Remembrances Across the Nation: The Schedule of Tributes to John McCain

Thousands of Americans will turn out this week to honor and reflect on Sen. John McCain’s life, including former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, both of whom will speak Saturday at an invitation-only service at Washington National Cathedral.

Former Vice President Joe Biden will speak Thursday at a funeral service in Phoenix. Members of the public will have several chances to view McCain, who will lie in state in Arizona, his home state, and Washington. Here’s how to pay respects.

Wednesday, Aug. 29

McCain’s body will rest in the copper-domed rotunda of the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix on the first day of public visitation. Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona will speak at a private ceremony in the morning before members of the public will be allowed to visit McCain’s coffin in the afternoon. Footage from the room will be live-streamed.

Thursday, Aug. 30

A formal memorial service will be held Thursday morning at the North Phoenix Baptist Church, which seats at least 3,000 people and is perched on a 40-acre piece of land. A limited number of tickets are available to the public. Biden, who served with McCain in the Senate for over a decade, will speak. A funeral procession through nearby streets will allow those who could not get in to the service to see McCain another way.

Friday, Aug. 31

McCain’s body, moved from Arizona to Washington by military transport, will lie in state Friday in the Capitol Rotunda, where his family and former colleagues will pay tribute. More than 30 people have been honored this way, and McCain will be the 13th former senator to be granted the honor, according to the Architect of the Capitol. The morning service, where Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Mitch McConnell and Speaker Paul D. Ryan will speak, will be live-streamed, and members of the public can visit the Rotunda for the rest of the day beginning at 2 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 1

A substantial segment of official Washington will turn out Saturday morning to a private memorial service at Washington National Cathedral, where Bush and Obama will deliver eulogies. Before he died, McCain’s closest associates reportedly requested that President Donald Trump, who has feuded with the senator, not appear at the ceremony, which will be streamed online. On the way there, McCain’s motorcade will pause at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where Cindy McCain, McCain’s wife, will lay a wreath.

Sunday, Sept. 2

McCain, a Vietnam War veteran, will be buried at the U.S. Naval Academy on Sunday next to a lifelong friend, Chuck Larson. A handwritten sign already marks the site of the grave, a “beautiful spot overlooking the Severn River,” as McCain wrote in his last book, “The Restless Wave.”

The academy, which he graduated from in 1958, has long been central to McCain’s telling of his biography: He made one of his final public appearances there in October. “I would discover that a sense of honor had been imparted to me here that would speak to me in the darkest hours,” he told the Brigade of Midshipmen. “And so I come back, again and again, to the place where I learned to dread dishonor.”