Library honoring the late Sen. John McCain to be built at ASU in Tempe

TEMPE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — A new library is set to be built at Arizona State University in Tempe honoring the late Sen. John McCain, his family announced Thursday.

The John S. McCain III Library will be established on a 22.5-acre section of ASU’s campus near Papago Park. According to a press release, the library “will serve as an anchor, multipurpose facility that will provide Arizonans a place to learn, research, develop and work.” In addition to the library and archives, it will include a visitor’s center and an Arizona home for the Washington, D.C.-based McCain Institute.

The McCain family made the announcement in conjunction with President Joe Biden’s visit to Arizona Thursday, where he delivered a democracy-focused address that will also pay tribute to McCain. During the speech, he repeated one of his key campaign themes, branding the “Make America Great Again” movement as an existential threat to the U.S. political system. “For Se. McCain, the individual was at the center of everything. We have a democracy in order to defend the rights of individuals and to empower individuals,” said McCain Institute executive director Evelyn Farkas.

President Joe Biden was in Tempe on Thursday, where he hailed the late Sen. John McCain as a political hero and highlighted his new library.

“It’s a great honor for President Joe Biden to be here in Tempe, Arizona today to make the announcement of his Administration’s support for the establishment of the Library,” Cindy McCain said in a prepared statement. “President Biden has been a long-time friend, tough political opponent and strong leader. All traits that my husband, John, also possessed.”

The McCain family says Biden’s administration, Gov. Katie Hobbs, former Gov. Doug Ducey, the state of Arizona and Arizona State University invested in the establishment of the library. Gov. Hobbs announced funding from the American Rescue Plan will help construct the library that will “provide education, work and health monitoring programs to underserved communities.” Rep. Greg Stanton, an Arizona Democrat, praised McCain’s legacy and said the library will impact everyone who visits the library. “He was willing to do what he thought was right, even if it went up against significant special interest. He took on his own political party over and over and over again. He wanted to do what was right for Arizona and the people he represented. And so people that share those values, this is going to be a destination point,” he said.

Cindy McCain announced a library will be built in honor of her late husband, Sen. John McCain, at ASU's Tempe campus.

McCain served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years, spending five of those years as a prisoner of war after being shot down in Vietnam in 1967. After retiring from the military, he represented Arizona in the U.S. Senate for more than three decades and was the Republican nominee for president in 2008. McCain died from a brain tumor on Aug. 25, 2018.

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