Former President Barack Obama reacted to the passing of Sen. John McCain on Saturday, sending a statement of condolences quickly after the Arizona senator’s death.
“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,” Obama wrote on Saturday.
The former president signaled kinship with his former opponent in the 2008 presidential election, despite their differences in politics.
“We saw our political battles, even, as a privilege, something noble, an opportunity to serve as stewards of those high ideals at home, and to advance them around the world,” he wrote. “We saw this country as a place where anything is possible – and citizenship as our patriotic obligation to ensure it forever remains that way.”
Obama also recognized McCain’s heroism, urging Americans to follow his example.
“Few of us have been tested the way John once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did,” he wrote. “But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own. At John’s best, he showed us what that means and for that, we are all in his debt.”