George H.W. Bush honors McCain

President George H.W. Bush paid tribute to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Saturday after the announcement of the senator’s death, touting McCain as “a patriot of the highest order” and a “public servant of the rarest courage.”

“John McCain was a patriot of the highest order, a public servant of the rarest courage. Few sacrificed more for, or contributed more to, the welfare of his fellow citizens – and indeed freedom loving peoples around the world,” Bush wrote in a statement.

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“Another American maverick and warrior, General George Patton, once observed: ‘We should thank God that men such as these have lived,’” he continued. “To that I can only add my gratitude to John’s wife Cindy, his wonderful family, and the people of Arizona who permitted this great and good man to serve with such distinction in the world’s greatest deliberative body.” 

McCain, a “maverick” of the Republican Party and longtime giant of the Senate, died on Saturday after battling an aggressive form of brain cancer. 

McCain survived years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam before rising to become a giant of the Senate and a decades-long leading actor on the political stage.