Sen. John McCain: What to know about Washington tributes on Saturday

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The family of Sen. John McCain said their goodbyes to the late Senator inside the Capitol Rotunda, following Congressional leaders and Vice President Mike Pence paying their respects with official wreaths laid in front of McCain’s casket. (Aug. 31)
AP

Sen. John McCain will be honored at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Saturday in a memorial that will include speeches from two former presidents. 

The Saturday gathering comes after thousands of people paid respects to McCain on Friday at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda as the Arizona senator lay in state. 

The day was filled with tributes by the nation’s leaders, including Vice President Mike Pence. But there were also moments where regular people honored McCain by leaving messages at his Senate office or gathering to talk about politics and make new friends.

One of the more touching moments from Friday came as McCain’s 106-year-old mother took her turn to say goodbye. 

Sitting in a wheelchair, Roberta McCain pushed up to her son’s flag-draped coffin, where she made the sign of the cross before being wheeled away.

She plans to attend her son’s funeral service at the National Cathedral on Saturday when a planned motorcade will carry the senator’s body from the U.S. Capitol beginning at 8:30 a.m. 

More: Visitors to McCain’s office documented his legacy in the Donald Trump era

On the way, the procession will pause at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where Cindy McCain will lay a ceremonial wreath honoring those who died during the Vietnam War. The public is welcome to line the procession route along Constitution Avenue to pay respects to the senator. 

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Sen. John McCain’s family, from left, Jimmy McCain, Meghan McCain, Jack McCain, Cindy McCain, Bridget McCain and Sidney McCain, stand together before a memorial service at the North Phoenix Baptist Church in Phoenix, Aug. 30, 2018. David Wallace, The Arizona Republic, via USA TODAY NETWORKIn this image from Senate Television, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., pauses as he speaks on the Senate floor at the Capitol in Washington, on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, next to the desk of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., draped in black with a bowl of white roses sitting on it. McCain died on Aug. 25, after battling brain cancer. Graham was McCain’s best friend in the Senate. Senate Television via APPeople are reflected as they look at the front page of the Arizona Republic featuring a picture of late Sen. John McCain at the Newseum in Washington, DC, on Aug. 27, 2018. He was a hero, a statesman who cut a towering figure in Washington. But for many in the increasingly angry world of American politics, John McCain will be missed for a far humbler virtue,simple civility. As Americans and others paid tribute to the late Republican senator, who died August 25, 2018 of cancer aged 81, some cited a 2008 interaction with a voter as symbolizing his famous insistence on fair and civil discourse. Nicholas Kamm, AFP/Getty Images

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McCain the first Vietnam veteran to lie in state at Capitol Rotunda

Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, former Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger will give tributes.

McCain’s daughter Meghan will give a tribute, and daughter Sidney will give a reading. McCain’s son Jimmy will read the poem “The Requiem.”

McCain’s close friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., will read from the gospels. 

Bush was McCain’s rival in the 2000 presidential race. The senator withdrew after losing a series of primaries to Bush on Super Tuesday. McCain later supported his former adversary.

As the GOP nominee in 2008, McCain lost to Obama. In McCain’s concession speech at the Arizona Biltmore, he graciously spoke of the significance of Obama’s win, as the first African-American to hold the presidency.

On Sunday, McCain will be buried in the cemetery at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Services will be private.  

Contributing: Erin Kelly, Richard Wolf, Anne Ryman 

 

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