Lindsey Graham returns home one last time for his funeral in South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Sen. Lindsey Graham returned for the last time Wednesday to South Carolina, where powerful friends remembered him as someone who never stopped working for the state he loved.

After Graham was eulogized Tuesday in the nation's capital as an indefatigable dealmaker by the president, vice president and others, mourners in Columbia recalled the son of pool hall owners who “was born with a plastic fork in his mouth,” as former Rep. Trey Gowdy put it.

Graham seemed to know every small-town mayor and police chief and the location of every Chick-fil-A across South Carolina. He made sure Republicans had money to run in legislative and local elections across the state.

“Lindsey Graham understood the hopes and dreams and needs of his state and delivered every time,” said Republican Gov, Henry McMaster, who ended his remarks by telling Graham he loved him.

Graham died suddenly on July 11 at his home in Washington, likely of an aortic tear, according to preliminary findings. He had just returned from a whirlwind trip to a NATO summit in Turkey, where he celebrated his 71st birthday, and a visit to Ukraine as he negotiated punishing sanctions against Russia. Senators voted late Tuesday to advance the package as a final gesture for their colleague.

Wednesday's funeral was at First Baptist, the giant downtown church where his predecessor Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond was honored 23 years ago.

One of Graham's many friends in Congress, Gowdy described how Graham rose to power through humor, genuine caring for all people and a relentless work ethic. He joked the governor should change the name of the state capital of Columbia to honor Graham, even though his friend wouldn't want it.

“It wasn't the trapping of office he cared about. It was the work,” Gowdy said.

Graham's body was first brought to the South Carolina Statehouse, where he started his political career in 1993. It paused in front of about a dozen law enforcement officers and four military jets flew over. A horse-drawn caisson then carried his casket to the church, where his family followed military pallbearers carrying it inside. A 130-member choir sang hymns.

Hundreds of movers in South Carolina politics gathered. Both nominees for governor — Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson and Democratic state Rep. Jermaine Johnson — came, along with longtime Republican politicians like former House Speaker and Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins and U.S. Rep. Henry Brown, who served 10 years before leaving in 2011.

Republicans Gov. Henry McMaster, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy were expected to speak. Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the only remaining member of the South Carolina delegation there when Graham arrived in Washington in 1995, will read Scripture.

Graham's burial Wednesday near his home in Pickens County was planned as a private ceremony.

On Tuesday, Graham’s flag-draped casket was at the U.S. Capitol, where the Republican spent more than 30 years talking and laughing and badgering his colleagues into action.

President Donald Trump then joined foreign leaders at the Washington National Cathedral, a testament to Graham’s stature on the global stage.

Trump called Graham “a giant of the United States Senate, a true American original who left us much too soon.”

Graham's death has created opportunities for change in South Carolina. Graham had already won the Republican nomination as he ran for a fifth term. McMaster named his younger sister Darline to hold his seat until January. Darline Graham then surprised many by deciding to run for the full six-year term herself.

State law has Republicans holding a special primary in two weeks to decide the new nominee. Eight others are competing, including former Gov. Mark Sanford and U.S. Reps. Ralph Norman and Russell Fry. Three candidates who paid the filing fee were kicked off the ballot because they didn't meet new party requirements for voting in the Republican primary.