Washington says goodbye to senator and ‘true hero’ Mccain
Six term senator and Vietnam war hero lies in state at US Capitol
said goodbye to the late senator and “true American hero” John Mccain yesterday.
The six-term Republican senator, who lived and worked in the nation’s capital over four decades, will lay in state under the US Capitol rotunda for a ceremony and public visitation.
Today, Mr Mccain’s procession pauses by the Vietnam Memorial and heads for Washington National Cathedral for a formal funeral service. At Mccain’s request, two former presidents – Democrat Barack Obama and Republican George W Bush – are expected to speak there.
People close to the White House and Mccain’s family said President Donald Trump, who has mocked Mccain for getting captured during the Vietnam War, has been asked to stay away from all events.
Mccain’s funeral puts him back in the spotlight a few miles from Mr Trump’s doorstep, in the city where the senator, who died last Saturday at 81, worked and collected friends and enemies – and some people were both at different times.
The procession is expected to continue highlighting what Mr Mccain found important, some of which contrasts with Mr Trump’s style and priorities.
Vice-president Mike Pence spoke at the Capitol ceremony yesterday, and other officials represented the administration in Mr Trump’s hardto-miss absence. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis greeted the Mccain family on Thursday night when the late senator’s casket was flown into Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
Mr Mccain chose a Russian dissident as a pallbearer after Mr Trump professed repeatedly his affinity and admiration for Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin – praise that came amid special counwashington sel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Theprocession’spauseatthe Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where Mr Mccain’s widow, Cindy, laid a wreath, highlighted his military service and his more than five years as a prisoner of war.
Mr Trump obtained deferments during the Vietnam War for his college education and for bone spurs in his heels.
Mr Trump was expected to leave Washington yesterday, to head to North Carolina for an event on retirement security about the same time the public will start filing past Mr Mccain’s casket.
The Mccain farewell began on Wednesday and Thursday in Arizona, where he and Cindy Mccain raised their family. Former vice-president Joe Biden and others provided a preview of the tributes to come.
None of the speakers at the North Phoenix Baptist Church on Thursday uttered Mr Trump’s name. But Mr Biden, who is considering challeng- ing Mr Trump in 2020, made what some saw as a veiled reference to the president. He talked about Mr Mccain’s character and how he parted company with those who “lacked the basic values of decency and respect, knowing this project is bigger than yourself”. Mr Biden said Mr Mccain “could not stand the abuse of power wherever he saw it, in whatever form, in whatever country.”
Long-time Mccain friend Tommy Espinoza told the 3,500 mourners that “We all make America great,” a strikingly similar phrase to Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again”.
The church’s senior pastor, Noe Garcia, pronounced him “a true American hero.”
Much of the proceedings were lighthearted, noting Mr Mccain’s penchant for battle.
Mr Biden advised Mr Mccain’s friends and family to remember snapshots of him, such as a glance or a touch.
“Or when you saw the pure joy the moment he was about to take the stage on the Senate floor and start a fight. God, he loved it.”