WASHINGTON— 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, will be eulogized Tuesday during memorial services across Washington.
Graham’s remains will arrive 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, a funeral service will be held at Washington National Cathedral with lawmakers and foreign leaders, a testament to his stature on the global stage.
President Donald Trump is expected to deliver remarks at the cathedral, alongside Fox News’ Sean Hannity and other conservative leaders. Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy are planning to be in attendance, 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.
It’s the start of two days of services, with burial Wednesday in his home state of South Carolina. Graham died suddenly on July 11 at his home in Washington 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.
A place of honor to ‘say our final goodbyes’
The morning service in the Capitol Rotunda provides a place of tribute where former presidents and military leaders and other prominent Americans have been memorialized. In recognition of his service in the Air Force, an Armed Forces Body Bearer Team will carry Graham’s remains into the Capitol. Vice President JD Vance is expected to speak.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said earlier it was only fitting to give Graham a special Capitol honor “as we say our final goodbyes.”
“For so many of us in the Senate and the House, myself included, Lindsey was more than a colleague, he was a friend,” Thune said.
First elected to Congress in the 1994 Republican revolt that swept the GOP to power, Graham was part of a new era of conservatives to take their seats in the House — and among the first Republicans from his Southern state since Reconstruction.
He quickly rose to prominence as a manager in Bill Clinton’s presidential impeachment, and was elected to the Senate in the 2002 election. There, he formed alliance with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., in what would become the “three amigos” globetrotting the world focused on national security issues.
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 shapeshift and adapt to political realities, particularly when it came to Trump.
The ‘Trump whisperer’ had one last mission: Russia sanctions
Perhaps nowhere was Graham’s political dexterity on display as when he navigated his on-again, off-again relationship with Trump.
Graham had denounced Trump as a “kook” who was “unfit for office” when the two were early rivals during the 2016 presidential primary campaign.
Once Trump was elected, Graham gradually situated himself alongside the new president — until Trump sparked the mob who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, trying to overturn Joe Biden’s election.
“Count me out. Enough is enough,” Graham said that night in a fiery floor speech.
Weeks later, Trump invited Graham to the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, rekindling their alliance. The senator had said he wanted the president to be successful, and as Trump won a second term in 2024, Graham also wanted to remain relevant.
Graham had become what Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called the “Trump whisperer,” someone other senators — and even world leaders — relied on to understand the president’s thinking.
Days before his death, Graham had won Trump’s support for a long-fought bipartisan proposal to impose sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine, one of the strongest U.S. efforts yet to hamper Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ability to prolong the conflict.
Senators said as a tribute to Graham they should quickly approve the Russian sanctions package, and they were scheduled later Tuesday to take a first procedural vote. Zelenskyy is expected to be on hand and meeting with senators in the evening.
Graham’s champions and potential successors
At the Washington cathedral, a roster of socially conservative and anti-abortion leaders are expected to participate in the services, 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.
Graham never married, but he helped support his younger sister, Darline Graham, who is now a potential successor in the Senate.
She has been appointed by the state’s governor to fill the remainder of his term in the Senate, and is 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.
While Graham was at college, his mother died of Hodgkin lymphoma. Months later, his father died and Graham started his first semester of law school. He became the guardian for his sister, who was then 13, and later in life often extolled the benefits of Social Security that helped keep them financially afloat.
Graham went on to serve as a judge advocate general in the Air Force, and remained a reserve or National Guard member for decades. In the Senate, Graham briefly switched back to active status to help advise the Air Force during the Iraq War. He was awarded the Bronze Star medal for service in 2014 before formally retiring as a colonel in 2015.
