Admiral James B. Stockdale was Ross Perot's running mate in the 1992 presidential election. Stockdale appeared in the vice-presidential debate that year with Dan Quayle and Al Gore. Stockdale's most memorable line from the debate was when he asked, rhetorically, "Who am I? Why am I here?" Many viewers also remember how Stockdale fidgeted with his hearing aide during the course of the contest. Many pundits blame Perot's subsequent decline in the polls to Stockdale's performance in the debateThe New York Times: James Stockdale, Perot's Running Mate in '92, Dies at 81 (July 6, 2005).

Stockdale was shot down over Vietnam on September 9, 1965 and spent the next seven and a half years in a prison camp. He spent four years in solitary confinement and was forced to wear leg irons for two years. In 1969, Stockdale attempted to slit his wrists using shards of glass from a broken window, but his captors revived him. In 1976, Stockdale received the Congressional Medal of Honor and entered a life of academia. Stockdale died in 2005.The New York Times: James Stockdale, Perot's Running Mate in '92, Dies at 81 (July 6, 2005)