John McCain Remembered By Daughter Meghan, Former Presidents Obama, Bush

Senator John McCain was laid to rest on Sunday (September 2) at the U.S. Naval Academy cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland. The 81-year-old died at his home in Arizona on Saturday, August 25, days soon after his family member reported he'd suspended treatment for glioblastoma and 13 months immediately after doctors first discovered the aggressive tumor on his brain.


McCain's presidential send-off was a multi-day, cross-country affair, starting with a procession in his residence state, moving to Washington, D.C., And then taking him to his final resting place in Annapolis.


In Phoenix on Wednesday (August 29), McCain was honored with a ceremony at his state Capitol, with tributes from his Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and his Senate Colleagues, Jeff Flake and Jon Kyl. Former Vice President Joe Biden discussed at a memorial service the following day, before McCain's body was flown to the nation's capital where he lied in state in the Capitol Rotunda. McCain was the 31st person and 13th senator to receive the honor.


On Saturday (September 1), McCain was eulogized by his daughter, Meghan McCain, Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Former Senator Joseph Lieberman, and former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger at an invitation-only ceremony at the Washington National Cathedral.


Current President Donald Trump was notably absent from the ceremony, at the request of McCain himself. In remembering the senator, the 43rd and 44th Presidents both drew implicit comparisons between McCain's fashion of politics and Trump's, yet it was his daughter who delivered the harshest blows — bolstering her father's "American greatness, the real thing," and condemning those who have "resented" his fire "for that light it cast upon them, for the truth it revealed about their character." (Trump has spoken poorly of McCain on a couple of occasions.)


The most pointed criticism, although, came once Meghan triumphantly mentioned to applause, "The America of John McCain has no reason to be made good again because America was habitually great."


The five-day proceedings came to a close any time whenever he was laid to rest, where his motorcade passed through crowd-lined streets as his body was taken to one final private ceremony. McCain's final resting place is alongside his former classmate and friend, Admiral Chuck Larson, at a site that overlooks the Severn River.


The six-term Arizona senator began his political career in 1981 and served two terms in the Residence of Representatives before moving into the Senate. He campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, however lost in the primaries to then-Texas Governor Bush. Then, in 2008, McCain once again sought to secure his party's nomination for President, and this time won. He faced off against then-Illinois Senator Obama, ultimately losing the race, yet sustaining his presence in the Senate up until his final day.


Prior to embarking on his decades in politics, McCain served In America Navy while in the Vietnam War. While serving, he was captured by the North Vietnamese and spent five-and-a-half years as a prisoner of war, where he was subjected to torture and sustained lifelong physical injuries.


Without consideration of personalized politics, McCain's willingness to reach across the aisle and put America — not his party — first has abandoned him remembered as a true patriot. He is survived by his mother Roberta, partner Cindy, and children Doug, Andrew, Sidney, Meghan, Jack, Jimmy, and Bridget.