Few days to his 82nd birthday, former US presidential candidate of the Republican Party, maverick Senator, John McCain has passed on. He died at the age of 81 following a battle with brain cancer.
His office announced his passing in a terse statement on Sunday morning.
“Senator John Sidney McCain III died at 4:28 pm on August 25, 2018.
“With the maverick Senator when he passed were his wife Cindy and their family members,” his office said in a statement.
Subsequently, Barack Obama, who ran and won the US presidency against McCain in 2008, in a press statement led the outpouring of condolences and tributes for Senator John McCain.
He said: “We are all in his debt.
“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.”
Similarly, former US Vice President Al Gore, who served under Democrat Bill Clinton for 8 years said: “I always admired and respected John from the opposite side of the aisle, because he thrived under pressure, and would work to find common ground, no matter how hard.”
President Donald Trump, who once mocked McCain’s war record, said on Twitter he sent his “deepest sympathies and respect.”