A photo of John Sidney McCain III - son and grandson of 4 star admirals in the U.S. Navy.

He attended the United States Naval Academy (graduating, as he joked, 5th from the bottom in his class in 1958 - he was a bit of a rebel) and after graduation became a naval aviator. In 1967, he requested combat duty and was assigned to an aircraft carrier in the Gulf in Tonkin. On October 26, 1967 his plane was shot down and he became a prisoner of war.

After 5 and a half years as a prisoner of war and being severely tortured, John was released. The physical effects of his torture lasted the rest of his life.

In the early 1980s, he entered politics in the state of Arizona, eventually becoming a U.S. Senator. While he was nominated for President by the Republican Party in 2008, he lost the race to Democrat Barack Obama. He remained the senior Senator from Arizona until his death from brain cancer in 2018.