John McCain: the "maverick" fights his ultimate battle

By Jeff Mason

ST. PAUL (Reuters) - He has been called a maverick, a hero, a survivor. John McCain, the longtime Arizona senator adds a new title on Thursday: Republican presidential nominee.

The 72-year-old McCain, who would be the oldest president in U.S. history to take office, has had a long path to power.

He endured a multi-year ordeal as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, established a congressional career with legislative skirmishes that frequently put him at odds with his party, and fought a bruising battle for the Republican nomination in 2000 that he lost to then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

His campaign sees a common thread of courage and honor in that narrative which it hopes to contrast with Democrat Barack Obama in the November 4 election race.

His critics highlight a lurking temper, a largely conservative voting record, and a political brand damaged by his admitted weakness on economic issues and an association with his one-time rival, Bush.

"John McCain's life is a story of service above self," Bush told delegates at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday. "He is ready to lead this nation."

If he wins, it will be thanks partially to a lifelong streak of rebelliousness.

The man whose mother plunged him into a tub of cold water to cool off his temper as a two-year-old went on to lead what he called a group of troublemakers while a student at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

He graduated in 1958 and entered the Navy. By 1967, McCain was a veteran pilot aboard the USS Forrestal aircraft carrier off the coast of Vietnam.

It was there that he had one of his closest brushes with death.

TORTURE, HONOR

While preparing to take off on a bombing run over North Vietnam, a missile accidentally fired from another plane, hitting the fuel tanks on McCain's aircraft and triggering explosions and fire.

McCain escaped by crawling onto the nose of his plane and diving on to the ship's fiery deck. The incident, called the worst non-combat-related accident in U.S. naval history, killed 134 men and injured hundreds more.

Three months later McCain's life changed forever. On a bombing mission over Hanoi a missile struck his plane, forcing him to eject. The force of the maneuver knocked him unconscious and broke his arms and a leg. He plunged into a Hanoi lake.

An angry mob dragged him from the water, broke his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him. His captors imprisoned him at the infamous Hanoi Hilton, where he remained 5 1/2 years.