John McCain died Saturday afternoon in his Arizona home after a year of coping with a grossly destabilizing form of brain cancer for over a year. We have learned that before passing, McCain had requested that both Barack Obama and George W. Bush perform eulogies at his funeral when it comes to pass. Both men have agreed in principle to deliver remarks during a service at the National Cathedral in the nation's capital. Former VP Joe Biden will lead a separate honorarium in McCain's home state of Arizona.
McCain's body will lie in Arizona before being brought to Capitol where it awaits the due process of U.S. Senator. Afterwards McCain's body will be buried at a site of his choosing, in this case at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where one of his oldest comrades is said to be entombed.
Obama who defeated McCain in 2008 presidential election, issued a statement shortly after news broke of his passing. "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," Obama said of their dynamic. George W. Bush for his part shared some of his best verse for the occasion. "Some lives are so vivid, it is difficult to imagine them ended," Mr. Bush said. "Some voices are so vibrant, it is hard to think of them stilled." Both men will be asked to share a couple more anecdotes when the time comes.