Lawmakers recall Lindsey Graham as persuasive, funny hawk before funeral

Hundreds of US lawmakers gathered in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday to honor the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. Graham was remembered as a persuasive and funny figure, known for his outspoken support of an assertive foreign policy that made him one of the party's last prominent hawks.

US Air Force bands played in tribute to his service in that branch of the armed forces. Colleagues paid homage to one of the country's best-known senators, describing him as gregarious and persuasive. They stood before Graham's flag-draped coffin, placed at the center of the cavernous rotunda.

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It really ended up being a great friendship. If I needed a Democrat, he could usually produce that Democrat if I had to have them in an emergency. He was a great politician and a great gentleman.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were due to attend the funeral of an ally who forcefully lobbied Washington to back both countries during conflict. President Donald Trump, who Graham once denounced before becoming a staunch supporter, was also expected to speak at the funeral at the Washington National Cathedral.

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Because he loved people, he saw that the Senate, at its very best, could be a deliberative body geared towards persuading people.

Vice President JD Vance recalled Graham as a compelling figure in the Senate, whose risqué jokes could make him laugh to the point of abdominal cramps. "Because he loved people, he saw that the Senate, at its very best, could be a deliberative body geared towards persuading people," Vance said. Senate Majority Leader John Thune added, "there was no one, no one, who took his job more seriously than Lindsey Graham, but also, no one was more capable of cracking up a room during the work week here in Washington."

Graham, a South Carolina Republican who died suddenly from a heart ailment on July 11 at age 71, was a defense hawk who regularly called for an interventionist U.S. role on the world stage and strongly backed both Israel and Ukraine. He had met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv just a day before his death, marking his 10th visit to Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion. On Tuesday, the Senate was expected to vote on a bipartisan package of new sanctions on Russia that Graham had supported.

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there was no one, no one, who took his job more seriously than Lindsey Graham, but also, no one was more capable of cracking up a room during the work week here in Washington.