Although he made an anti-Vietnam War "confession" McCain was ashamed of it and said that "every man had his breaking point and I had reached mine." He also refused early repatriation (his father was at the time Commander-in-Chief Pacific (CINCPAC) so as to deny the North Vietnamese any propaganda benefit.

He also said that waterboarding is torture, and he would know what torture is. I may not agree with what he's said and done in Congress, but I respect him quite highly.