Senator John McCain Dead at 81

Senator John McCain, the iconic Republican senator, two-time presidential candidate, decorated Naval bomber pilot, and former prisoner of war in Vietnam, died at his Cornville, Arizona, home surrounded by his family late Saturday afternoon after a battle with brain cancer. He was 81, and is survived by his wife Cindy and seven children, including The View co-host Meghan McCain. His family had announced on Friday that he would discontinue his medical treatment.

My heart is broken. I am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years. He passed the way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved, in the the place he loved best.

Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) August 26, 2018

I love you forever - my beloved father

Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) August 26, 2018

Back in the U.S., McCain eventually decided to leave the Navy in 1981, but not before getting a taste of politics as the Navy’s Senate liaison. Believing he could accomplish more as a member of Congress, the celebrity war hero and new Arizona resident was elected to the House in 1982, serving two terms before successfully running for the Senate. McCain would go on to serve the remaining years of his life as a senator and develop a reputation as a conservative “maverick” on account of his tendency to challenge other Republicans and conservatives, as well as his personal stands on issues like immigration reform, bipartisan cooperation, and most famously, campaign finance reform. The most important legislative accomplishment of McCain’s career was the campaign finance reform bill he co-authored with Democrat Russ Feingold. It was eventually signed into law as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in 2002.

The Senate, the United States, and the world are lesser places without John McCain. Nothing will overcome the loss of Senator McCain, but so that generations remember him I will be introducing a resolution to rename the Russell building after him.

Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) August 26, 2018

McCain also proudly worked to restore diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Vietnam, and the two countries are now allies as a result. He ended up publicly forgiving his captors, then making several trips to the country after the reconciliation.

While the majority of his voting record in Congress reflected his conservatism, he did periodically vote against his party across a range of issues for a variety of reasons. Central to the “maverick” label, which McCain clearly relished, was the way in which seemed to make up his own mind on most political matters, even as heterodoxy became less and less acceptable on the post-Fox News (and post-Palin) American right. (Critics of McCain, on the other hand, argue that his views were more motivated by politics and self interest than his reputation suggested.) McCain was also widely liked and respected by many of the political journalists who covered him, which has led to occasionally outsized coverage of his ups and downs over the past few decades.

McCain ran for president in 2000, riding his infamous “Straight Talk Express” bus on the campaign trail and going up against GOP establishment candidate George W. Bush, who ultimately defeated him after a memorably vicious campaign. McCain ran again in 2008, winning the Republican nomination this time and fatefully selecting Alaska governor and subsequent right-wing mascot Sarah Palin as his running mate. He lost the general election to Barack Obama and returned to the Senate.

A statement from on the passing of his 2008 rival. They were different in virtually every way, but there’s no question they shared a respect.

Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) August 26, 2018

McCain had also been one of the only GOP lawmakers to consistently stand up to President Trump, earning regular retaliation from the president, who went so far as to challenge McCain’s status as a war hero and criticize him for allowing himself to be shot down and captured. Trump, who found a way to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War, pointedly neglected to mention McCain’s name a few weeks ago while holding a signing ceremony for a military spending bill which was named after the senator as a tribute from his fellow lawmakers. McCain has also been one of the fiercest critics of the president’s unfounded skepticism about whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election, as well as his apparent admiration for Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Though he is not known for his expressions or understanding of empathy, Trump offered his sympathies to McCain’s family in a tweet on Saturday, but said nothing about McCain himself.

This tweet was sent via Twitter for iPhone. I compute a 11% chance it was written by Trump himself.

Trump or Not (@TrumpOrNotBot) August 26, 2018

He’ll also annoy Democrats in death. His now-vacant Senate seat will be filled by whomever Arizona’s Republican governor, Doug Dacey, chooses to appoint for the remainder of McCain’s term. Had McCain resigned before June, the seat would have been filled via a special election this fall, but his decision to hold on to his seat has allowed the GOP to hold on to it too.

This post has been updated throughout.

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