>was a dumbass who only got into flight training school because his daddy was an admiral
>crashed numerous planes because he was incompetent
>people blame him for the USS Forrestal disaster, this is disputed though
>what isn't is that he was evacuated to a sister ship because the crew wanted to lynch him
>got shot down by the Vet Cong
>ratted out to the VC, talked so much they gave him the codename Songbird
>info he provided led to the shooting sown of numerous American planes
>decided to stay in Vietnam not out of any sense of duty but because it would look terrible for him to come home early and would kill any hopes he had for a political career
>was going to be tried for treason when he got back to the US
>was pardoned by Nixon, probably because of who his father was
>cheated on his wife multiple times, children from his first marriage hate him
>was the ONLY senator to prevent the declassification of Vietnam docs that families of MIA/KIA/POWs wanted so they could find out what happened to their loved ones
>probably did this to protect his own shameful past in Vietnam