Former presidential candidate John McCain dies of brain cancer. He was 81.
Senator’s passing marks end of a storied, 35-year political career
WASHINGTON: John McCain, a war hero and towering figure in American politics, known for reaching across the aisle in an increasingly divided nation, died 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.
“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 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 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 sympathising with autocrats. He made a decisive vote last year that killed Republican attempts to repeal Barack Obama’s healthcare reforms, and Trump never forgave him.
The sharp-tongued McCain had disagreements with many fellow politicians – including inside his own camp – but the Republican stalwart was widely recognised 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”.
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.” — AFP