Approximately 1,600 people filled the Washington National Cathedral on Monday to say goodbye to Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who died on July 11 at age 71. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were both in the pews. So were Democratic senators.
And President Trump delivered a eulogy that no one expected. "He was extremely hawkish," Trump said. "I can tell you, he never saw a war that he didn't like; only his true friends would understand that."
That line landed exactly the way Trump intended it, which is to say, it was funny, it was true, and it made the people who actually knew Lindsey Graham laugh. Because that was the relationship. Trump and Graham disagreed on foreign policy more often than either of them would publicly admit, and yet Graham remained one of Trump's most reliable allies on virtually everything else. As Trump put it: "Nothing of consequence happened in this Capitol without Lindsey Graham knowing about it."
Graham served on active duty in the Air Force for seven years after graduating from law school. And reached the rank of Colonel through his over 30 year career serving in the Air Force Reserves and Air National Guard. He spent four terms in the House of Representatives before beginning a 23-year Senate career. The man had unwavering faith in American military power, and he wasn't shy about it. His final social media post read: "We want diplomacy to succeed. But if Iran tries to test us, we will obliterate them."
Fox News host Sean Hannity, who also delivered a tribute, pushed back on the hawkish framing. Hannity insisted that Graham "desperately wanted and talked to the president about a lasting peace in the Middle East" and pursued peace in every region. He called Trump "Israel's strongest friend in the history of the White House" — a point underscored by the fact that Netanyahu was sitting right there, having held closed-door meetings with Trump just hours before the service.
Vice President JD Vance, who served alongside Graham in the Senate for two years, offered a quieter reflection. "I choose to remember Lindsey Graham as a person who could fight with you on one issue, but fight for you on another," Vance said. That's a diplomatic way of saying the man could be maddening and indispensable in the same afternoon.
Graham's niece, Emillie Boggs Roberts, delivered the family's final thoughts, "He was the foundation of our family." His sister, Darline Graham Nordone, has been sworn in as U.S. Senator to complete his term and is running for the full seat in November.