Some lives are so vivid, it is difficult to imagine them ended. Some voices are so vibrant, it is hard to think of them stilled. John McCain was a man of deep conviction and a patriot of the highest order.

George W. Bush

Senator John McCain believed that every citizen has a responsibility to make something of the freedoms given by our Constitution, and from his heroic service in the Navy to his 35 years in Congress, he lived by his creed every day.

He was a skilled, tough politician, as well as a trusted colleague alongside whom Hillary was honored to serve in the Senate. He frequently put partisanship aside to do what he thought was best for the country, and was never afraid to break the mold if it was the right thing to do.

Bill and Hillary Clinton

“A Warrior Patriot.”

Hillary Clinton in a heartfelt CNN Interview.

When Clinton, a former Democratic senator from New York, first started traveling with McCain, she told CNN’s Dana Bash, “I saw someone who revered the values of our country, and he is always thinking about America’s place in history and America’s place in the world. And I saw his passion and his love, his love of his family, his love of our country, his love of the friends that he has made over the years, and he was a patriot regardless of party, He is a patriot, and I am honored that he is also my friend.”

Clinton told Bash that she thought about McCain’s 2008 presidential election concession speech when she had to give her own in 2016 after a shocking defeat by President Donald Trump. In the 2008 speech, McCain urged his supporters to join him in working with then-President-elect to bridge differences in a spirit of goodwill.

“I thought that it was such a tribute to who he is as a man and as a political leader,” Clinton said, adding that she, too, tried to reach out to her supporters, especially young women, to keep them from being discouraged.

“And so I tried to speak in a way that would create the same sort of reaction — even from people who were incredibly upset about what happened … and I did want to give the President-elect all the opportunity in the world to transition from being a partisan and whipping up the feelings, the anger, the resentment, the fears of the people who supported him, to being a President for all the people,” “That’s what John McCain would have done had he won.”

Clinton recalled the years working and traveling alongside her Republican colleague, telling Bash that she was initially “a little surprised” when he first approached her to travel together.

“He liked to try out different colleagues to see whether they were good traveling companions,” Clinton said.

When McCain inquired about traveling, Clinton said she “immediately said, ‘sure.'”

“During those long, long flights, we had a lot of time to talk. We talked about the unfairness that sometimes infects our politics,” Clinton recalled. “If you were his friend, he would stand up for you, he would defend you. He didn’t like the personal attacks that went along with politics that became increasingly common.”

As you go through life, you meet few truly great people. John McCain was one of them. His dedication to his country and the military were unsurpassed, and maybe most of all, he was a truth teller — never afraid to speak truth to power in an era where that has become all too rare. The Senate, the United States, and the world are lesser places without John McCain.

Chuck Schumer