WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Lindsey Graham, the son of pool hall owners who rose to become one of his generation’s more influential U.S. politicians at home and abroad, was eulogized Tuesday as “a true American original” during memorial services in Washington.
Graham’s flag-draped casket arrived for a tribute at the U.S. Capitol, where the Republican served for more than 30 years as an indefatigable dealmaker who talked and laughed and badgered his colleagues into action. Later, President Donald Trump joined foreign leaders for a funeral at Washington National Cathedral, a testament to Graham’s stature on the global stage.
Trump called Graham “a giant of the United States Senate, a true American original who left us much too soon.”
In mostly prepared remarks, Trump described his onetime presidential rival turned ally as “the first person to make you laugh and one of the last people that you’ve really ever wanted to fight.”
Trump told the story of how he had publicly disclosed Graham’s cellphone number on the campaign trail, reciting the number in the cathedral, but said the senator had the last laugh because “Lindsey did not stop calling me for the next 10 years.”
Among those gathered were Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, leaders of two countries fighting separate wars, a nod to Graham’s role as a foremost believer in the power of the U.S. and its military to intervene in the world’s problems. Fox News’ Sean Hannity said in his remarks that Graham would have been moved.
Trump Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and current and former senators and lawmakers joined in the pews, as did Graham’s sister, now- Sen. Darline Graham, who was appointed by the state’s governor to fill the remainder of her brother’s term.
It was the start of two days of services, with burial Wednesday in Graham’s home state of South Carolina. Joint Base Charleston will be renamed in his honor, an Air Force official said. Graham died suddenly on July 11 of a likely aortic tear, according to preliminary findings. He had just returned from a whirlwind trip to a NATO summit in Turkey, where he celebrated his birthday, and a visit to Ukraine. He was 71.
Graham had spent his final days negotiating punishing Russia sanctions intended to help Ukraine, and senators worked quickly voting to advance the package late Tuesday evening, a final gesture for their colleague.
A place of honor for a ‘swashbuckling’ senator
During the morning service in the Capitol Rotunda, Vice President JD Vance described Graham as a “swashbuckling” man — “who swashbuckled into the Senate” with his suit jacket open — and was impossible not to like.
“Lindsey was a towering figure,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, choking back tears during his remarks.
First elected to Congress in the 1994 Republican revolt that swept the GOP to power, Graham was part of a new era of conservatives in the House — and among the first Republicans from his Southern state since Reconstruction.
He quickly rose to prominence as a manager in Democrat Bill Clinton’s presidential impeachment, and he was elected to the Senate in 2002. There, he formed an alliance with Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, in what would become the “three amigos,” globe-trotting the world focused on national security issues.
Vance recalled how he argued with Graham over the senator’s staunch support for aid to Ukraine, but praised his legacy, saying Kavanaugh “would not be on the Supreme Court” were it not for Graham’s “fierce advocacy.”
For decades, Graham had been at the center of the action — a member of virtually every bipartisan gang in Congress — with a relentless ability to adapt to political realities, particularly when it came to Trump.
One by one, many of Graham’s colleagues said their goodbyes in the Rotunda. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala, placed both hands on his casket and then put her hand on her heart. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., saluted from her wheelchair. Former Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., bowed and delivered a brief kiss and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., gave a fist bump.
The ‘Trump whisperer’ had one last mission: Russia sanctions
Perhaps nowhere was Graham’s political dexterity on display more as when he navigated his on-again, off-again relationship with Trump.
Graham had denounced Trump as “unfit for office” during the 2016 presidential campaign, but over time he had become what colleagues called the “Trump whisperer,” someone even world leaders relied on to understand the president.
Days before his death, Graham had won Trump’s support for the long-fought bipartisan proposal to impose sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine, in what would be one of the strongest U.S. efforts to hamper Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ability to prolong the conflict.
Senators said they wanted to move on the sanctions package as a tribute to Graham. After the funeral Zelenskyy, who had met with Trump earlier at the White House, arrived at the Capitol to talk with lawmakers ahead of voting. He then watched the roll call from the visitors’ gallery inside the Senate chamber.
Graham’s champions and potential successors
At the Washington cathedral, a roster of socially conservative and anti-abortion leaders gave readings, including Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Marjorie Jones Dannenfelser of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and the Reverend William Franklin Graham III.
When Hannity said how important Darline Graham and her family had been to the senator, she put her hand over her heart in response.
Lindsey Graham never married, but the Air Force veteran helped support his younger sister after both of his parents died while he was at college and then starting law school. He became the guardian for Darline, who was then 13.
Darline Graham is now running in a potentially crowded primary field for the fall election. The filing period for the special primary election closes Tuesday, with voting set for Aug. 11.
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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Collin Binkley and Michelle L. Price contributed to this story.
