McCain's father, Jack, was a deeply ambitious sailor. Nicknamed "Good Goddamn McCain," he was a binge alcoholic who tried fitfully toward the end of his life to control his drinking. "When he was drunk," wrote McCain, "I did not recognize him."
Jack married a charming woman who would be indispensable to his rise in the Navy. Roberta Wright was one of two beautiful identical twins, rich young women whose father had retired at 40 after making a killing as an oil wildcatter. Jack and Roberta eloped to Tijuana and were married in a room above Caesar's, the restaurant where, some say, the famous salad originated.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, September 06, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 35 words Type of Material: Correction
The imperfect hero: In Thursday's Section A, a caption for a 1961 photo accompanying a profile of John McCain gave his rank as lieutenant. When the photo was taken he was a lieutenant junior grade.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Monday, September 08, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 52 words Type of Material: Correction
"The imperfect hero": The profile of Sen. John McCain in Thursday's Section A said that Washington magazine once dubbed him "Senator Hothead." The magazine was the Washingtonian. Also, a caption for a 1961 photo with the profile gave McCain's Navy rank as lieutenant. At the time he was a lieutenant junior grade.
The day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor is one of John McCain's earliest memories. "A black car passing our house slowed down, and the driver, a naval officer, rolled down the window and shouted, 'Jack, the Japs have bombed Pearl Harbor!' My father left for the base immediately. I saw very little of him for the next four years." McCain was 5.
'The Crown Prince'
Many politicians claim to be survivors. Few mean it literally.
In July 1967, McCain was in the cockpit of his A-4 Skyhawk on the aircraft carrier Forrestal, preparing to take off on a bombing run over Vietnam, when a stray electrical charge ignited a missile on a nearby plane. The missile exploded into McCain's fuel tank. Grainy footage in a McCain campaign video shows him sliding down the refueling probe on his plane's nose, dropping into a lake of burning fuel. "Small pieces of hot shrapnel from the exploded bomb tore into my legs and chest," he wrote. "Body parts, pieces of the ship and scraps of planes were dropping onto the deck." In all, 134 men died.
He transferred to another carrier, the Oriskany. In August 1967, the squadron he joined had destroyed a power plant in Hanoi. Two months later, the plant had been rebuilt and was back in the Navy's sights.
McCain begged for the mission. "The earlier raid was the pride of the squadron," he wrote. "I wanted to help destroy it again. I was feeling pretty cocky as well."
On Oct. 26, 1967, in the air over Hanoi, an alarm signaled that a surface-to-air missile had locked onto his plane. He should have tried to evade the missile but decided to release his bombs first. The missile took off the plane's right wing; McCain ejected.
He landed, with a broken leg and two broken arms, in a lake in the middle of Hanoi. After he was pulled from the water, he was bayoneted in the ankle and groin.
