Advertisements

Former President Barack Obama summed up what made the late John McCain an all-time American hero in a moving tribute after the Senator from Arizona passed away on Saturday.

Obama said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA:

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.

Advertisements

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.

McCain was a man who walked the walk when it came to putting “country first.”

The 2008 general election between John McCain and Barack Obama was an election between two decent Americans who loved their country.

The moment from that campaign that has gone down in history is when McCain corrected one of his supporters who called Obama an Arab:

When Obama was president, McCain was a relentless critic of his foreign policy, but there was never the sense that his criticism was personal.

Obama is right. Both he and Sen. McCain believed in the higher ideals of America.

Whether you agreed or disagreed with him, John McCain’s love of country can’t be disputed, which is something that can’t be said of the current occupant of the Oval Office.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.