“We’re getting nothing done, my friends. We’re getting nothing done.” It was a few days before the historic Obamacare repeal vote, and Republicans desperately needed John McCain. “It was a dramatic and consequential return for John McCain to the Senate floor.” “What a dramatic morning this is turning out to be, with John McCain making that surprise return to Washington.” “And McCain’s vote is going to give leadership a lot more breathing room.” But the maverick of the Senate had just been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, and he was playing hard to get. “We’ve been spinning our wheels on too many important issues, because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle.” But would he vote with his party, or would he defect? “I will not vote for this bill as it is today.” This was the kind of moment that John McCain lives for. He is going to be the deciding vote, and he’s got control of a major piece of legislation in his hand. “You heard John McCain. A really historic moment. Trying to set a new tone when it comes to fixing our health care system.” When you go against the grain in Washington, you get a lot of attention. “Shutting down the government injured the people of my state. Why? Why would we want to do that?” John McCain had a big ego, and he liked the attention. But also, I do think that the maverick aspect to McCain was real. He saw a lot of the things that went on in Washington as semi-idiotic, or corrupt. “I think the Congress of the United States — both Republicans and Democrats — should be ashamed of themselves. These may be worthy projects. They may be. Generally they aren’t. How many more lawmakers, staffers, government officials, and contractors have to go to jail before we actually fix this process?” He liked challenging authority. It may be part of that is just growing up in a military family and having all that military experience, where you’re subject to so much authority. “I have trouble with this. More than two-syllable words —” In the political phase of his life, he was willing to step up, take a chance, and shake up the system. “Eleven million people live in the shadows, and they live here in de facto amnesty, and, by God, they are being exploited every single day.” Of course, he switched back and forth when it suited his politics. “We will secure the borders first when I am president of the United States. I am proud that Republicans are the party of lower taxes. I cannot in good conscience vote in favor of tax cuts.” There have been so many John McCains over the years. He came to Congress as this exalted war hero who’d already had a national reputation because of his time as a P.O.W. in Vietnam. McCain was shot down, held for years in terrible conditions in the Hanoi Hilton. He had a high profile because of his father. “The commander in chief of our Pacific forces, Admiral John S. McCain Jr.” “As you know, we are living in a troubled world —” They knew that they had something of a celebrity prisoner there. He was tortured, subjected to really unthinkable experiences. He resisted and resisted, but ultimately did make a confession. That really haunted him through the rest of his life. He felt that he had caved and betrayed his country. When he returned from Vietnam, to much acclaim, he was an ambitious guy, and he quickly turned to politics. “John McCain, a name Arizonans are talking about.” He ran for the House. Came in as a pretty conventional conservative — somebody who wanted to get on board the Reagan Revolution. “Speaker, like a poor fellow who brought his horse to water but could not make it drink, Walter Mondale proposes to throw more tax money at the deficit with little chance of making it shrink.” But there was a watershed moment coming for John McCain — “— a major congressional scandal —” The Keating Five Scandal. “Charles Keating, a millionaire banker who has come to embody the savings and loan scandal —” A group of senators — a bipartisan group — had interceded on behalf of a big businessman, and they tried to help him out of a regulatory problem. It was a big scandal at the moment, because the S&L crisis was huge back then. “Do you swear under oath to this committee you were unaware of that at the time?” McCain was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing. “But I understand why the committee made the arrangements they did.” He thought it be besmirched his honor, which is probably the most important thing to John McCain besides his family, is his honor. This was a searing experience for McCain, and it really helped shape his later image as a maverick, because he immediately became someone, I think, who wanted to shake up the system and rein in the influence of money and politics. “There’s too much money washing around, and this money makes good people do bad things, and bad people do worse things.” John McCain was ready to do that. His party really wasn’t. They liked the campaign system the way it was, particularly Mitch McConnell. “To effectively discuss issues in this country, one must have access to money.” He was the leading foe of John McCain. “Who do you want to be the next president of these United States? McCain! That’s right.” So McCain had presidential ambitions. 2000 seemed like a good opportunity for him. This was the year of the famous Straight Talk Express. He was really letting it hang out in a lot of ways. “If I were a tree, I would be a —” “If I were a tree, I would be a root. What does that mean? I’d be glad to tell you —” But he ran into a real buzzsaw with the Bush family and Karl Rove. “Let me finish. Let me finish.” “All right, then.” The Bush campaign did some really tough negative advertising. “McCain’s campaign is crawling with lobbyists.” “His conservative hometown paper warns — It’s time the rest of the nation learns about the McCain we know.” McCain was stung when he came back to the Senate, you could tell. “Gentlemen —” “Senator John McCain, the Republican, and Senator Barack Obama, the —” In 2008, this was really John McCain’s last opportunity. He took the nomination, but he was really in trouble from the start. Obama, the celebrity candidate, the economic collapse — “The fundamentals of our economy are strong —” — picking Sarah Palin as his running mate. “This is absolutely overwhelming.” People really questioned John McCain’s judgment on that. Even at the end, McCain was still fighting the leaders of his party. “Yesterday, I received a call from President Putin of Russia —” Being cozy with the Russians, pulling back in Asia. To John McCain, this was anathema. He wouldn’t mention Trump by name, but he would talk about failures of American foreign policy and the conduct. “— refuse the obligations of international leadership for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems.” This was amped up more after the diagnosis of brain cancer. I think that was also part of his vote on the health care repeal. At the climactic moment, he walked out onto the floor, turned thumbs down, and killed the repeal effort. It was one of his last big acts as a U.S. senator. “Making news in the 11th hour —” “The resistance to President Trump had its biggest victory yet.” “This is a major defeat.” “You could look at this one moment like a Renaissance painting.” “It was unbelievable.” McCain wasn’t going to go quietly.<doc-sep>Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainHannity tells Santorum he helped prevent Joy Reid from being fired Richard Hanania sees Trump as 2024 GOP nominee Why Republican politicians are sticking with Trump MORE’s former campaign manager Rick Davis on Monday read the late Arizona Republican's final statement to the American people Monday. “These are John’s final words and the family’s asked that we present these to you today,” Davis said before he read McCain’s letter to America aloud. McCain died Saturday night of brain cancer. McCain extolled the virtues of the United States in his final words, thanking the country. ADVERTISEMENT “To be connected to America’s causes: liberty, equal justice, respect for the dignity of all people, brings happiness more sublime than life’s fleeting pleasures,” McCain wrote. “Fellow Americans, that association has meant more to me than any other. I lived and died a proud American.” “We are citizens of the world’s greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil. We are blessed and are a blessing to humanity when we uphold and advance those ideals at home and in the world,” the 2008 GOP presidential nominee added. Without mentioning President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE by name, the late senator also went after errors he saw in American politics. “We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe,” McCain wrote. “We weaken it when we hide behind walls rather than tear them down. When we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.” Ultimately, McCain urged Americans to persevere in the pursuit of their ideals. He wrote, “Do not despair of our present difficulties but 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. Farewell fellow Americans. God bless you and God bless America,” McCain wrote.<doc-sep>"We have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement," he said. "If only we remember that and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country, we will get through these challenging times. We will come through them stronger than before; we always do."<doc-sep>
Two days after John McCain’s death and well behind the thousands of glowing tributes that poured in from around the country – and beyond – for the war hero, Donald Trump issued a statement on Monday afternoon saying he respected the late senator’s service to his country. The belated statement came moments after McCain’s final message to the nation was made public, in which – without naming Trump directly – he delivered a searing critique of the politics of deepening division in America. And the US flag at the White House, which had been lowered to half staff following McCain’s death, then raised fully again on Monday morning, was once more at half staff on Monday afternoon. Trump’s statement opened with a reference to the longstanding rift between the two men. “Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain’s service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half staff until the day of his interment,” the statement said. McCain died on Saturday at the age of 81 from brain cancer and will be buried this Sunday at the US Naval Academy in Maryland. He had previously made it known that Trump was not to be invited to his funeral. 03:03 'An American hero': the life of John McCain – video Trump tweeted a brief condolence to the McCain family on Saturday but without praising McCain or acknowledging his long service as a Republican senator for Arizona and his record as a military pilot and prisoner of war during the Vietnam conflict. For the rest of the weekend, Trump and the White House were glaringly silent on the subject, while the president played golf on Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, in his final statement to the nation, McCain emphasized the importance of unity among Americans and urged the country to not “despair of our present difficulties” in a farewell message prepared before his death. The message was released on Monday as a statement by McCain’s longtime adviser Rick Davis, two days after the veteran Republican senator succumbed to a yearlong battle with brain cancer at the age of 81. Although he did not mention Donald Trump by name, McCain’s assessment of the America he was leaving behind at times echoed some of the sharp warnings he delivered against the president while serving his final months in office. Rick Davis, longtime adviser for John McCain, reads a farewell message from the late senator. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images “‘Fellow Americans’ – that association has meant more to me than any other. I lived and died a proud American,” McCain wrote. “We are citizens of the world’s greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil.” “We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe,” McCain said. “We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.” McCain’s blunt criticism of Trump factored heavily into his strained relationship with the president, who reportedly rejected issuing an official White House statement praising the six-term Arizona senator after his death on Saturday, even as leaders from across the world paid tribute to McCain as a decorated Vietnam war hero who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war. The American flag flies at full-staff over the White House on Monday. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA McCain will lie in state at the US Capitol on Friday, an honor bestowed upon few public officials. He will be memorialized in ceremonies in his home state of Arizona and Washington DC this week and laid to rest in a private burial on Sunday. Former Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama are expected to speak at McCain’s memorial service at the National Cathedral in Washington on Saturday. Trump is not expected to attend, although Vice-President Mike Pence will. In his closing statement, McCain acknowledged he was not without his flaws but said he tried to serve the country “honorably”. “I have made mistakes, but I hope my love for America will be weighed favorably against them,” he said.