Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama sent their “heartfelt condolences” to Arizona Sen. John McCain‘s family after his death on Saturday. McCain was 81.
McCain died a year after he was diagnosed with brain cancer. On Friday, his family announced he would no longer be getting treatment for the disease.
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“John McCain and I were members of different generations, came from completely different backgrounds, and competed at the highest level of politics,” Obama wrote. “But we shared, for all our differences, a fidelity to something higher- the ideals for which generations of Americans and immigrants alike have fought, marched, and sacrificed. We saw our political battles, even, as as a privilege, something novel, an opportunity to serve as stewards of those high ideals at home, and to advance them around the world. We saw this country as a place where anything is possible – and citizenship as out patriotic obligation to ensure it forever remains that way.”
The statement continued, “Few of us have been tested the way John once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did. But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own. At John’s best, he showed us what that means. And for that, we are all in his debt. Michelle and I send our heartfelt condolences to Cindy and their family.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden also remembered McCain as a friend on Twitter. Obama and Biden both served in the Senate with McCain before the 2008 election.
John McCain was many things – a proud graduate of the Naval Academy, a Senate colleague, a political opponent.
But, to me, more than anything, John was a friend. He will be missed dearly. pic.twitter.com/AS8YsMLw3d
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 26, 2018
Obama and McCain were political rivals, facing each other in the 2008 Presidential Election. Obama won the election with more than 52 percent of the popular vote after the contentious election.
However, McCain tried to focus his campaign on the policy differences between himself and Obama instead of making personal attacks. In one memorable moment, McCain even corrected a woman who said Obama was a Muslim.
“I think the important thing with the dialogue in America today is it’s lost the respect for the views of those we disagree with,” McCain told The View when asked about that moment. “When someone says he’s a Muslim and he wasn’t born in America, you can’t let that go. You just have to do what’s right.”
Outside the political arena, the two shared an admiration for each other. After McCain announced he was diagnosed with brain cancer, Obama wished him the best.
“John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I’ve ever known. Cancer doesn’t know what it’s up against. Give it hell, John,” Obama tweeted in July 2017.
Photo credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
