Washington says goodbye to Sen. Lindsey Graham, a ‘true American original’

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, congressional colleagues and world leaders Tuesday will say their final goodbyes to Sen. Lindsey Graham, the influential and colorful foreign policy hawk whose sudden death this month at age 71 stunned Washington and reverberated in capitals around the globe.

Two days of ceremonies and funeral services began Tuesday morning when Graham’s American flag-draped casket arrived at the Capitol for a special ceremony in the rotunda — his last visit to a building where he served for more than three decades.

In honor of the senator’s long military career, an armed forces body bearer team slowly carried his casket up the Capitol steps. Graham served as an Air Force judge advocate general, or JAG, officer and retired from the Air Force Reserve in 2015 with the rank of colonel.

The casket of late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. — The casket of late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham during a ceremony in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on July 28. Frank Thorp V / NBC News

Senate colleagues, past and present, Cabinet members and Graham’s family and staffers packed the Rotunda. Among those paying tribute were former Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander, both Tennessee Republicans; Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Richard Burr, R-N.C.; Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.; Pat Toomey, R-Pa.; and Kelly Ayotte, now New Hampshire’s GOP governor.

“It’s such a loss in terms of his voice on foreign policy and America’s role in the world,” Ayotte, who traveled regularly with Graham on Senate trips around the world, told NBC News, adding: “He loved life, he had so much fun, and no one could make you laugh more than Lindsey Graham.”

Vice President JD Vance, who also served with Graham in the Senate, remembered the late senator’s “swashbuckling, infectious laugh” and called him a “true American original.”

Graham, Vance said, had a common touch, likely from his humble upbringing in western South Carolina, and could connect with all people, whether it was political leaders or the waitstaff in the Capitol.

“Lindsey Graham loved people from all walks of life. … He was fascinated in the waitstaff in the Senate dining room. He was fascinated in the people who made the food. He was fascinated in the lowest staffer who had been hired three days earlier,” Vance said at the Capitol ceremony. “He was fascinated by, of course, the very leadership of our country, and I think he was fascinated in people because he loved people.”

Others on hand were former South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, a Fox News host; acting Attorney General Todd Blanche; Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, a former senator; and White House budget director Russell Vought.

“It’s difficult to believe that we’re here today to say a final farewell to Lindsey as he leaves the Capitol for the last time. My heart is heavy,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said at the ceremony.

“Lindsey was a towering figure here in the Senate and on the international stage. … Lindsey will be remembered as a senator and as a statesman,” Thune said. “But for me, most of all, I will remember him as my friend. It’s hard to think that there will be no more Senate dinners with Lindsey.”

Graham’s sister and only sibling, Darline Graham, who was appointed to replace him in the Senate, walked tearfully up to the casket alone, then placed her hand on the casket. Backed by Trump, she is running for a full term in an Aug. 11 primary.

She was joined by her family. Then a parade of Trump officials, senators and Senate staffers paid tribute. Former Sen. Burr kissed the casket “to say goodbye.”

“He was one of our close friends,” Burr said.

From the Capitol, Graham’s casket departed for the Washington National Cathedral for an invitation-only funeral service at 2 p.m. ET. That will be livestreamed.

Trump is expected to speak at the funeral. Cabinet officials and congressional and military leaders are expected to be on hand, as are global leaders who viewed Graham as a key American ally on defense and foreign policy matters, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Graham didn’t come close to winning the presidency when he ran against Trump in 2016, but Tuesday’s send-off in the nation’s capital was fit for a president, with Trump, Vance and world leaders personally honoring Graham.

Graham did not lie in state or honor in the Capitol rotunda, but few other lawmakers have received such a ceremony.

It was a testament to Graham’s political influence and longevity. In addition to his 33-year military career, Graham had previously served as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and was Budget Committee chairman when he died. He was also one of the most quoted members of Congress; he was a regular on Fox News and had logged 63 appearances on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“He’s been one of a kind, irreplaceable. dedicated his life to this country. I mean, in the end, gave his life to this country. I mean, all the arduous travel took a toll on him,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who succeeded Graham as Budget chairman upon his death.

“Nobody had a quicker wit … and he used that wit to really convince people to do things,” Johnson said.

Ayotte recounted the day during the 2015 presidential campaign when Trump read aloud his then-rival Graham’s personal phone number at a televised campaign event. Shortly after, Graham went with Ayotte’s young family to watch “Minions.”

“So my son, who was probably 5 or 6 years old, Lindsey had him on the phone answering the calls, and so Jake would pick up the phone and say, ‘Oh, hey, who is this? Why are you calling?’” Ayotte said. “So we had a lot of laughs over that.”

Remembrances will continue at the South Carolina State House on Wednesday morning. Graham’s casket will be carried by a South Carolina State Guard horse-drawn military wagon, known as a caisson, followed by an F-16 flyover to mark his more than three decades in the Air Force and Air Force Reserve.

A funeral service, open to the public, will be held at First Baptist Church of Columbia. A private family burial will take place in Pickens County, where Graham was born and raised.

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