John McCain Quotes

Making the case for sustained U. S. [world] leadership is not always easy. Unilateralism or isolationism often make for better sound bites.

The United States is the world's best hope; but if you fetter her in the interests and quarrels of other nations, if you tangle her in the intrigues of Europe, you will destroy her power for good and endanger her very existence.

America remains the indispensable nation. There are times when America, and only America, can make a difference between war and peace, between freedom and repression.

America must always lead on the world stage.

If the United States disengages from many issues confronting the international community it will be replaced.

Unlike President Obama, I would say that I support the long-standing bipartisan post-war belief that American global strength and leadership secures our national-security interests, and it also promotes order and stability in the world. And it gives us immense influence in the world and deters our adversaries and reassures our allies.

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton is exceptionally qualified to serve as President Trump's National Security Adviser, and I fully support his selection.

I think, all in all, the Obama administration and what President Obama has focused on has lived up to our need to protect American interests, to live our values and assert our values, and to stand up for future generations.

I believe the previous administration shrunk from some of our responsibilities as a superpower and made the world a more dangerous place.

I believe, and always have, that America must engage - not retreat - in the world.

My priority is to give the United States the kind of influence it should have.

Nixon was an awful president in many ways, including in some of his foreign-policy choices. But he left no doubt that foreign policy and America's leadership in the world outside its borders was of paramount importance to him.

Kneejerk interventionism or kneejerk isolationism is the wrong course for Britain.

I cite these events because I think they underline two very disturbing phenomena - the loss of U.S. international credibility, the growing U.S. international isolation.

There's no way in the world that the United States does not want to spread democratic ideals, but the first thing we have to do is that which is the interest of our security.

The internal affairs of other countries has a big impact on American interests.

This is the American moment in world history and one for which we shall ever be judged.

It is important that we get our people back, but your greater responsibility is to protect the honor and dignity of our country and its foreign policy interests.

Under the Nixon-Ford administration, there has evolved a kind of secretive "Lone Ranger" foreign policy—a one-man policy of international adventure. This is not an appropriate policy for America.

No one can think intelligently on the many complicated problems of American foreign policy unless he decides first what he considers the real purpose and object of that policy…. Fundamentally, I believe the ultimate purpose of our foreign policy must be to protect the liberty of the people of the United States.

There's no sense in using surrogates to pursue United States national interests.

It is just as important to define the limit beyond which we will not intervene as it is to convince our people that we cannot find security in an isolationist party.

It’s not America’s job to fix the Middle East. Our job is to look after our own interests..

President Obama came to office with a strong belief that America had overreached, that we had become too involved. It matched the national mood, and indeed, there was some evidence that it was true.

All over the world, the Trump administration is pursuing a range of policies: tweeting insults at Maduro, negotiating with a defiant North Korea, sending a small fleet of warships to the Persian Gulf to intimidate Iran. But the speed with which the president always sours on these efforts means they can never be part of any discernible strategy.