Mark Salter

Mark Salter (born 1955) is an American speechwriter from Davenport, Iowa, known for his collaborations with United States Senator John McCain on several nonfiction books as well as on political speeches. Salter also served as McCain's chief of staff for a while, although he had left that position by 2008. Salter has often been referred to as McCain's "alter ego". He almost left the campaign in mid-2007, when it suffered a collapse and there were many personnel shake-ups.

Some observers have credited McCain's public servant persona as a literary project due to Salter's efforts.

Of their writing process, Salter said in 2008: "It's his voice, but I'm going inside his head to speak some psychological truth about him. I'm drawing a conclusion based on my observation of him. I always show him: 'This is what I've written. This is what I think about you. Is this fair?' " Observers of the two have likened their sharing to that of a Vulcan mind meld.

Howard Fineman wrote in a 2008 Newsweek article: "McCain and Salter are stylistically similar and share a world view: they like to operate in intimate settings, with a loyal band of brothers, a clear enemy in sight and an almost joyful fatalism in the face of long odds." He compared Salter's role to that of Boswell.

Published works Aside from having worked on Senator McCain's staff for 19 years (as of 2008), Salter has also written, in collaboration with McCain, the books Thirteen Soldiers: A Personal History of Americans at War (2014) Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life (2004) Faith of My Fathers (1999) Worth the Fighting For (2002) Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember (2005) Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them (2007) The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations (2018) McCain has always given Salter front-cover credit for his writing work, and also splits income from the books with Salter evenly.

After McCain's death, Salter published a memoir of his time with McCain called The Luckiest Man: Life with John McCain (2020).

Personal life Salter lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife Diane; they have two daughters.

In May 2016 Salter announced he would support Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election, rather than presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

In 2020, Salter and his wife endorsed McCain's vice presidential opponent Joe Biden for president.