John McCain, the senator from Arizona, passed away from brain cancer on Saturday at the age of 81. He weathered the sharp attacks from opponents and voters that all politicians do, but his burnish of authenticity, increasingly rare in public figures, spoke to our American ideal of independence, and his early sacrifice as a prisoner of war pulled at our patriotism. McCain was who we wanted our politicians to be, even if he didn’t always live up to our own idea of who he was.
The “maverick” label he will likely be best-remembered for was a mixture of personality, PR and the truth. CONT.
Clare Malone, FiveThirtyEight