As the country reels from the loss of longtime senator, war hero, and former POW John McCain, plans for his internment and funeral have been announced. Plans for the eulogies and attendees are just as surprising as the plans for who will not be welcomed.
John McCain requested the 43rd and 44th presidents — both bitter political rivals of his at one point in time — to deliver eulogies at his funeral. He asked the 45th not to come. https://t.co/amTj3NQCrp
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) August 26, 2018
McCain will be interred at the Capitol Rotunda with “a full dress funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral,” according to The New York Times. While just over 30 people have had that honor, McCain will be only the 13th senator to do so. The first was House Speaker Henry Clay of Kentucky in 1852.
Sen. John McCain had been planning his funeral services over the last year, often discussing them with close friends who visited his Arizona ranch https://t.co/dZfbyu6FDU pic.twitter.com/LiGWSH7dhS
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) August 26, 2018
Other plans have been reported to the media in advance of the service.
‘Two Republicans familiar with the planning said that Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have been asked to offer eulogies at his funeral. Under initial plans for Mr. McCain’s funeral, Vice President Mike Pence was to attend, but not President Trump, who clashed repeatedly with Mr. McCain.’
The two former presidents, Obama and Bush, both ran against McCain in presidential elections in 2000 and in 2008. McCain ran as honorably as he served, and one of his most memorable moments came during a town hall in the 2008 election.
It should also be noted that this was SECOND time in same town hall that McCain batted back an audience attack on Obama's character. See here: https://t.co/dBf5mGVlRc. McCain in both tries to use language about Obama's decency to override smears about his "otherness."
— Robert A George (@RobGeorge) August 26, 2018
Trump and McCain not only clashed, but Trump outright attacked the senator for everything from his military service (“I prefer people who weren’t captured”) to disagreements on repealing the Affordable Care Act as McCain’s health declined.
John McCain read these lines at the memorial for his friend and biographer Bob Timberg, and at his own father’s funeral. They seem like the right words now. By Robert Louis Stevenson. pic.twitter.com/lyvEfWn65r
— Shane Harris (@shaneharris) August 26, 2018
McCain’s passing has sparked an outpouring of love and support from both sides of the political aisle, but it seems there will never be much love lost between the Arizona senator whose integrity meant everything to him and the president who couldn’t spell the word “integrity” if he tried.
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
