed with fear. My mother, however, just smacked him, fairly hard, on the face and the outraged howl drew breath into his lungs. This was the one and only time he tried the stunt. She said I was far more stubborn and it took 4 or 5 lesson repeats, over several months, before I gave up.

    And, Bruno, @1,

    He needs to learn to hold his temper? At 72??? Most people have learnt to hold their temper by the time they’re 9 or 10, if not earlier. Those who were allowed, into adulthood, to bully everyone around them by their temper tantrums will use the tactic till the day they die, unless someone really stops them cold.

  • Well, as long as McCain chooses Lieberman for his VP we should be all right then. 🙂

    Seriously, what planet are you on when Lieberman is the good angel whispering reason and and sanity in your ear?

  • when angered as a child, he would hold his breath until be blacked out. Not many children have that level of resolve — smiley, @4

    I think it must be instinctive.

    Please explain this statement. Instinctive behavior is behavior that is common to all members of a species.

  • Please explain this statement. Instinctive behavior is behavior that is common to all members of a species. — smiley, @14

    Apologies to all readers of CBR for a totally a-political answer to smiley’s request. Please skip to the next comment.

    Well, it’s hard to believe that a 4mo old infant would actually *reason* that holding its breath would be something that’d likely influence its environment (ie parents) and get it what it wants. Yet, I’ve heard of 3 instances in a single family, with only two of them being blood-related. So I feel it’s a reasonable assumption, that this kind of behaviour is instinctive. Additionally, in the single case which had not been discouraged immediately, the behaviour persisted till the child was 2-3yrs old (or so I’m told; my stepson is only 3 yrs younger than I am and I didn’t know him then) while, in the other two (my son’s and mine) it was discouraged and disappeared before the infant reached the childhood stage (and the capacity to, *consciously*, apply the technique of manipulating its environment). That is, it looks like the child learnt that certain behaviour gave him certain results and continued that behaviour. But that, originally, it had been instinctive.

    But you’re right in that it’s both anecdotal *and* a slim basis for forming an assumption. I’ll try to remember to ask all the mothers of my acquaintance to see if they had experienced similar episodes of breath-holding and, if so, what they did about it and how long the child continued doing this. It’ll still be anecdotal but if there’s a sizable proportion of mothers with similar experiences, then the argument for it being instinctive behaviour would be stronger.

    BTW, on the matter of instinctive (or not) behaviour similar to the breath holding… We were taught in my Laleche (breast-feeding) class that most — though not all — infants would try biting, as soon as their teeth began to break through the gums, whenever they were unhappy with the flow. In which case, we were supposed to give a light smack to the face and remove the source of temptation (ie the tit). IOW, instead of getting more nourishment, the baby would get less, in addition to a stinging rebuke and would, like Pavlov’s rats, “get the message”, eventually. Took my son 3 lessons — one for each of the first 3 teeth. With the forth tooth there was no biting.

    The fact that we were alerted to the possibility of such behaviour (biting) and taught how to deal with it, argues that the behaviour is so common that it might be labelled instinctive. While, the fact that we were *not* taught how to deal with breath-holding might argue that it’s a less common behaviour and, therefore, not instinctive. OTOH… This was a breast-feeding class, not a child-rearing one 🙂 Like I said; I’m gonna try to remember and ask around because now you got me really curious.

  • Bets are on that if Bush fails to start a war with Iran before he leaves office McCain will see to it if elected. He’s already busy trying to bring back the Cold War with Russia.

  • I, too, have great concerns that the actual election of a President John McCain , who is seemingly proud of the fact that his well-documented temper tantrums as a seasoned politician actually began as a child, would only enable him to make good on his intention to make sure that the current ill-conceived wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue for 100 years, while he also makes good on his intention to invade Iran–and, perhaps, other nations he would deem our adversaries, as well–
    without even considering trying true and honest diplomacy with our nation’s perceived adversaries–and friends, as well–to resolve world tensions peacefully.

    John McCain’s planned continuation and expansion of George W. Bush’s reckless warmongering–should he actually elected president–would be, I believe, not only of grave detriment to the nation, its citizens, but the world as well.

    Such an aforementioned scenario should make all concerned Americans think twice before pulling the voter-booth lever for John McCain as president.

  • If holding one’s breath to get what one wants is not instinctive, then why do so many kids do it with no prodding? I’ve got 9 nieces and one nephew, and most of them have tried it way before they were old enough to learn it. I’ve seen plenty of pop culture where kids threaten to hold their breath until they turn blue. It’s gotta come from somewhere. And at the very least, the ensuing brain damage would explain thwy there’s so many effing Republicans.

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