The friends and political mavericks McCain and Kennedy also both died from the same type of cancer.
Senator John McCain passed away on August 25, nine years to the day that his friend and fellow Senator Ted Kennedy died. Both Senators tragically lost their battle with the same type of cancer, glioblastoma.
Despite being members of opposing political parties, Kennedy and McCain enjoyed a close friendship and a mutual sense of respect for each other.
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Cody Keenan, a former intern for Senator Kennedy, said in a tweet that McCain though Kennedy was “a good man” and that without Kennedy, they’d be lost.
"Who do you work for," he asked.
"Ted Kennedy, sir."
"He's a good man," McCain said. "Without him, we're lost." 2/3
— Cody Keenan (@codykeenan) August 26, 2018
In 2009, at a memorial for the late Senator Kennedy, McCain said about Kennedy, "He was good company. Excellent company. I think I'm going to miss him more than I can say.”
“We disagreed on most issues. But I admired his passion for his convictions, his patience with the hard and sometimes dull work of legislating, and his uncanny sense for when differences could be bridged, and his cause advanced by degrees.
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"I'll go back to the Senate, and I'll try to be as persistent as Ted was, and as passionate for the work. I know I'm privileged to serve there. But I think most of my colleagues would agree, the place won't be the same without him."
Speaking with CNN after McCain’s death, Senator Ted Kennedy’s son Patrick remembered his father’s relationship with McCain: "My father genuinely loved and respected John McCain.
"It's an example of what we need today and that is that even though they disagreed, they were always searching for ways to put their country ahead of their party. It sounds trite, but no, not at all—These days we're living in, we really need people to have that as their goal."
Do you think more cross-the-aisle partnerships like McCain's and Kennedy's are needed? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section, below.
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