World leaders, U.S. politicians from across the political spectrum and other officials gathered in Washington, D.C. to mourn Lindsey Graham, a prominent lawmaker from South Carolina who died suddenly earlier this month.

Graham’s Washington memorials began in the U.S. Capitol rotunda Tuesday morning. A service followed at the Washington National Cathedral, where President Donald Trump was among those paying tribute.

Appearing to read from a script, Trump called Graham a “giant” of the U.S. Senate and reflected on his life growing up in rural South Carolina and his ascent in congress.

“But even though Lindsey’s life was cut short while he was still so full of vim and vigor, there can be no doubt that he lived absolutely to the fullest,” Trump said. “He died doing the work he was born to do. He was truly a great politician, serving the country he loved to serve so deeply.”

Trump and Graham grew to become close friends and allies, but they vehemently opposed one another when the two ran for president in 2016. Graham once called Trump a “a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot” in December 2015.

Trump recalled a story from the 2016 presidential campaign trail when he shared Graham’s personal cell phone number publicly, telling attendees it was probably something he “shouldn’t have done.” He repeated the phone number, 202-228-0292, during the service.

Trump says Graham got the last laugh as, “Lindsey did not stop calling me for the next 10 years.”

Many prominent bipartisan public servants had state funerals at the Washington National Cathedral, including former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and Dwight Eisenhower.

World leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, were also expected to attend Graham’s funeral Tuesday.

Graham was a staunch supporter of the country’s international allies, and he had reportedly returned from his 10th trip to Ukraine just before his death. The Senate is expected to vote on a sanctions bill targeting Russia pushed by and later named for Graham on Tuesday.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette also attended the funeral in Washington. Also in attendance at the funeral at the National Cathedral were South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, Senate President Thomas Alexander, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, former Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and members of Graham’s campaign and official office staff.

Among those who served as honorary pallbearers were Graham’s chief of staff Richard Perry, a longtime communications staffer Kevin Bishop, deputy chief of staff Van Cato and longtime campaign manager Scott Farmer.

Graham’s remains were carried into the U.S. Capitol by an Armed Forces Body Bearer Team in tribute to his three decades of service in the Air Force. Though he did not lie in state Tuesday, a closed-to-the-public program in the U.S. Capitol honored his nearly quarter-century service in the Senate.

Past and former, Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers, Graham’s family and friends attended the ceremony Tuesday morning, with many walking past or touching the senator’s flag-draped casket.

U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, the younger sister of Lindsey Graham who was appointed to finish his term, was joined by her husband, Larry Nordone, and their children. Lindsey Graham never married, but he was very close with his sister and two nieces.

Darline Graham, who Lindsey Graham adopted after their parents died 15 months apart, shed tears as she walked up to her brother’s casket in the U.S. Capitol rotunda, first alone and then with family, and laid her hands to pay tribute.

Representing the family, Lindsey Graham’s niece Emillie Boggs Roberts gave remarks at the National Cathedral.

Graham, who did not have his own children, still served as the foundation of the family, Roberts said.

She said Graham never slowed down, including on vacations. She recounted trips to Disney where they had to be the first ones at the park.

“Lindsey had to squeeze every second of joy out of those trips, see it all, and do it all. I joke, but those trips really are some of my best, most authentic moments of him,” Roberts said.

“From family vacations to holidays, proms, graduations, my sister’s volleyball games. He was there for all of it. He even DJed a few songs at my husband and I’s wedding. Not very well,” Roberts said.

Lindsey Graham also just missed out on happy family news.

Roberts revealed that she told Darline Graham that she was pregnant with her second child the night Lindsey Graham died.

“The first thing she did was pick up the phone to call him to tell him the great news, just like I knew she would,” Roberts said. “She never got to tell him, but I have no doubt that he knows.”

Among those at the ceremony were U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, U.S. Rep. Russell Fry and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman.

Speakers U.S. Rep. Sheri Biggs, Vice President JD Vance and Senate Majority Leader John Thune reflected on Graham’s career in the U.S. Senate and his personal life.

“It didn’t matter to Lindsey whether an issue was popular or unpopular, whether he had the full support of his colleagues or whether he was standing alone,” Thune said. “If he believed he was in the right, he spoke up. He told things the way he saw them, and he didn’t mince words.”

Graham, Vance said, was well-liked by his colleagues, felt passionate about his work and made those around him laugh.

“When he walked into the Senate, this was a guy who couldn’t have stood more than 5 foot 6 or 5 foot 7, but he’d swashbuckle in with his jacket open like he was 6 foot 5,” Vance said. “He had an attitude to him, and it’s one of the reasons why Lindsey Graham was Lindsey Graham.”

Biggs, who represents the Graham’s hometown of Seneca in the House, also acknowledged his service in the Air Force and commitment to international U.S. allies.

“What made Lindsey exceptional was his ability to work on difficult issues while maintaining personal relationships with people who disagreed with him,” Biggs said. “He believed that conversations matter. He believed that showing up mattered, and he believed that leadership meant finding a way forward, even when the path was complicated.”

“And he was also very good at outsmarting the trolls, the armchair critics and the keyboard warriors,” she continued.

Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of the Washington National Cathedral, officiated the service. The funeral was invite only, but the cathedral livestreamed the service for the public.

Graham died suddenly July 11, two days after his 71st birthday, with a preliminary report indicating he died from an aortic dissection — a tear in the aorta— due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

He served in the U.S. Senate for more than two decades, holding powerful leadership roles and allies across the political spectrum. He was also elected to the U.S. House and South Carolina state House and served in the U.S. Air Force for 33 years.

Graham’s remains will travel for a final time to South Carolina Tuesday evening. Memorials will continue Wednesday with a public church service at the First Baptist Church of Columbia and a private family burial in Pickens County, where Graham grew up.

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