Obama, Bush, and Biden are eulogizing John McCain. His pallbearers include Warren Beatty.

John and Cindy McCain, Warren Beatty, and Anette Bening

(Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

last updated 28 August 2018

The list of speakers and pallbearers for Sen. John McCain's funerals and memorial services is now public, and his office referred to all non-family members as "friends" of the late senator. It's quite a list of friends.

At his funeral on Saturday, at Washington National Cathedral, the speakers will include former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush — Obama beat McCain in the 2008 general election, Bush beat him in the 2000 GOP primary — former Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), and Henry Kissinger, plus daughter Meghan McCain and son Jimmy McCain. Soprano Renee Fleming will sing "Danny Boy," and the pallbearers walking McCain to the front of the church include former Vice President Joe Biden, former Senate colleagues Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Gary Hart (D-Colo.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.); former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R); ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; former Defense Secretary William Cohen; aides Rick Davis and Mark Salter; a handful of business executives and fundraisers; Vice Chairman of Open Russia Vladimir Kara-Murza; and actor Warren Beatty.

Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will speak at McCain's Friday service in the Capitol Rotunda, where McCain will lie in state. Biden will eulogize McCain at a memorial service at North Phoenix Baptist Church on Thursday, and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R), Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), and former Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) will speak at McCain's service at the Arizona state Capitol on Wednesday. Sunday's burial service at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland, will be private.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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