Brain Cancer claims John McCain’s life at 81
John McCain, a war hero and towering figure in American
politics, known for reaching across the aisle in an increasingly divided
nation, died Saturday following a battle with brain cancer. He was 81.
The senator's passing marked the end of a storied, 35-year
political career that brought the independent-minded Republican within reach of
the White House as his party's presidential nominee.
John McCain |
"It's been quite a ride," McCain, who was tortured
during five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, wrote in a memoir published
earlier this year.
"I've known great passions, seen amazing wonders,
fought in a war and helped make peace. I made a small place for myself in the
story of America and the history of my times."
McCain, who had been receiving treatment in his home state
of Arizona, was surrounded by his wife Cindy and his family during his final
hours.
"He was a great fire who burned bright, and we lived in
his light and warmth," said Meghan McCain, one of the late senator's seven
children -- three of them from a previous marriage.
Near the driveway to his ranch in a rural part of Sedona,
Arizona, a sign read "Sen McCain, thank you for your service."
A police escort accompanied the hearse that carried his
body, as a fiery sunset cast its last light over the rustic countryside McCain
loved dearly, and local residents came bearing flowers for the late political
titan.
A steady stream of friends and colleagues had come to bid
him farewell at his Arizona ranch in the months since his cancer diagnosis, in
July 2017.
US President Donald Trump, who once mocked McCain's war
record, said he sent his "deepest sympathies and respect."
McCain had been a rare and outspoken Republican critic of
Trump, accusing him of "naivete," "egotism" and of
sympathizing with autocrats. He made a decisive vote last year that killed
Republican attempts to repeal Barack Obama's health care reforms, and Trump
never forgave him.
'All in his debt'
The sharp-tongued McCain had disagreements with many fellow politicians -- including inside his own camp -- but the Republican stalwart was widely recognized for his deep integrity, and condolences came swift from the highest reaches of American politics.
The sharp-tongued McCain had disagreements with many fellow politicians -- including inside his own camp -- but the Republican stalwart was widely recognized for his deep integrity, and condolences came swift from the highest reaches of American politics.
"We are all in his debt," said former president
Obama, the Democrat to whom McCain lost the presidency in 2008.
"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."
Democrat Bill Clinton hailed McCain for having
"frequently put partisanship aside," while his former vice president
Al Gore said he always admired how the senator "would work to find common
ground, no matter how hard."
"John McCain was a man of deep conviction and a patriot
of the highest order," said former president George W. Bush, whom McCain
sought and failed to defeat in 2000 and succeed in 2008.
On Capitol Hill, McCain became close friends with Senator
Lindsey Graham and former senator Joe Lieberman -- a trio dubbed the
"Three Amigos."
Now that the trio is missing its driving force, Graham wrote
that "America and Freedom have lost one of her greatest champions... And
I've lost one of my dearest friends and mentor."
Hailing him as a "truth-teller" with
"unsurpassed" dedication to the US and its military, the top Senate
Democrat Chuck Schumer said he would seek to rename a Senate building in his
honor.
McCain stopped receiving cancer treatment earlier this week,
his family saying "the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of
age render their verdict."
He had spent more than three decades in the Senate, looming
large in debates over war and peace and the moral direction of the nation.
Before joining the upper chamber, he served as a US representative from 1983 to
1987.
McCain had been away from the Senate floor since last
December, remaining at his Arizona home for treatment of glioblastoma -- the
same form of brain cancer that took the life of another Senate giant, Democrat
Ted Kennedy, in 2009.
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