Hundreds of people have queued outside the US Capitol to say goodbye to John McCain as friends, family and dignitaries paid their tributes inside to the Vietnam hero and senator lying in state under the majestic dome.
Mr McCain’s casket arrived at the Capitol on Friday morning as his family watched from the steps. It then took centre stage as invited guests gathered in the vast Rotunda to remember him.
“It is only right that today, near the end of his long journey, John lies here, in this great hall, under the mighty dome, like other American heroes before him,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
House Speaker Paul Ryan called Mr McCain “one of the bravest souls our nation has produced”.
Mr McCain, a former Navy aviator, really did “talk like a sailor”, Mr Ryan said, drawing smiles from the crowd.
“But you see, with John, it wasn’t feigned disagreement. The man didn’t feign anything. He just relished the fight.”
Vice-president Mike Pence said he did not always agree with Mr McCain, but the late senator’s support for limited government, tax reform and the military “surely left our nation more prosperous and more secure”.
Mr McCain “served his country honourably,” Mr Pence said, adding that President Donald Trump “respected his service to the country”.
Mr Trump, who has mocked Mr McCain for being captured during the Vietnam War, was asked to stay away from the Capitol service, people close to the White House and the McCain family said.
Other officials represented the administration in Mr Trump’s hard-to-miss absence. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, UN Ambassador John Bolton, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein were among those in attendance, along with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, former senator Joe Lieberman and actor Warren Beatty were among those pausing at Mr McCain’s casket.
On Saturday, Mr McCain’s funeral procession will pause by the Vietnam Memorial and head for Washington National Cathedral for a formal service.
At Mr McCain’s request, two former presidents – Democrat Barack Obama and Republican George Bush – are expected to speak during the funeral service.
Mr McCain’s funeral puts him back in the spotlight in the city where the senator, who died last Saturday aged 81, worked and collected friends and enemies — and some people were both at different times.
The funeral procession’s pause at the Vietnam Memorial, where Mr McCain’s widow Cindy is expected to lay a wreath, will highlight his military service and his more than five years as a prisoner of war.
During a service at the North Phoenix Baptist Church on Thursday, former vice-president Joe Biden made what some saw as a veiled reference to Mr Trump.
He talked about Mr McCain’s character and how he parted company with those who “lacked the basic values of decency and respect, knowing this project is bigger than yourself”.
He said Mr McCain “could not stand the abuse of power wherever he saw it, in whatever form, in whatever country”.
The church’s senior pastor Noe Garcia pronounced Mr McCain “a true American hero”.
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