In 1998, at the dedication of the National Prisoner of War Museum in Anderson, Georgia, former Attorney General Griffin Bell, a Democrat, introduced Senator John McCain, the featured speaker and a Republican, with these words: "We often hear people now say, where are our heroes, where have all our heroes gone? Well, Senator cCain is an authentic, living American hero.". "So begins Robert Timberg's biography of Senator John McCain, the man who may someday be President of the United States. In John McCain: An American Odyssey, Timberg provides an account of McCain's remarkable life - from his rambunctious childhood and his madcap escapades as a U.S. Naval Academy midshipman to his grim experiences as a combat pilot and POW prisoner in Vietnam, where he was held prisoner by the North Vietnamese for five and a half years. Most importantly, the author illuminates Senator McCain's postwar evolution into one of our country's most distinguished political leaders and a formidable presidential candidate.
Interesting story about a complex man - Annapolis grad, war hero, US Senator. Excerpted from The Nightingale’s Song, which tells the story of McCain and other Annapolis grads. McCain appears to be an independent thinker - bucking the status quo on Lebanon and Kosovo - but what will he do in Iraq. That's the big question.