Author: McCain among 'lucky' generation

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Aug. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is part a "lucky" generation of 41 million U.S. citizens that have benefited from historical events, an author says.

Florida State University Professor Elwood Carlson suggests in his new book, "The Lucky Few: Between the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boom," that the generation of Americans born between 1929 and 1945 were an almost overlooked generation due to tragic world events, a release from the school said Thursday.

The professor of sociology and population says McCain, 71, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, is among a generation that benefited from being bookended by the stock market crash and World War II.

Carlson suggests that due to the inauspicious start of their generation, McCain and his fellow "Lucky Few" had an altered viewpoint of the world.

"Because of their childhoods, they had really low expectations," Carlson said. "But after the war, those tough times evaporated and the reality exceeded their expectations, so they felt really lucky."

Other notable names to be born during the 16-year period include late civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. and rock 'n' roll icon Elvis Presley.