Canadian officials attend John McCain’s funeral in Washington on Saturday

A service held at the National Cathedral Saturday featured eulogies from McCain’s daughter Meghan and former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

“We say thank you to all Americans who opened doors, arms and hearts for us”.

Fox News correspondent Garrett Tenney pointed out that Trump had responded to the funeral by tweeting: “Make America Great Again”.

“The greater cause to which he devoted his life was America”, said former Connecticut Sen.

Other guests included former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, comedian Jay Leno, and former senators Bob Dole and John Kerry.

Standing near McCain’s flag-draped casket and with Trump’s daughter in the audience, Meghan McCain delivered a broadside against the uninvited president without mentioning his name. But it was his military service, punctuated by years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, that molded McCain’s political life.

It marked the last public event before the former Arizona senator will be laid to rest at a private family funeral Sunday at his alma mater, the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. “To the face of those in authority, John would insist, ‘We are better than this”.

The late senator requested that both Obama and Bush deliver eulogies at his funeral, United States media reported.

President Donald Trump was not invited to the funeral.

It was not long before other visitors began placing signs and notes honoring John McCain for his service as a soldier and a senator. John McCain’s memorial service Saturday at Washington National Cathedral, the last event in Washington of the five-day farewell tour.

McCain, who died on August 25 at age 81, was a decorated veteran who was held for more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

John McCain was the son and grandson of admirals and followed them to the Naval Academy. Their signs read “Lock Him Up” and “RIP John McCain, a hero”. “He called on us to be better than that”. John McCain at the National Cathedral on September 1, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Biden made the trip back east to attend Saturday’s service, where he served amongst a distinguished contingent of pallbearers.

The former President acknowledged the contrast between himself and McCain, saying, “We were standard-bearers of different American political traditions”.

At the time of Larson’s death, McCain said in a statement he could think of “no finer example of honorable” and faithful service to the country than that of Larson’s.

Barack Obama, meanwhile, said he and McCain “didn’t advertise it”, but they would meet nearly weekly in the Oval Office to talk about policy and also their families.

After his death, Bush called McCain “a man of deep conviction and a patriot of the highest order”. They have been volunteering with the National Park Service for decades and try to help veterans who may be suffering from post-traumatic stress to overcome their fears when they visit the wall.

But she also described a man who was sculpted by challenges in the Vietnam War and by the brain cancer that eventually took his life. Ms Obama can be seen mouthing “thank you” in the short clip.