Obama Pays Tribute to John McCain: We Fiercely Disagreed But ‘Never Doubted We Were on the Same Team’

Former President Barack Obama spoke at John McCain‘s memorial service today and talked about how even in their fiercest moments of disagreement, they never doubted their commitment to their country and certain important American principles.

Obama, who famously faced off with McCain in the 2008 presidential election, briefly talked about their conversation wherein McCain asked him to speak today.

“After our conversation ended, I realized how well it captured some of John’s essential qualities,” Obama said. “To start with, John liked being unpredictable. Even a little contrarian. He had no interest in conforming to some prepackaged version of what a senator should be and he didn’t want a memorial that was going to be prepackaged either. It also showed John’s disdain for self-pity. He had been to hell and back, and yet somehow never lost his energy or his optimism or his zest for life. So cancer did not scare him. And he would maintain that buoyant spirit to the very end, too stubborn to sit still, opinionated as ever, fiercely devoted to his friends and most of all to his family. It showed his irreverence, his sense of humor, a little bit of a mischievous streak. After all, what better way to get a last laugh than make George [W. Bush] and I say nice things about him to a national audience.”

He talked about the big differences in background and politics between him and McCain, and how McCain “never hesitated to tell me when he thought I was screwing up.”

He heralded how McCain stood by his principles even when “he was willing to buck his own party at times”:

“Much has been said this week about what a maverick John was. In fact, John was a pretty conservative guy. Trust me, I was on the receiving end of some of those votes. But he did understand that some principles transcend politics. Some values transcend party. He considered it part of his duty to uphold those principles and uphold those values. John cared about the institutions of self government, our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, rule of law. Separation of powers. Even the arcane rules and procedures of the Senate. He knew that in a nation as big and boisterous and diverse as ours, those institutions, those rules, those norms are what bind us together. Give shape and order to our common life. Even when we disagree. Especially when we disagree.”

Obama even brought up the famous moment––shared widely this past week––wherein McCain disabused one of his own supporters of the notion that Obama was foreign and untrustworthy. And the former president said, “I was grateful, but I wasn’t surprised. As Joe Lieberman said, that was John’s instinct. I never saw John treat anyone differently because of their race or religion or gender. And I’m certain that in those moments that have been referred to during the campaign he saw himself as defending America’s character. Not just mine. He considered it the imperative of every citizen that loves this country to treat all people fairly.”

He shared that multiple times over the course of his presidency, McCain would visit and they would just “sit and talk in the Oval Office”:

“We would talk about policy and we’d talk about family and we’d talk about the state of our politics. And our disagreements didn’t go away during these private conversations. Those were real and they were often deep. But we enjoyed the time we shared away from the bright lights. And we laughed with each other. And we learned from each other. And we never doubted the other man’s sincerity or the other man’s patriotism. Or that when all was said and done, we were on the same team. We never doubted we were on the same team. For all of our differences, we shared a fidelity to the ideals for which generations of Americans have marched and fought and sacrificed and given their lives. We considered our political battles a privilege, an opportunity to serve as stewards of those ideals at home and do our best to advance them around the world.”

He alluded to certain “small and mean and petty” politics fueled by “bombast” and “manufactured outrage,” but said ultimately, “John called on us to be bigger than that.”

Watch above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

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