He was very close friends with Joe Biden. Biden himself said on many occasions that if McCain ever called him up for help, Biden would be on the next plane to wherever he was in the world. I don't doubt that he had his enemies that hated him, but I doubt that sentence "he was not a nice man in private, very egocentric, and had a very carefully constructed and well-maintained public image." No one is perfect but there are more than enough honorable people that have painted McCain as both admirable, honorable and loved by them.