WATCH: Barack Obama’s full eulogy for John McCain - PBS

As far apart as they were on policy, former President Barack Obama said in his eulogy to Sen. John McCain on Saturday at the Washington National Cathedral that they were bound by a shared belief that patriotism lives outside party lines.

Obama spoke after former President George W. Bush, as their two families sat together in the front row, across the aisle from McCain’s wife Cindy McCain. He said it was a “surprise” that McCain had asked him in April to deliver the speech, but that it exemplified his reputation for “being unpredictable, even a little contrarian,” with “no interest in conforming.”

“It showed his irreverence, his sense of humor, a little bit of a mischievous streak,” he said. “After all, what better way to get a last laugh than to make George and I say nice things about him to a national audience?”

While Cindy and the audience laughed with former first lady Michelle Obama and Bush, who sat next to each other, it also tied together what many saw as McCain’s historic, dying wish: to show political unity, even under an administration he rejected.

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“[McCain] saw this country as a place where anything is possible and citizenship is an obligation to ensure it forever remains that way,” Obama said. “There are some things bigger than party or ambition or money or fame or power, there are some things that are worth risking everything for, principles that are eternal, truths that are abiding.” - More

WATCH: Barack Obama's full eulogy for John McCain | PBS

Watch President Barack Obama's full farewell speech | PBS NewsHour