US Senator John McCain dies aged 81 after brain cancer battle
Video report by ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore
Former presidential candidate and war hero Senator John McCain has died aged 81 after a year-long battle with brain cancer.
He died on Saturday surrounded by his family, his office said. It follows the decision, announced on Friday, to end medical treatment for his cancer.
Mr McCain had spent his final weeks at a ranch near Sedona, Arizona, from which a black hearse and a police motorcade were seen driving away from on Saturday night.
Mr McCain’s wife Cindy said she was heartbroken by the death of an “incredible man”.
Politicians from all sides paid tribute to the "maverick and a fighter".
President Donald Trump, who fell out with Mr McCain and once criticised him for being taken prisoner during the Vietnam War, tweeted that his “deepest sympathies and respect” went out to Mr McCain’s family.
Mr Trump and Mr McCain were at odds until the end.
The president jabbed at the senator even after his illness for voting against Republican efforts to roll back President Barack Obama’s health care law.
Earlier this summer, Mr McCain issued a blistering statement criticising Mr Trump’s meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
First lady Melania Trump thanked Mr McCain for his service to the nation, which included more than five years as a prisoner of war and six terms in the Senate.
Mr McCain was the son and grandson of admirals and followed them to the US Naval Academy. As a pilot he was shot down over Vietnam and held as a prisoner of war for more than five years. During this time he was tortured, the effects of which stayed with him for the rest of his life.
He went on to win a seat in the House of Representatives and in 1986, the Senate, where he served for the rest of his life.
In 2000 he attempted to win the 2000 Republican presidential nomination, but was defeated by George W Bush, who went on to win the presidency.
His presidential ambitions were again thwarted in 2008 when, after winning the Republican nomination, Mr McCain was beaten by Barack Obama.
Both former presidents paid tribute to Mr McCain following the news of his death.
Mr Obama said that despite their differences, Mr McCain and he shared a “fidelity to something higher – the ideals for which generations of Americans and immigrants alike have fought, marched, and sacrificed”.
Mr Obama said the two political opponents “saw our political battles, even, as a privilege, something noble, an opportunity to serve as stewards of those high ideals at home, and to advance them around the world”.
Mr Bush called his one-time political rival “man of deep conviction and a patriot of the highest order” and a “friend whom I’ll deeply miss”.
Mr Bush was among those expected to speak at Mr McCain’s funeral.
Sarah Palin, who stood as McCain's running mate in the 2008 election, described him as "an American original".
She tweeted: "Sen. John McCain was a maverick and a fighter, never afraid to stand for his beliefs. John never took the easy path in life - and through sacrifice and suffering he inspired others to serve something greater than self."
Former vice president Joe Biden, who developed a friendship with Mr McCain while they served together in the Senate, said the Arizona politician will “cast a long shadow”.
“The spirit that drove him was never extinguished: we are here to commit ourselves to something bigger than ourselves,” Mr Biden said.
Mr McCain is expected to be remembered in Arizona and Washington before being buried, likely this week, at the Naval Academy Cemetery on a peninsula overlooking the Severn River.
In a post on Twitter, Mr McCain’s wife Cindy said: “My heart is broken. I am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years. He passed the way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved, in the the place he loved best.”
Daughter Meghan McCain described her father as a “great fire who burned bright”.
She said: “We lived in his light and warmth for so very long. We know that his flame lives on, in each of us.
“His love and his care, ever present, always unfailing, took me from a girl to a woman – and he showed me what it is to be a man.”