I’m in my mid-forties and the first presidential election I ever voted in was the fall after my senior year in high school, when Bill Clinton defeated incumbent George Bush and Independent candidate Ross Perot. That election, which seems so quaint compared to recent presidential elections, is remembered for Clinton playing the saxophone on Arsenio Hall and Ross Perot and his crazy charts and graphs buying up TV time to talk about the “giant sucking sound” of jobs being lost to Mexico. One of the minor players of the 1992 election was Admiral James Stockdale, who uttered the famous line, “Who am I? Why am I here?”, as he introduced himself in the VP debate. A public that knew little about Stockdale and his amazing story turned the Admiral into late night comedy fodder, with Phil Hartman on SNL with one of the more memorable impressions.

As an 18-year-old at the time I was unfamiliar with Stockdale’s bravery during the Vietnam War. It wasn’t until later in college at the University of Arizona that I became familiar with his incredible story. At a different stage in my life, as I become a fan of Stoic philosophy, I was introduced to that side of Stockdale.

Like many I learned about Stockdale’s time as a POW in Vietnam through the story of John McCain. The future Presidential candidate was an Arizona Senator during my time in Arizona as a college student. While McCain’s fame greatly surpassed that of Stockdale, it was Stockdale who was the highest ranking POW in Vietnam, commanding the rest of the POW’s during his time in captivity. In all Admiral Stockdale spent nearly 8 years in captivity, over half of those years in solitary confinement. This included two years in leg irons. In all he was tortured fifteen times. For his bravery and leadership Stockdale was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.