Live Briefing: John McCain Lies in State in U.S. Capitol as Americans Pay Their Respects
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Ms. McCain, dressed in black pants and a sheer white blouse that matched the snow-white of her perfectly coifed hair, appeared poised and serene during the service. At one point she reached out to grasp the hand of her granddaughter Meghan McCain who sat weeping beside her.
Using a wheelchair pushed by her grandson John S. McCain IV to make her way to the center of the Rotunda, Ms. McCain crossed herself silently at the senator’s coffin.
Mr. McCain wrote in his 2005 book “Character is Destiny” that his mother and her identical twin sister, Rowena — now deceased — “were renowned for their beauty, which has hardly faded over the years that have passed since heads first turned in their direction. But their personalities have always been their most attractive feature.”
He wrote that Ms. McCain had been “raised to be a strong, determined woman who thoroughly enjoyed life, and always tried to make the most of her opportunities.”
An absent commander-in-chief
At the White House, President Trump remained eerily quiet during the morning, and throughout the Capitol service for Mr. McCain. He did not tweet.
The special split-screen televisions in the press areas of the West Wing showed the same thing on each of the four news networks: live coverage of the service. But White House officials said they did not know whether Mr. Trump was watching.
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The president was scheduled to leave the White House just before 1 p.m. for a trip to North Carolina before returning to Washington for what is expected to be a soggy weekend. A spokeswoman said the president has no public events on the schedule for the long, holiday weekend.
— Michael D. Shear
Mitch McConnell leads off for a man he often clashed with.
Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and majority leader, and Mr. McCain had a tempestuous relationship over their careers, fighting about campaign finance laws all the way to the Supreme Court. Mr. McCain was not easily led and Mr. McConnell’s job was to lead.
But they repaired any lingering damage in recent years and settled into a comfortable camaraderie that was upended a bit by Mr. McCain’s decision to oppose Mr. McConnell’s drive to repeal the new health care law. Still, there was a strong mutual respect for the abilities of one another.
Mr. McConnell proudly took note of the occasional difficulties of dealing with John McCain.
[From the Arizona State Capitol to Washington National Cathedral, John McCain will be honored in a series of memorial services this week. Here are vignettes of the ceremony and sentiment.]
“He treated every issue with the intensity the people’s business deserves,” Mr. McConnell said. “He would fight tooth and nail for his vision of the common good. Depending on the issue, you knew John would either be your staunchest ally or your most stubborn opponent.”
Paul Ryan says he loved being cursed out by Senator McCain.
Speaker Paul D. Ryan was among those remembering Mr. McCain’s fighting streak with fondness.
“I myself, from time to time, found myself on the receiving end of John’s distinct brand of candor — happily so,” Mr. Ryan said. “I remember thinking more than once, ‘Yeah, he really does talk like a sailor.’ ”
“With John, it was never feigned disagreement,” he added. “The man didn’t feign anything — he just relished the fight.”
Mr. Ryan quoted a passage from one of Mr. McCain’s favorite authors, Ernest Hemingway, who wrote in “A Farewell to Arms” about how people grow “strong at the broken places,” a trait he said the senator embodied.
Video
John McCain: The Making of a Maverick
A look at the formative times and turmoil that shaped a historic American figure, with Carl Hulse, The Times’s chief Washington correspondent.
By ROBIN STEIN, CARL HULSE, DAVID BOTTI and CHRIS CIRILLO on Publish Date August 25, 2018. Photo by Stephen Crowley/The New York Times. Watch in Times Video »
“Though the highest office alluded him,” Mr. Ryan said, “he attained what is far more enduring: the abiding affection of his fellow citizens and an example for future generations.”
Continue reading the main story After a Midnight Vote, a 19 Hour Trip
Anna Marie Farone had never followed Senator McCain’s political or professional career before 2017. She knew he ran against President Barack Obama, but did not cast a vote.
But Ms. Farone, 33, who suffers from a degenerative spine condition, avidly watched the debate over the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and celebrated when Mr. McCain made his dramatic thumbs-down vote on the Senate floor last summer, preserving the health care law.
It was that vote that led her to travel to Washington for the first time since the Clinton administration — a 19-hour trip from Indianapolis that included a missed Greyhound connection and a last-minute flight out of Pittsburgh — and be the first in line outside the Capitol to make it into the Rotunda to pay her respects.
“It was that one ACA vote,” said the freelancer and urban farmer, who arrived outside the Capitol Visitor Center Friday just six hours after reaching Washington. “He did side with the humans when it mattered.”
And while Ms. Farone disagreed with some of his other votes, including his support for last year’s Republican tax overhaul, she said she wanted to celebrate his willingness to work for bipartisan measures.
“He may not have always done it right, but he did it well” she said. “He was human.”
Behind her, dozens of people had started to gather in line to wait to pay their respects later this afternoon — sprawled out on beach towels and huddled under umbrellas that protected them from first the sweltering early morning heat and then scattered rain.
“Look at how willing everyone is to uplift him,” Ms. Farone said. “He’s not deceased as so much converted into a legend. A person of the ages.”
Veterans gathered to pay their respects.
Carmine Garritano, 71, was one of several veterans who gathered outside, wearing symbols of the armed service they shared with Mr. McCain: hats from the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, uniform hats and vests studded with badges and buttons reflective of their service.
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Mr. Garritano, a retired Army specialist, had served in Vietnam, but his time in the country overlapped with only a fraction of Mr. McCain’s time as a prisoner of war. He had tried for years to find an opportunity to meet Mr. McCain in Washington. Instead, he drove down from New York with his daughter to pay his respects in the Capitol Rotunda.
“I wanted to come down and shake his hand, and say thank you,” Mr. Garritano said, his voice shaking with emotion. “To thank him for his service, for what he did, for his honesty and integrity.”
“This is the least I could do,” he concluded.
As he wiped away a tear, another veteran, in a dress shirt and an American Legion hat, silently embraced him in the line.
Bipartisan support outside the Capitol
Several of the people who gathered hours before the doors were opened to the public identified themselves as proud Democrats, who had never voted for Mr. McCain or frequently disagreed with his policies. With sharp criticism of the current administration and the polarization in Congress, they agreed that he was the last one of the last politicians willing to take bipartisan steps.
“We lost a good one in John,” said Kitt Rodkey, 64, who took a personal day from work to pay his respects to Mr. McCain. “No one is perfect, but he came pretty close.”
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