As the death of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) shook Congress and the rest of the country, members and staffers alike took to Twitter to share fond memories of the war hero and political giant.
Here are some notable tweets from both sides of the aisle:
Have so many McCain stories from Senate/campaigns.
My favorite was after a day of driving him around, he turns to me at Dulles airport and solemnly says "well John, you did a shitty job today."
Big grin cracks across his aide's face. "That's how you know he likes you."
— John Noonan (@noonanjo), defense policy adviser to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), August 26, 2018
I have a pretty cool Senator McCain story. One of the first times I worked in our DC office was the day after the 2014 SOTU. I was in an elevator in the Russell Office Building with @WJR_3. As the doors were closing, Senator McCain deftly stepped into the same elevator.
Our office, at the time, was next door to Senator McCain's, which was pretty cool to me in and of itself. Needless to say, sharing an elevator with him left me pretty awestruck.
As the elevator was making its short trip, I gave my co-worker a "holy s-, that's John McCain" look. And right on cue, he slightly turned his head and said "You know, this neighborhood has really gone to hell since Toomey's office moved in." And then let out a loud "HA."
It. Was. Awesome. And it felt like, at least to me, that Senator McCain saw two staffers who were a bit starstruck and wanted to give them a good story to tell, which he clearly did. Thank you, Senator McCain. You will be missed.
— Steve Kelly (@sk5395), press secretary to Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), August 26, 2018
The '08 RNC convention was the first I ever attended. One of the lines from McCain's speech I'll always remember: "I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's."
— Jason Gagnon (@JasonGagnon), senior adviser to Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), August 26, 2018
The McCain moment that is seared in the mind of so many Americans was during the 2008 Presidential race with everything on the line in the heat of battle, in the midst of the debate, when he pauses and corrects a woman's racist stereotyping of Barack Obama.
— Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) (@RepJohnLarson) August 26, 2018
I think the better example of McCain being decent is less the one where he sloppily defended candidate Obama and more the one where HE WANTED the two guys who beat him to speak at his funeral.
— Tré Easton (@treeaston), legislative assistant to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), August 27, 2018
OK, I'm for renaming it the McCain Senate Office Building. Because he'd probably like to hear his legacy as "McCain SOB." https://t.co/BuJJvKJeP0
— Todd Stein (@ToddStein_28), legislative assistant to Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), August 26, 2018
When John McCain ran for president in ‘08, I was only in 8th grade. But as a 13 year old at the time, I can still remember him brining civility and respect to politics. Something we desperately need today. May he Rest In Peace and his legacy live on for today's leaders.
— Cole Staudt (@ColeStaudt64), communications director to Rep. David Young (R-Iowa), August 26, 2018
