MERIDIAN, Miss. -- Portraying himself as a link in a long chain of military members going back to the Founding Fathers, John McCain tied together the themes of service and leadership Monday in a speech designed to introduce himself as a leader for the ages.

Most of McCain's ancestors went to West Point and served in the military, but McCain, like his father and grandfather, served in the Navy. McCain's two youngest sons are in the Navy and the Marine Corps, respectively.

"A distant ancestor served on General Washington's staff, and it seems my ancestors fought in most wars in our nation's history," the presumptive Republican presidential candidate said.

Launching a weeklong biographical tour, the four-term Arizona senator described his life and his family's dedication to the country.

As a boy, McCain said he spent part of his summers on his uncle's place in Mississippi, property that generations of McCains had left to join the military.

He recalled his grandfather, a four-star admiral, as a rumpled man who worked with his shoes off, "tobacco leavings ... always scattered about him."

His grandfather commanded a carrier task force in the Pacific in World War II, and was given "a privileged place on the deck of the USS Missouri to witness the signing of the unconditional surrender that ended the war," McCain said with evident pride.

Both his father and grandfather were four-star admirals, the only father-son pair in Navy history.

"They were my first heroes, and their respect for me has been one of the most lasting ambitions of my life," McCain said.

"They gave their lives to their country, and taught me lessons about honor, courage, duty, perseverance and leadership that I didn't fully grasp until later in life, but remembered when I needed them most."

McCain was injured in the Vietnam War, losing much of the use of his arms after having been a prisoner of war for five and half years. McCain's father commanded all U.S. forces in the Pacific while McCain was a POW.

"He prayed on his knees every night for my safe return. ... Yet, when duty required it, he gave the order for B-52s to bomb Hanoi, in close proximity to my prison," he said.

The Arizona senator shifted his service to government after the war, describing himself as an "imperfect servant of my country," but someone dedicated to "service to America," which is the name of his weeklong tour.

"I have been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. But I am their son, and they showed me how to love my country, and that has made all the difference for me."

McCain recalled ancestors buried at Arlington National Cemetery and mused about "the honor we earn and the love we give when we work and sacrifice with others for a cause greater than our self-interest."

McCain did not mention either of his potential Democratic opponents, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, during his speech. He focused instead on good governance and ways to make federal agencies work smarter.

Without specifics, McCain said government must avoid through inattention or arrogance making it "harder for parents to have the resources to succeed in the greatest work of their lives, raising their children." But government should "help make health care affordable and accessible to the least fortunate among us," he said.

He said "tax policy must not rob parents of the means to care for their children and provide them the opportunities their parents provided them. Government spending must not be squandered on things we do not need and can't afford."

He added that "government can't just throw money at public education while reinforcing the failures of many of our schools, but should, through choice and competition, by rewarding good teachers and holding bad teachers accountable, help parents prepare their children for the challenges and opportunities of the global economy."

In addition, "Government must be attentive to the impact on families of parents who have lost jobs in our changing economy that won't come back." He said current job retraining programs are "antiquated, repetitive and ineffective."

McCain only briefly discussed Iraq, noting that he was surprised that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was so decisive in ordering Iraqi troops to take control of Basra from Shiite militias.