'Worth The Fighting For'

(CBS)  Many may consider John McCain a fighter. In his youth, he fought in the Vietnam War. After the war, he transformed himself from a soldier to a politician, fighting for such issues as campaign finance reform.

The Republican senator from Arizona and former presidential candidate talked to CBS News Correspondent John Roberts on The Early Show about his new book, "Worth The Fighting For: A Memoir."

The book is considered a continuation of his earlier work, "Faith of My Fathers," picking up where that story left off — his release from a Vietnamese prisoner camp in 1972.

"I'm trying to write about people (who) inspired me when I was young, and still do today -- whether they be real or fictional, or whether I knew them or just read about them," said the senator.

McCain spent entire chapters on people like Sen. Henry M. (Scoop) Jackson, Sen. John Tower, Billy Mitchell (the famous aviator), Ted Williams, and Teddy Roosevelt. What did all of those people have in common?

"They served a cause that's greater than their self-interests. In other words, they devoted themselves to something, or a cause, or a belief, or an effort, that was transcendent. They were willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve those goals, including the sacrifice of their own lives. I never knew Emiliano Zapata, but I was inspired by him by a movie," said McCain.

"Worth The Fighting For" details McCain's political career, evaluating his high and low points. He writes of his first experience on Capitol Hill as a Navy liaison to the Senate. "Worth The Fighting For" also covers his terms as a U.S. House representative in 1992, a U.S. senator in 1986 and his GOP presidential candidacy in 2000.

"I think I was somewhat inflexible. In other words, I was not willing to go to the state of Washington and say that you should never breech a dam under any circumstances. But I also point out that, with that record of...adherence to the things I believed in, I made not just a mistake, but betrayed all that, because when I went to South Carolina, and I knew the Confederate flag should be taken down. I didn't say so," noted McCain.

McCain, in fact, said so to Anchor Bob Schieffer of Face The Nation -- and then he said exactly the opposite later, Roberts pointed out.

"Exactly. I walked out," said McCain. "Oh, my God, you can't win in South Carolina if you say that. So I backed off that position. Which was an act of political cowardice."

To read an excerpt from "Worth The Fighting For" click here.