A memorial service for the late Sen. John McCain on Saturday

World Today

A memorial service for the late Sen. John McCain on SaturdayThe casket of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is carried out of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018, after a memorial service, as Cindy McCain is escorted by her son Jimmy McCain and other family members. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Former President Barack Obama has paid tribute to his one-time political rival, delivering a eulogy for the late Arizona Sen. John McCain at Washington National Cathedral.

Obama said: “We come to celebrate an extraordinary man, a warrior, a statesman, a patriot who embodied so much that is best in America.”

Obama spoke after former President George W. Bush, another former McCain opponent. Obama said of McCain, “He made us better presidents.”

The former president noted McCain was a conservative lawmaker, but said “he did understand that some principles transcend politics, that some values transcend party.”

Obama praised McCain for opposing “bending the truth to suit political expediency or party orthodoxy” and as a proponent of a “free and independent press.”

McCain is to be buried Sunday at his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy, next to his best friend from the Class of 1958, Adm. Chuck Larson.

McCain who died of brain cancer on Aug. 25 at age 81.