This month has been a big one for famous deaths. First, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin and then the politician and war hero John McCain. McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2017, which eventually led to his death on August 25th.
Today, his funeral is taking place in Washington and you can watch live (below) as colleagues and family celebrate his life and honour his legacy. There are speeches from across the political spectrum, often coming from his ex-rivals. Most notably, Barack Obama will be making a speech for his former opponent. The two, although running against each other, kept things respectful, something very hard to imagine a decade later, in the wake of a cutthroat campaign between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. To refresh your memory, recall the moment when, at a campaign rally, a woman expressed concern to McCain that Obama was "an Arab." McCain politely shut her down, by calling Obama "a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues." Truly a different era.
The speakers at the funeral were all invited by McCain himself, who helped plan the event after finding out that he didn't have much time left. Others include family members and his other former opponent George Bush. Notably absent from the proceedings is the current president.
