Those who worked with Senator John McCain have a unique perspective. KMIR sat down with Dan Mechem, who was McCain’s press secretary when he first went to Washington as a Congressman.

Mechem says of McCain, “he was a very young and dashing,handsome and articulate fiery, (dan on cam) you could certainly see the makings of the maverick.”

Dan Mechem remembers back in 1982 going tow work as press secretary for then Congressman John McCain.

“Believe it or not, a lot of people don’t know this about John. At that time in Arizona, which was not as populated, John had to deflect the issue of being a carpetbagger. Because he wasn’t from there, he was literally going to every door in the district an knocking on it saying, ‘hello’ and pressing the flesh. That’s how he got elected,” says Mechem.

Only on the job a short time, Dan recalls the Chief of Staff telling him, “don’t bring up Vietnam with McCain.”

But then, Mechem says “I got a call on one of the old back rotary phones, ‘this is Walter Cronkite I’d like to take the the congressman back to Vietnam.'”

With the Chief of Staff out of town, Dan had no choice but to take the message to McCain.

Mechem says, “I went into his office, at first he was a bit gruff, and then he said, ‘well if I’m going to talk about this, I haven’t been back to Vietnam since I was released. Who better to go than Walter Cronkite.'”

Dan also saw a side to McCain few knew, as a prankster. “After I left his office and later became a reporter, I did a live interview with him. And while I was interviewing him, at the end of the interview, he randomly and jokingly said ‘so Dan when did you get out of jail?’ I’m pretty unflappable, I didn’t know what to say I’m standing there looking like a hostage.”

But, as the country mourns the loss of John McCain, Mechem is saddened politics has gotten in the way of McCain’s honors.

“I was so upset to see some of the criticism of him by President Trump, because John to me was the quintessential war hero. John suffered in ways that I saw being with him day in and day out. I’m going to miss him. It’s a sad day for the country that we see someone of that caliber go way.”

Local Resident Remembers His Time With John McCain