'A true American original': Trump eulogizes Sen. Lindsey Graham at Washington funeral
The service for Graham took place at the Washington National Cathedral.
National political leaders and prominent figures from around the globe remembered the late South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham with a ceremony on Capitol Hill and a funeral service in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump paid tribute to his close ally with a eulogy at the Washington National Cathedral service, in which he called Graham a "beloved friend."
"Today, we gather in the deepest gratitude and profoundest sorrow to honor a beloved friend, a devoted brother, a respected statesman, a giant of the United States Senate and a true American original who left us much too soon," Trump said. "And that can only be the one and only Lindsey Graham."
Trump praised Graham's role in Congress, saying that "nothing of consequence happened in this Capitol without Lindsey Graham knowing about it." Graham served four terms in the House of Representatives before a 23-year career in the Senate.
"He was a man who gave America the full measure of his good and mighty heart until that heart itself just gave out," Trump said.
Graham died suddenly and unexpectedly on July 11 at the age of 71. Preliminary findings from the Medical Examiner of the District of Columbia said that the senator died due to "aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease."
Trump also commented on Graham's hawkish foreign policy stance.
"I will tell you, he never saw a war that he didn't like. Only his true friends would understand that. But he wanted it for the good of our country. He felt in his bones that our destiny is to win, and that his job was to do everything he could to ensure our enemies would lose," Trump said.
Last month, Darline Graham said her brother "didn't love war," and that he "wanted peace."
The funeral was attended by a number of world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Graham worked closely with both men as a staunch ally to both nations. Graham spent some of his final days in Ukraine and met with Zelenskyy just before he died.
Fox News host Sean Hannity and Graham's niece, Emillie Boggs Roberts, also delivered remarks.
"At his core, Lindsey was a man driven by principle: God, family, country. He was a friend's friend. He was a great patriot. He fought with every ounce of strength he had in his body for the things that he deeply believed in," Hannity said.
Hannity, also commenting on Graham's foreign policy approach, said he was "often unfairly characterized as a war monger."
"The truth was the opposite," Hannity said. "Lindsey desperately wanted and talked to the president about a lasting peace in the Middle East. He wanted every region, every country in the region, on that path to peace."
Roberts shared touching family stories of the senator, including the role he played in her mother, Darline Graham's, life: that of a brother and a parent.
"He held more than one role for each of us. He wasn't just an uncle, a brother, a nephew. He was the foundation of our family," Roberts said.
Darline Graham was sworn in as a U.S. senator earlier this month to finish the rest of her brother's term. She has since announced she is running for a full six-year term this November.
"He had total respect and love for Darline," Trump said in his remarks. "Nothing could be more fitting than that woman who was Lindsey's proudest legacy now continues his legacy of service in the U.S. Senate, a place that he cherished. And I have no doubt that he's looking down today, beaming with pride at his sister, Sen. Darline Graham."
Final farewell at the Capitol
Graham first was recognized with a ceremony in the Capitol rotunda Tuesday morning. His casket, draped in an American flag, was escorted by Air Force personnel and received by members of his family on the Capitol steps.
A great number of senators, both Democrats and Republicans, were in attendance. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Vice President JD Vance gave remarks, as did South Carolina Republican Rep. Sheri Briggs.
Thune remembered Graham for his work in national security and defense, his efforts on the Senate Judiciary Committee and for his commitment to pro-life issues.
Thune seemed to choke back tears toward the ends of his remarks as he said a final goodbye to Graham.
"To Lindsey, rest in peace, my friend. I look forward to the days when you make us all laugh again," he said.
Vance said he will remember Graham as someone who would fight alongside you on issues you both care about while respectfully disagreeing on others, and shared a story of an "intense argument" they had over Ukraine, but that it didn't stop Graham from supporting him on another issue.
"I choose to remember Lindsey Graham as a person who could fight with you on one issue, but fight for you on another issue," the vice president said. "I remember Lindsey Graham as a man who loved people, and because he loved people, he was willing to reason with them, to respect them, and ultimately to persuade them."
"It was impossible not to like him -- that swashbuckling, infectious laugh, that attitude, that passion that so many others have talked about. Lindsey Graham was impossible not to like as a human being, and of course, as a United States senator," Vance added in his speech.
Air Force base to be named after Graham
Graham's casket will return to South Carolina on Wednesday, where further memorial services are set for Columbia, the state's capital, and Pickens County, where Graham grew up and part of the district he represented.
The U.S. Air Force will rename Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina for Graham, a White House official confirmed on Tuesday.
The base, which falls under the command of the United States Air Force's 628th Air Base Wing, will be renamed to Joint Base Lindsey Graham, according to a memorandum from Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink dated July 27.
In the memo obtained by ABC News, Meink said that the renaming would honor "Graham's decades of distinguished service to the United States Congress and the United States Air Force." It was not immediately clear when the change would go into effect.
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