Faith of My Fathers
book by John McCain
Faith of My Fathers is a 1999 bestselling non-fiction book by United States Senator John McCain with Mark Salter. Published by Random House, it is part autobiography, part family memoir. It traces the story of McCain's life growing up, during his time in the United States Naval Academy, and his military service as a naval aviator before and during the Vietnam War. His story is interwoven with those of his father John S. "Jack" McCain, Jr. and his grandfather John S. "Slew" McCain, Sr., both four-star admirals in the Navy.
History
McCain had rarely discussed his military experiences until the 1995 publication of Robert Timberg's The Nightingale's Song. After that book found critical praise, Timberg's literary agent tried to persuade McCain to write his own memoir on the subject; he was reluctant until she suggested he fold in the stories of his father and grandfather as well.
Publisher Random House paid McCain $500,000 for a two-book advance. Half went to McCain and half to Salter, McCain's longtime legislative aide. The book's themes were heavily influenced by McCain's literary tastes, such as Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, and its tone by Salter's gloomy view of human nature.
The public source identifies “Faith of My Fathers” as book by John McCain. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Faith, Fathers and book.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5431271. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1999 and 1995.
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This entry incorporates text from “Faith of My Fathers” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.