Obama: Statement on the Passing of Senator John McCain

Arizona Senator John McCain was an outlier.  Fellow Republicans often criticized his independent thoughts.   Staunch Conservatives viewed him as  President Barack Obama's "lap dog" on foreign policy.  McCain was one of few swing votes in the Senate with a Conservative majority got its way most of the time.  He was his own man yet he kept the needs of others at heart and that quality led him to establishing a relationship with Pres. Barack Obama.  Obama's office released the following statement upon McCain's passing:

John McCain and I were members of different generations, came from completely different backgrounds, and competed at the highest level of politics. 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 a privilege, something noble, 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 our patriotic obligation to ensure it forever remains that way.

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 most heartfelt condolences to Cindy and their family.