senate majority leader and world war ii veteran, bob dole. senator dole, what a day, what a man. your thoughts about today s service. what stood out most to you? well, i think when president bush said he d been to hell and back, that s the right term. and i appreciated obama talking about equality and how mccain was a great help on civil rights bills. why was it important for you to be there at the funeral today? well, he s my friend and my hero, and we i was his leader for ten years when he first came to the senate, and then i left in 96, but we had a special relationship. i think we were the only two republicans with a pretty bad
mccains was a lot of fun frankly. because he would take a lot of questions. you know, for voters it was a lot of fun. this was a candidate who stood in a townhall for hour upon hour and answer people s questions. that s not necessarily how it is at this moment. i think john mccain for all of his service certainly will be missed. it was a a passing of time today here at this cemetery or the funeral in washington earlier today, ana. jeff zeleny in washington for us. thank you. sure. i spoke a few minutes ago with a man who calls john mccain his friend and his hero. the majority leader at the time mccain entered the senate, bob dole. i think when president bush said he had been to hell and back, that s the right term. and i appreciated obama talking about equality and how mccain
ended, i realized how well it captured some of john s essential qualities. to start with, john liked being unpredictable, even a little contrary. he had no interest in conforming to some pre-packaged version of what a senator should be and he didn t want a memorial that was going to be pre-packaged either. it also showed john s distan 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 until the end, too stubborn to sit still,
certain surprise. but after our conversation ended, i realized how well it captured some of john s essential qualities. 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.