Lindsey Graham Remembered at Capitol and National Cathedral Services

A flag-draped coffin lay in the Capitol Rotunda as Republican senators honored the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died earlier this month at age 71 from an aortic dissection. The ceremony was the first of two days of remembrance. After the Capitol service, Graham’s remains were taken to the Washington National Cathedral, where President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended. A subsequent service at the First Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, will follow.

BBC News

Graham served three decades in the U.S. Senate after winning election in 2022, representing South Carolina. A former Air Force judge advocate with more than 30 years of military service, he became a leading foreign-policy hawk, championing aid to Ukraine and pushing a Russia-sanctions bill aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. He also backed strong U.S. positions on Iran and Israel, earning a reputation as a “top ally” of Kyiv and a frequent voice on global security matters.

BBC News

Senate Majority Leader John Thune praised Graham’s seriousness and humor in his remarks, while Vice President J.D. Vance called him an “impossible-to-like” colleague with a “swashbuckling, infectious laugh.” New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte, a close friend, highlighted Graham’s skill at building relationships across partisan lines and recalled his habit of reminding her of his seniority in both military service and the Senate.

NPR

• Age at death: 71

BBC News

• Military service: >30 years, including as an Air Force judge advocate

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• Senate tenure: approximately three decades

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• Key legislative focus: Russia-sanctions bill (priority for Republican Senate leaders)

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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,” — Majority Leader John Thune

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• “It was impossible not to like him — that swashbuckling, infectious laugh, that attitude, that passion that so many others have talked about,” — D. Vance, vice president

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• “Lindsey never missed an opportunity to remind me that he outranked me — not only in service but also in his office in the upper chamber,” — Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte, air force judge

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