Final wish: Focus on what unites us
Senator wanted ‘tribal rivalries’ put aside; Trump belatedly issues tribute statement
Sen. John McCain expressed his deep gratitude and love of country in his final letter and implored Americans to put aside “tribal rivalries” and focus on what unites.
Rick Davis, former presidential campaign manager for McCain who is serving as a family spokesman, read the farewell message Monday at a press briefing in Phoenix.
In it, McCain reflected on the privilege of serving his country and said he tried to do so honorably. He also touched on today’s politics.
“Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here,” McCain wrote. “Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.”
McCain died Saturday from an aggressive form of brain
cancer. Plans taking shape called for McCain to lie in state Wednesday in the Arizona State Capitol on what would have been his 82nd birthday. A funeral will be conducted Thursday at North Phoenix Baptist Church, with former Vice President Joe Biden speaking.
In Washington, McCain will lie in state Friday in the Capitol Rotunda with a formal ceremony and time for the public to pay respects. On Saturday, a procession will pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and arrive for a funeral at Washington National Cathedral. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama are expected to speak at the service. Both after former election opponents of McCain: Bush bested the Arizona senator in 2000 to win the GOP nomination for president, and Obama defeated McCain in the 2008 presidential election.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell paid tribute to McCain on Monday by recalling their own legislative battles while echoing the late senator’s belief that there’s more that unites than divides Americans.
Speaking from the Senate floor, McConnell said that while McCain served the state of Arizona in Congress, “he was America’s hero all along.”
He spoke near McCain’s desk in the Senate, which has been draped in black and adorned with white roses in his honor.
McConnell and McCain tangled over several issues, including McConnell’s attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which failed on McCain’s surprise “no” vote. McConnell said serving with McCain “was never a dull affair.”
Neither was the oftencontentious relationship between McCain and President Donald Trump, which lingered even after the senator’s death. On Saturday, Trump failed to mention McCain’s service to the country in a tweet of condolence to the senator’s family. Then on Monday, the American flag atop the White House was returned to full-staff after flying at half-staff for only one day. That angered members of both parties, as well as the American Legion.
Monday afternoon, Trump bowed to the pressure and ordered American flags at U.S. buildings lowered to half-staff until McCain’s burial on Sunday. The president also issued a statement on Monday that read, in part: “Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain’s service to our country.”
People close to McCain and the White House said the senator’s family has requested Trump stay away from the week’s services and ceremonies.
Trump said Vice President Mike Pence will address a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on Friday. Chief of Staff John Kelly, Defense Secretary James Mattis and National Security Adviser John Bolton also will represent the administration at the upcoming services.
Asked about Trump’s response to McCain’s death after the White House flag was raised Monday morning, Davis said that the family was focusing on the outpouring of support from around the world instead of “what one person has done or said.”
“The entire focus of the McCain family is on John
McCain,” Davis said. “There really is no room in the McCain family today to focus on anything but him.”
This week’s rites for the late senator will be followed by the sensitive matter of who will succeed McCain in the closely divided Senate.
Arizona law requires the governor of the state to name an appointee of the same political party who will serve until the next general election. Since the time to qualify for this November’s election is past, whoever is appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey will serve until a special election in 2020. The winner of that race would serve through 2022, the end of McCain’s current term.
Possible appointees whose names circulate among Arizona politicos include McCain’s widow, Cindy, former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl and Ducey’s chief of staff, Kirk Adams.
Meanwhile Monday, tributes to McCain poured in from around the globe. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted in English that McCain “was a true American hero. He devoted
his entire life to his country.” Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said McCain’s support for the Jewish state “never wavered. It sprang from his belief in democracy and freedom.” And Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, called McCain “a tireless fighter for a strong trans-Atlantic alliance. His significance went well beyond his own country.”
McCain was the son and grandson of admirals and followed them to the U.S. Naval Academy. A pilot, he was shot down over Vietnam during the war there and was held as a prisoner of war for more than five years. He went on to win a seat in the House, and in 1986 was elected to the Senate, where he served for the rest of his life.
“He had a joy about politics and a love for his country that was unmatched,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said on CNN. “And while he never made it to the presidency, in the Senate, he was the leader that would see a hot spot in the world and just say, we need to go there and stand up for that democracy.”
In Washington, McCain will lie in state Friday in the Capitol Rotunda with a formal ceremony and time for the public to pay respects. On Saturday, a procession will pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and arrive for a funeral at Washington National Cathedral.