The genesis of the F4H (F-4A) was an initiative by McDonnell Aircraft, starting in early 1953, to improve the F3H Demon that was being developed by the U. S. Navy as an all weather fighter at the time but which not have supersonic performance. McDonnell engineering and design efforts, under the management of Herman Barkley, led to a number of studies and proposals to upgrade the F3H by modifying the airframe, changing the engine and improving the weapons system. After a number of variants that were labeled as F3H "C", "E", "G", "H" and "J", the final version was submitted to the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics (BUAER) in September of 1954. In October BUAER accepted the twin engine design, designated it as the AH-1 since it was intended as a multi-role aircraft and ordered two prototypes. In December of 1954, BUAER revised the multi-role design to accommodate two-crew and redesignated it the F4H-1.

In November of 1955, BUAER ordered a new design based on the F8U-1 Crusader from Chance Vought as the F8U-3 and in 1958 ordered a competitive fly-off between the Chance-Vought F8U-3 and the F4H-1. In late 1958, the F4H-1 was declared the winner of the competition and ordered into production. The original design was unstable at high Mach numbers and did not have acceptable low speed flying characteristics for carrier operations. McDonnell overcame the high Mach number problem by incorporating 23 degrees of anhedral for the horizontal tail and 12 degrees of dihedral in the outer wing panels, yielding greater stability at high mach numbers and installing variable geometry intakes to control airflow at high speeds. To address the low speed deficiency, the designers incorporated Boundary Layer Control (BLC) that used engine compressor air blown over the leading and trailing edge flaps.

With the final design set, the F4H-1, now called the Phantom II, was ordered into full production. Because of its exceptional performance the Bureau of Weapons (BUWEPS), successor to the BUAER, assigned several F4H-1s to attempt to set speed, altitude and time to climb records. For the most part, the high altitude record-breaking attempts were conducted in "Skyburner", while the low altitude records were conducted in "Sageburner". The attempts were spectacularly successful. "Skyburner" set records for speed and climb, including altitude, 98,557 ft., sustained altitude, 66,443 ft. and maximum speed over a closed 500-kilometer closed course, 1216.76-mph. Sageburner established the low altitude record.

There were two "Sageburners." The first one crashed from a combination of factors. The principal causes were the excessive sensitivity of the F4H-1 pitch control and pitch damping system and pilot error. Cdr. J. L. Felsman was killed when he caused a Pilot Induced Oscillation (PIO) which, combined with high speed and extremely high aerodynamic pressure caused the airframe to distort to such a degree that it disintegrated. The engines, which had been at full power, broke loose and, maintaining the relative separation they had in the aircraft, continued down range for several miles, streaming smoke and fuel vapor before crashing.

Following this tragic accident BUWEPS conducted an extensive review of the probable causes. The chief culprit was the pitch control system, particularly the pitch control damping system. Accordingly, several changes, which simplified the system and made it less sensitive, were incorporated. The changes were evaluated in a PIO simulator owned by North American Aviation in Columbus, Ohio. Since aircraft companies are invariably highly reluctant to share knowledge with each other, transferring the F4H-1 flight control data from McDonnell to North American proved a daunting task but was done under supervision of the BUWEPS. Lt. Huntington Hardisty, who later retired from the Navy as an Admiral, conducted the simulator PIO tests and declared himself satisfied that the F4H-1 could be flown safely in the low level speed run to establish a new record and in service. Lt. Hardisty and his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), Lt. Earl H. DeEsch succeeded in flying "Sageburner" over the designated course twice at an altitude of 125 ft. to set a record that still stands of 902.769 mph.

In addition to the spectacular records set by Sageburner and Skyburner described above, these two aircraft and several other F4H-1s, set a number of records. The records established by F4H-1s are:

-1959 December 6, world altitude record, 98,557 feet at Edwards AFB, Cdr. Lawrence E. Flint USN, pilot. 1960 September 5, world speed record to 500 kilometers closed circuit 1216.766 mph, at Edwards AFB, LtCol. Thomas H. Miller USMC, pilot.
- 1960 September 25, world speed record of 100 kilometers, closed circuit, 1390.24 mph, at Edwards AFB Cdr. John F. Davis USN, pilot.
- 1961 May 24, Los Angeles to New York 2421.4 miles in two hours, 47 minutes, 19.7 seconds average speed 869.739 mph. Lt. R. F. Gordon USN pilot and Lt. (jg) B. R. Young USN, RIO.
- 1961 August 28 world speed record for three kilometers at less than 100meters altitude, 907.769 mph at Holloman AFB Lt. Huntington Hardisty USN, pilot and Lt. Earl H. DeEsch USN, RIO.
- 1961 November 22, world maximum speed record, 1606.505 mph, at Edwards AFB, LtCol. Robert B. Robinson USMC, pilot.
- 1961 December 5, world record for sustained horizontal flight, 66,443.8 ft., at Edwards AFB, Cdr. George W. Ellis USN, pilot.
- 1962 February 21, world record for climb to 6,000 meters, 48.797 seconds at NAS New Brunswick, LtCol. W. C. McGraw USMC, pilot.
- 1962 March 1, world record for climb to 12,000 meters, 77.143 seconds at NAS New Brunswick, LtCol. W. C. McGraw USMC, pilot.
- 1962 March 3, world record for climb to 9,000 meters, 61.688 seconds at NAS New Brunswick, LtCdr. D. W. Norberg USN, pilot.
- 1962 March 30, World record for time to climb to 20,000 meters, 178.5 seconds at NAS Point Mugu, LtCdr. John W. Young USN, pilot.
- 1962 April 3, world record for climb to 25,000 meters, 230.44 seconds at NAS Point Mugu, LtCdr. John F. Young USN, pilot.
- 1962 April 12, world record for climb to 30,000 meters, 371.43 seconds at NAS Point Mugu, LtCdr. D. W. Norberg USN, pilot.

All of the F4H-1s, which were redesignated as F-4As in 1962, were assigned to Test and Development and to training squadrons since they were not considered fully operational. The successor to this remarkable aircraft, the F4H-2 (F-4B) served with distinction in the U. S. Navy and U. S. Marine Corps. Subsequently F-4Cs, RF-4Cs, F-4Ds, and F4-Es served in the U. S. Air Force. Later the Navy and Marine Corps acquired the F-4J, subsequently modified to F-4S. The United Kingdom, Israel, Germany, Japan, Iran, and Turkey also operated F-4s.