A Family Duty

Among those present that day in 1993 were 1,050 academy graduates -- and 6-year-old Jack.

"For much of my life," McCain told the crowd, "the Navy was the only world I knew. It is still the world I know best and love most.

"Here we learned to dread dishonor above all other temptations," he said. He reviewed the achievements of past Navy heroes -- pilots and gunners and submariners -- and then spoke of his own ordeal.

"I have watched men suffer the anguish of imprisonment, defy appalling human cruelty . . . break for a moment, then recover inhuman strength to defy their enemies once more. All these things and more, I have seen," he said. "And so will you. My time is slipping by. Yours is fast approaching. You will know where your duty lies. You will know."

Jack remembers the day vividly, not so much his father's words, but the sight of all the graduates throwing their hats in the air in celebration. Even at 6, he felt a connection to the young officers in their Navy whites.

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John McCain's white hair looks thin and wispy as he jokes with his son before the football game. His voice sounds gravelly as he tells stories and greets friends.

His presidential bid has been battered by money woes and a staff meltdown. It has also been hurt by McCain's stubborn support for the war in Iraq and by his vocal compassion for the plight of illegal immigrants.

"I don't believe I was intended to be president," he says. "I don't even believe I was intended to be a senator. But I do believe I was intended to do some thing, or things, that are a cause greater than my own self-interest."

As he chats in the hospitality suite, his son stands beside him, 50 years his junior.

McCain says he didn't pressure Jack to become a midshipman. "I never brought it up," he says, because "I was pushed very hard, and I was worried about the negative reaction." Still, McCain says, "I'm sure it was obvious to him that I'd be proud if he went."

For Jack, there was no resistance. No struggle with his father's legacy. When it came time to choose a college, he announced that he was applying to only one: the Naval Academy.

"It's a family tradition," says Jack, who thinks he might want to become a pilot like his father. "For most of my life, I've seen what Naval Academy graduates carry. I've seen the way they act, and how people value their opinion. . . . I've always been inspired toward a life of service. I don't believe that there's anything more noble than serving your country in whatever capacity you can."

Recently, he says, while passing through the academy's history department on the third "deck" of Sampson Hall, he spotted a bust of a famous admiral. The face looked familiar. He paused, looked closer and realized who it was: his great-grandfather John Sidney McCain.