Statements and Tributes

Statement from The Office of Senator John McCain

Senator John Sidney McCain III died at 4:28pm on August 25, 2018. With the Senator when he passed were his wife Cindy and their family. At his death, he had served the United States of America faithfully for sixty years.

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Mourning the Departure of Senator John McCain

I was in the far northern reaches of Canada on a wilderness river when Senator John McCain died. We got to our endpoint—Nahanni Butte—where there was internet connection, and I learned that he passed away a few days earlier. It was not a surprise, obviously. Friends had been keeping me posted about his struggles and diminished strength through the summer. Still, it was a very sad day when I heard the news.

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John McCain Was a Leading Voice for Indian Country

Since his passing, I note that little mention has been made about Senator John McCain’s legacy of work on issues critical to the Nation’s Indian tribal governments and their citizens. As a citizen of the Hopi tribe of Arizona, I feel compelled to remind us that, in addition to his work on foreign policy and national defense, during the majority of his time in the House and Senate, Senator McCain was a leading voice for and architect of federal Indian policy.

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Saying Goodbye To John McCain: Fighter, Rancher, Fixer, Joker

As Senator John S. McCain rounded 80, it looked like he might have his mother’s DNA: she is still alive at 106. When he died on August 25 (the same day Ted Kennedy died), I realized he was as mortal as the rest of us. But that doesn’t quite capture his magic, so I turned to Hamlet: “He was a man. Take him for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again.”

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Farewell Statement from Senator John McCain

My fellow Americans, whom I have gratefully served for sixty years, and especially my fellow Arizonans, thank you for the privilege of serving you and for the rewarding life that service in uniform and in public office has allowed me to lead. I have tried to serve our country honorably. I have made mistakes, but I hope my love for America will be weighed favorably against them.

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John McCain saw through Vladimir Putin better than anyone

I am able to write this, thanks in large part, to John McCain. Eighteen months ago, when I lay in a Moscow hospital, in a coma after a severe poisoning, McCain took to the floor of the Senate to draw attention to my case. Public attention is often the only protection in these situations; and it certainly was for me.

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The Real McCain

He closed his speech with words as meaningful in these days after his passing as they were that night. “I call on all Americans . . . to not despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.”

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The Death of Political Courage

McCain would have been the first to reject any misplaced claim to sainthood, and he emphasized his imperfections. The senator admitted his errors, and he learned from them, and then he went on to make new and different ones. He could be quick to anger, usually but not always in the cause of righteousness, and I was on the receiving end of a little heated language on occasion. But he’d then so often compose himself, call me “old pal”—even when I was a staffer four decades his junior—and we’d be off and running again. That was par for the course. It was also one reason why, even among those he fought over politics or policy, few seemed able to help but love him.

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A Salute to John McCain

When John McCain was shot down over Hanoi in October 1967, he was near death: his leg, both arms and left shoulder were broken. Some of his fellow POWs didn’t think he’d make it. But the Naval Academy grad beat the odds then and continued to do so until Saturday, when he finally succumbed to brain cancer at age 81.

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Russ Feingold: John McCain Was a Committed Leader. He Was Also Really Fun.

John McCain, to paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt, had the heart to demand joy in life. And demand it he did, with his wife, Cindy, whose own work, particularly in Africa, remains a powerful example of caring and commitment. Like so many others, I will greatly miss my friend. We will all be poorer without his leadership. He was a modern-day rough rider, and those of us who knew him well will longingly remember those days when we could join the charge by his side.

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A Life of Service, Lived With Good-Natured Irreverence

John McCain was not a model midshipman. While at the Naval Academy, he earned so many demerits for unsanctioned outings that by graduation he was made to march the equivalent of 17 round trips between Annapolis and the fleshpots of Baltimore. He later regretted finishing fifth from the bottom of his class instead of dead last. As his mother—still alive at 106—often said, “He was really a scamp.” McCain preferred “maverick.”

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John McCain, a Scarred but Happy Warrior

With John McCain, you never quite knew. That was a big part of his appeal, one of the things that made him interesting, and also one of the things that drove people who value ideological consistency a bit batty.

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John McCain, the irreplaceable American

John McCain’s sense of obligation to his country was shaped by a long family history of military service that included the contributions of two four-star admirals: his father and paternal grandfather. It was tested to the utmost by five years of cruel confinement and torture in a North Vietnamese prison — an ordeal from which he emerged to spend many years in public office and national prominence.

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I Am Grateful for John McCain

Today, I am grateful for John McCain. I’m grateful for the long and meaningful miles he traveled, and for having the privilege of having traveled just a few of those miles with him.

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John McCain spent his life serving the dignity of his fellow man

A random guy living in the back of beyond not only knew John McCain’s name, but knew him to be a friend who would help him if he could. I think my friend would be content with that as a eulogy. He died knowing that a life spent serving the dignity of his fellow man brought the most satisfaction and with it a little hope for God’s mercy.

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Statement from The McCain Family

Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: he had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious. In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival.

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