Passage
John McCain died on Saturday, August 25, afternoon at his ranch in Sedona, Arizona. He was 81. The long time senator from Arizona had been battling glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, for over a year, and his death came a day after his family told the media they had decided to discontinue medical treatment. Shortly after McCain’s office announced his death, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed their sympathies for the six-term senator.
Chief among the heartfelt responses was the one from Jeff Flake, a senator, (R-AZ), who had represented Arizona alongside McCain since 2013. “I couldn’t bring myself to write this piece until today,” Flake began in an op-ed for the Washington Post. He described how important McCain’s example was to Flake’s career in politics, from when he was first struggling with policy decisions in the House of Representatives to just a few months ago, when he visited McCain at his ranch in Sedona. “He showed us who we are and who we can be when we are at our best,” Flake wrote. “And he devoted his life to service and to the exalted idea of America that was bigger and better than him. Bigger than us all. His fidelity to that idea, and his idealism in balancing fierce political battles with a determination to always see the good and find the humanity in his opponents is an example that transcended politics and made him the man that he was.”
Words cannot express the sorrow I feel at John McCain’s passing. The world has lost a hero and a statesman. Cindy and the McCain family have lost a loving husband and father. I have lost a wonderful friend.
Flake is retiring from the Senate this year and the primary to determine which Republican will vie to replace him takes place on Tuesday. One of the candidates, Kelli Ward, wondered on Facebook whether the McCain family’s announcement was a ploy to distract attention from her campaign. “I think they wanted to have a particular narrative that they hope is negative to me,” she wrote. Another candidate, Joe Arpaio, the criminal sheriff whom President Trump pardoned last year, attacked Cindy McCain on Twitter Friday night. “I tweeted out my thoughts & prayers for @SenJohnMcCain and @cindymccain BLOCKS me on twitter?” he tweeted, tagging President Trump. Both Ward and Arpaio are running for the seat on the strength of their devotion to Trump. Their other opponent, Rep. Martha McSally, was more tactful. “John McCain was one of Arizona’s greatest Senators, one of our country’s finest statesmen, and an American hero who risked his life to defend this great nation,” she tweeted. “He loved this state, and he loved this country.”
In addition to Flake, several other high-profile Senate Republicans offered tributes.
Today, the nation mourns the loss of a great American patriot. My full statement on the passing of @SenJohnMcCain
Ted Cruz, US Senate candidate, TX: “Senator John McCain was a patriot, and an extraordinary American war hero. Heidi and I send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to Cindy, and to the entire McCain family, as they grieve the loss of a loving husband, father, and grandfather. May he Rest In Peace.”
Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC: “I will need some time to absorb this, but I want Cindy —and the entire McCain family — to know they are in my prayers.”
The praise from Senate Democrats was no less effusive. “John McCain and I disagreed on many things, and sometimes quite forcefully,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) wrote as part of several tweets honoring McCain. “But even when we disagreed, I always respected that his heart was focused on doing what he thought was best for the American people.”
John McCain, Legendary Republican Senator, Dead at 81
Elizabeth Warren: “Democrat or Republican, foreign leader or President of the US, John McCain would go toe to toe with anyone to fight for what he thought was right. At a time when character & integrity are under siege, we all mourn the loss of a public servant who lived with courage & conviction.
“I count it as a blessing to have had the honour to serve with John McCain in the Senate and on the Armed Services Committee. If there ever was a true American patriot, John was that patriot. I’ll miss his strength and his maverick spirit, but most of all I’ll miss his kindness.”
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) released a statement honouring McCain’s “principled, independent leadership and the trust and respect he’s earned over decades,” both as a member of the armed services and in Congress. “I have rarely met someone who cared so deeply, sacrificed so much, and represented the best of the United States of America like John McCain,” he wrote. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) released a statement, as well. “We lost a hero at a time when we need them,” he wrote. “We lost a statesman when there are so few around. His was a life of service and a life well lived. May his memory be a blessing.” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wrote, “With love and respect, I mark the passing of a great man, and I will miss him dearly. My heart goes out to Cindy and the entire McCain family.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), proposed renaming the Russell Senate Office Building after McCain.
Schumer wrote: “As you go through life, you meet few truly great people. John McCain was one of them. His dedication to his country and the military were unsurpassed, and maybe most of all, he was a truth teller – never afraid to speak truth to power in an era where that has become all too rare.
“The Senate, the United States, and the world are lesser places without John McCain. Nothing will overcome the loss of Senator McCain, but so that generations remember him I will be introducing a resolution to rename the Russell building after him.”
Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader, said naming the Russell Senate Office Building after John McCain would be a “great tribute.”
“Decades to come, everyone who came to Washington would know the very special place that John McCain held … and will continue to hold.” (via ABC)
House Speaker Paul Ryan released a statement calling McCain “one of the most courageous men of the century.”
“This is a sad day for the United States,” Ryan wrote. “Our country has lost a decorated war hero and statesman. John McCain was a giant of our time — not just for the things he achieved, but for who he was and what he fought for all his life. John put principle before politics. He put country before self. He was one of the most courageous men of the century. He will always be listed among freedom’s most gallant and faithful servants. Our hearts are with his wife, Cindy, his children, and his grandchildren. This Congress, this country mourn with them.”
Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential nominee who is currently running for a Senate seat in Utah, similarly praised McCain’s “integrity, duty, courage and character.”
John Kerry, a Vietnam veteran who also served alongside McCain in the Senate for over 25 years, released a statement praising McCain’s drive to “find common ground even when it was improbable.”
Kerry lost his campaign for the presidency to George W. Bush in 2004, four years before McCain would lose to Barack Obama. The two men who led the country from 2000-2016 offered their condolences Saturday night.
Former President George W. Bush said in a statement: “Some lives are so vivid, it is difficult to imagine them ended. Some voices are so vibrant, it is hard to think of them stilled. John McCain was a man of deep conviction and a patriot of the highest order.”
Former President Barack Obama, who defeated McCain in the 2008 election, issued a statement Saturday night praising McCain for viewing public service as a “patriotic obligation:”
“John McCain and i were members of different generations, came from completely different backgrounds, and competed at the highest level of politics. But we shared, for all our differences, a fidelity to something higher-the ideals for which generations of Americans and immigrants alike have fought, marched, and sacrificed. We saw our political battles, even, as a privilege, something noble, an opportunity to serve as stewards of those high ideals at home, and to advance them around the world. We saw this country as a place where anything is possible – and citizenship as our patriotic obligation to ensure it forever remains that way.
“Few of us have been tested the way John once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did. But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own. At John’s best, he showed us what that means. And for that, we are all in his debt. Michelle and I send our heartfelt condolences to Cindy and their family.”
Former President Bill Clinton in a joint statement with Hillary, his wife said in a statement: “Senator John McCain believed that every citizen has a responsibility to make something of the freedoms given by our Constitution, and from his heroic service in the Navy to his 35 years in Congress, he lived by his creed every day.”
President Donald Trump, who consistently attacked McCain even as he was battling cancer, wasn’t quite so sincere. After it was announced Friday that McCain was discontinuing his medical treatment, the White House noted that Trump did not plan to comment on McCain’s condition while he was still alive. Stumping in Ohio on Saturday, Trump did not mention the senator’s condition despite speaking for nearly an hour. After McCain’s death was announced, Trump tweeted his “deepest sympathies” for McCain’s family, but did not commend the late senator.
– With reports from Rolling Stone
– Aug. 27, 2018 @ 12:15 GMT |
Tags: Bush more react to McCain’s Death President Trump the Clintons the Obamas
