President McCain's Final Press Conference as President:Source: https://www.npr.org/2018/08/26/642046096/mccain-to-lie-in-state-at-u-s-and-arizona-capitolsMcCain: As you may all know I will be giving my Farewell Address from the Oval Office Tomorrow and before I do so I also wanted to give you in the press a chance to also ask me some final questions before doing so. Over the past 8 years I can tell you I have have had many great moments here as well as some bad and embarrassing ones so I just want to say that I appreciate the job you all do so now lets take some questions.
Media Member 1: President McCain what are 3 things your legacy will be most defined by when history looks back
McCain: Well it is hard to say for sure what those 3 things are but I would say that one is that we made real progress in reducing the threat of terrorism not only to our nation but around the world, we showed the world a democracy can work in a region many thought a democracy could not work and my hope is decades from now we can look back at Iraq as just the beginning of the region becoming more and more Democratic.
Here at home I would say is taking on the power of special interests and giving power back to the American people and we have done that through many reforms such as Campaign Finance, Tort Reform, Tax Reform and many others .
Media Member 1: Would you put tackling Global Warming on there
McCain: Well the fact is we do not know what the impacts of our policies such as cap and trade will have until many years in the future so I think that is something that will be decided by historians. I can tell you that I hope that future Presidents build upon the work we started to tackle the issue of global warming rather than just leave what we done on auto pilot as policies such as this require constant refinement and thats what I hope happens.
Media Member 2: What would you say some of your biggest failures are
McCain: Well I would say here at home my biggest failure was the failure to get healthcare reform passed as while policies such as expanding Medicare and Tort Reform does help, I do think things would be better if we passed the healthcare reform bill. I would say another would be if North Korea ends up being a big threat in the future, I would consider it a failure that we were not able to stop them from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Media Member 2: What do you say of people who say nothing could have been done to stop North Korea and this was inevitable
McCain: Listen I think a good leader is not defined by them only taking credit for successes but also willing to take personal responsibility for failures and I take responsibility for this failure.
Media Member 3: Is there any advice you have given President-Elect Clinton
McCain: Well I would say the main thing is to trust your own instincts and judgement . The fact is while you should trust the advice of your cabinet members and advisors you also must trust your own judgement because at the end of the day as President it is your job to make certain decisions and you must trust your own instincts to do so as well.
Media Member 3: What happens though when your cabinet members have disagreed with you on occasion, as haven't you changed course
McCain: Listen you absolutely should listen to what they say and yes they have changed my mind on multiple occasions but you cannot let that hamper you from being able to take tough decisions either.
Media Member 4: President McCain I know you are a huge sports fan, so say ESPN offers you a job to be a sports commentor would you take it.
McCain: I would be honored by such an offer but I can tell you there are probably more qualified people than me for such a role so I would decline but I would not mind guest hosting from time to time and come in from time to time to debate you and others on ESPN about Sports.
Media Member 4: Your Cardinals will be playing in the NFC Championship in a couple days so what do you think about them
McCain: Given we have home field advantage I think we will win and I can tell you it will be very exciting to see them go to the Super Bowl and I can tell you that I like our chances against either the Steelers or Ravens.