{"id":218636,"date":"2026-07-29T02:44:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/washington-says-goodbye-to-sen-lindsey-graham-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T02:44:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:44:06","slug":"washington-says-goodbye-to-sen-lindsey-graham-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/washington-says-goodbye-to-sen-lindsey-graham-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington says goodbye to Sen. Lindsey Graham – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump, congressional colleagues and world leaders Tuesday said their final goodbyes to Sen. Lindsey Graham, the influential and colorful foreign policy hawk<\/a> whose sudden death<\/a> this month at age 71 stunned Washington and reverberated in capitals around the globe.
Eulogizing Graham, R-S.C., at his funeral service at Washington National Cathedral, Trump called him \u201ca respected statesman, a giant of the United States Senate and a true American original who left us much too soon.\u201d
\u201cLindsey rose from a small town in rural South Carolina, a place he loved so much, to become a constant fixture of American politics at the highest level and a force to be reckoned with all over the world,\u201d Trump told those gathered. \u201cFor more than 30 years, nothing of consequence happened in this capital without Lindsey Graham knowing about it. Nothing of significance happened anywhere in the world without Lindsey Graham having a view on it, and no bill became law in the most exceptional republic in human history without Lindsey Graham having a say in it.\u201d
Graham had been a vocal critic of Trump\u2019s when they ran against each other in the 2016 presidential race. But Graham became one of Trump\u2019s closest and most trusted allies on Capitol Hill and a frequent golf partner.
\u201cHe was a man who gave America the full measure of his good and mighty heart until that heart itself just gave out,\u201d Trump said.
Two days of ceremonies and funeral services began Tuesday morning when Graham\u2019s American flag-draped casket arrived at the Capitol for a special ceremony in the rotunda \u2014 his last visit to a building where he served for more than three decades.
In honor of his long military career, an armed forces body bearer team slowly carried his casket up the Capitol steps. Graham was an Air Force judge advocate general, or JAG, officer and retired from the Air Force Reserve in 2015 with the rank of colonel.
Senate colleagues, past and present, Cabinet members and Graham\u2019s 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\u2019s GOP governor.
\u201cIt\u2019s such a loss in terms of his voice on foreign policy and America\u2019s role in the world,\u201d Ayotte, who traveled regularly with Graham on Senate trips around the world, told NBC News, adding, \u201cHe loved life, he had so much fun, and no one could make you laugh more than Lindsey Graham.\u201d
Vice President JD Vance, who also served with Graham in the Senate, remembered his \u201cswashbuckling, infectious laugh.\u201d
Graham, Vance said, had a common touch, most likely from his humble upbringing in western South Carolina, and could connect with all people, whether they were political leaders or the waitstaff in the Capitol.
\u201cLindsey 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,\u201d Vance said at the Capitol ceremony. \u201cHe was fascinated by, of course, the very leadership of our country, and I think he was fascinated in people because he loved people.\u201d
Others on hand were former Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, a Fox News host; acting Attorney General Todd Blanche; Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, a former senator; and White House budget director Russell Vought.
\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to believe that we\u2019re here today to say a final farewell to Lindsey as he leaves the Capitol for the last time. My heart is heavy,\u201d Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said at the ceremony.
\u201cLindsey was a towering figure here in the Senate and on the international stage. … Lindsey will be remembered as a senator and as a statesman,\u201d Thune said. \u201cBut for me, most of all, I will remember him as my friend. It\u2019s hard to think that there will be no more Senate dinners with Lindsey.\u201d
Graham\u2019s only sibling, Darline Graham<\/a>, 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 \u201cto say goodbye.\u201d
\u201cHe was one of our close friends,\u201d Burr said.
From the Capitol, Graham\u2019s casket departed for Washington National Cathedral for an invitation-only funeral service. The event was a who\u2019s who of Washington, with the Trump family, Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio (who also served with Graham in the Senate), Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Cabinet officials in attendance.
Others present were former Vice President Mike Pence, Fox News host Sean Hannity and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whose nomination Graham is credited with saving<\/a> in 2018 after he faced allegations of sexual assault.
\u201cJustice Kavanaugh, in an unfortunate way, you brought out the very best in Lindsey for the entire country to see,\u201d Hannity said during his eulogy.
Cindy and Meghan McCain, the wife and daughter of the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Graham\u2019s longtime friend and ally in the Senate, were also in the cavernous cathedral.
A handful of foreign leaders who viewed Graham as a key American ally on defense and foreign policy matters attended, as well, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
Graham did not come close to winning the presidency when he ran against Trump in 2016, but Tuesday\u2019s send-off in the nation\u2019s capital was fit for a president, with Trump, Vance and world leaders personally honoring Graham.
Graham did not lie in state or honor<\/a> in the Capitol rotunda, ceremony few lawmakers have received.
It was a testament to Graham\u2019s political influence and longevity. In addition to his 33-year military career, Graham had previously been Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, and he 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\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press.\u201d
\u201cHe\u2019s 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,\u201d said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who succeeded Graham as Budget chairman upon his death on July 11.
\u201cNobody had a quicker wit … and he used that wit to really convince people to do things,\u201d Johnson said.
Ayotte recounted the day during the 2015 presidential campaign when Trump read aloud his then-rival Graham\u2019s personal phone number at a televised campaign event. Shortly after, Graham went with Ayotte\u2019s young family to watch \u201cMinions.\u201d
\u201cSo 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: \u2018Oh, hey, who is this? Why are you calling?\u2019\u201d Ayotte said. \u201cSo we had a lot of laughs over that.\u201d
Remembrances will continue at the South Carolina State House in Columbia on Wednesday morning. Graham\u2019s 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.
Scott Wong is a senior congressional reporter for NBC News.
Frank Thorp V is a coordinating producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the Senate.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeWASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump, congressional colleagues and world leaders Tuesday said 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.Eulogizing Graham, R-S.C., at his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":218637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}