Ted Kennedy's Family Shares Memories of How Much Kennedy Loved John McCain
In the hours after news broke Saturday that John McCain had died of brain cancer at the age of 81, anecdotes about the Senator began to fill the feeds of social media sites. On Twitter, President Obama's speechwriter Cody Keenan shared a story from his time as a Senate intern, when he happened to ride an elevator with McCain.
"'Who do you work for,' he asked. 'Ted Kennedy, sir.' 'He's a good man,'" McCain said. 'Without him, we're lost.'"
"Who do you work for," he asked.
"Ted Kennedy, sir."
"He's a good man," McCain said. "Without him, we're lost." 2/3- Cody Keenan (@codykeenan) August 26, 2018
Despite being on opposite sides of the aisle, Ted Kennedy and John McCain shared a close friendship and mutual respect that seems profoundly antique in our current acrimonious political climate. The two men were the last of the lions in the Senate, which makes it only fitting that they would die of the same cancer on the exact same day only nine years apart.
"My father genuinely loved and respected John McCain," Ted Kennedy's son Patrick told CNN this morning.
"It's an example of what we need today and that is that even though they disagreed, they were always searching for ways to put their country ahead of their party. It sounds trite, but no, not at all-These days we're living in, we really need people to have that as their goal."
Patrick wasn't the only Kennedy to speak out about his father's relationship with McCain. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ted Kennedy's nephew, also posted a tribute to McCain on Instagram again, mourning not only the man, but also the type of politician he was.
"John McCain died the same day as my uncle Sen. Ted Kennedy. That bond would have pleased Teddy. (Like Jefferson & Adams)" he wrote, referencing July 4, 1826, when both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died. The third and second presidents had been close friends and staunch political rivals.
"They always enjoyed a strong mutual affection. McCain was always kind to me. He was a leader in climate for a decade and was not scared to cross the aisle. He also was a voice of sanity and morality against water boarding and other forms of torture. The outpouring of grief today on Twitter goes beyond our sadness about losing John. People are mourning the loss of the Republic."
A post shared by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (@robertfkennedyjr) on Aug 25, 2018 at 11:02pm PDT
And last week, when it was announced that McCain would be stopping medical treatment, Maria Shriver also shared her feelings about the Senator on social media, in a post which reads in part:
"We deserve public servants in the mold of Sen. John McCain and Sen. Ted Kennedy. Both men suffered the same brain cancer. Both men served alongside each other, and our families are friends, even though we haven't always agreed on every political issue. We need more public servants like these. Public servants who serve according to their values, who can remain classy while doing so, and who ultimately put their country first above it all."
A post shared by Maria Shriver (@mariashriver) on Aug 24, 2018 at 1:48pm PDT
But perhaps the most striking statement about the two Senators comes from the eulogy McCain wrote for his longtime friend and colleague.
"He was good company. Excellent company. I think I'm going to miss him more than I can say. We disagreed on most issues. But I admired his passion for his convictions, his patience with the hard and sometimes dull work of legislating, and his uncanny sense for when differences could be bridged, and his cause advanced by degrees," McCain said at the JFK Library during the 2009 memorial service.
"I'll go back to the Senate, and I'll try to be as persistent as Ted was, and as passionate for the work. I know I'm privileged serve there. But I think most of my colleagues would agree, the place won't be the same without him."
It won't be the same without McCain either.
('You Might Also Like',)
