John McCain is the United States Senator from Arizona and presumptive Republican Party nominee for President of the United States in the upcoming 2008 election. McCain graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958, and was married in 1965. He became a naval aviator, flying attack aircraft from carriers. During the Vietnam War in 1967, he narrowly escaped death in the Forrestal fire. On his twenty-third bombing mission over North Vietnam later in 1967, he was shot down, badly injured, and captured as a prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese. He spent five and a half years as a prisoner of war, including periods of torture, before he was released in accordance with the Paris Peace Accords in 1973. After remarrying in 1980 McCain moved to Arizona, starting a new career in politics. In 1982, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st congressional district. After serving two terms, he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Arizona in 1986. He was re-elected Senator in 1992, 1998, and 2004. In January 2008 McCain won several key primaries; by the end of that month McCain was the Republican front-runner once again. His lead was solidified by several victories on Super Tuesday in early February, and by the subsequent withdrawal of his closest competitor, Mitt Romney. He gained enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee on March 4, 2008. Sourced from Wikipedia on 3/19/08