Original Article By Morgan Gstalter –
The U.S. Secret Service honored Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) after his death, using his former code name from his previous presidential campaign.
“It was an honor to protect @SenJohnMcCain during his candidacy for President,” the Secret Service tweeted on Sunday night. “Phoenix – May you Rest in Peace.”
The Arizona Republican, who was the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, was dubbed “Phoenix” by the Secret Service, according to a report from The Guardian at the time.
It was a reference to the capital of his home state of Arizona as well as his rising-from-the-ashes story that lead to him to securing the party’s nomination, the newspaper noted.
His wife, Cindy McCain, was named “Parasol.”
McCain’s vice presidential running mate, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), was “Denali” — the name of a national park and a major natural-gas pipeline in her state.
Her husband’s code name was “Driller,” a reference to Todd Palin’s work on oil rigs.
The White House Communications Agency assigns code names to White House candidates and family members, not the Secret Service, according to the Charlotte News Observer.
The code names of a president or candidate’s family member are often alliterative.
President Trump’s code name, for example, is “Mogul” and first lady Melania Trump is referred to as “Muse.”
McCain died on Saturday at the age of 81 after a battle with brain cancer.
A McCain spokesman confirmed on Monday that Trump will not attend McCain’s funeral.
It had been previously reported that McCain did not want Trump, with whom he had a contentious relationship, to attend.
Former Presidents Obama and George W. Bush have instead been asked to eulogize the former senator at the funeral.
McCain will lie in state at the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday before lying in state at the U.S. Capitol building.
McCain, a Vietnam War veteran, died one day after his family announced that he would be discontinuing medical treatment for brain cancer, stating that the “progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age [had] render[ed] their verdict.”
McCain was diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma in July 2017.
