American war hero, presidential nominee and longtime leading politician John McCain has died aged 81.

Mr McCain was the son and grandson of admirals and followed them to the US Naval Academy.

A pilot, he was shot down over Vietnam and held as a prisoner of war for more than five years.

He went on to win a seat in the House of Representatives and in 1986, the Senate, where he served for the rest of his life.

US navy Lt John S McCain III, left, and his parents at the Naval Air Station Meridian McCain Field in Mississippi, which was commissioned and named in honour of his grandfather Admiral John S McCain (AP)
Obit McCain
Mr McCain lies injured in North Vietnam (CBS via AP)
The war hero is greeted by President Richard Nixon in Washington in May 1973 after his release from a prisoner of war camp (Harvey Georges/AP)
Mr McCain greets former North Vietnam colonel Bui Tin on Capitol Hill in Washington in 1991 – Tin oversaw a military prison operation dubbed the Hanoi Hilton, where Mr McCain was held prisoner during the Vietnam War (Dennis Cook/AP)
The senator holds up an article from the Washington Times during a hearing of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs on Capitol Hill in Washington in June 1992 (John Duricka/AP)
Committee chairman John Kerry listens to Mr McCain during a hearing in December 1992 (Ron Edmonds/AP)
Confetti falls on the Republican presidential hopeful and his wife Cindy in Peterborough, New Hampshire, in January 2000 – he was twice thwarted in seeking the presidency (Stephan Savoia/AP)
Mr McCain was at times bitingly funny (Charles Dharapak/AP)
He was the Republican presidential candidate in 2008 (Paul Sancya/AP)
His vice presidential candidate was Sarah Palin (Charlie Neibergall/AP)
He was defeated by Barack Obama (Mark Humphrey/AP)
Mr McCain lost in his bid for the Republican nomination in 2000 to George W Bush (Gerald Herbert/AP)
The senator was a familiar sight cheering on the Arizona Diamondbacks (John Bazemore/AP)
Mr McCain had battled brain cancer for more than a year before his death (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
A military veteran pays his respects at the entrance to the McCain ranch complex in Cornville, Arizona (Ross D Franklin/AP)