Sen. Lindsey Graham's final act on the world stage came just one day before his death, when he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during what would be his last foreign trip.
"I've never been more optimistic than I am today that we have the formula to end this war," Graham said.
Graham died July 11. A memorial will be held Tuesday in Washington.
The meeting underscored what many consider Graham's most enduring legacy: his staunchly interventionist foreign policy. Over more than 31 years in Washington, the South Carolina Republican pushed consistently for U.S. engagement and military action abroad.
"Putin is really aggressive, really provocative, and China is watching, so we've gotta stand up to Putin and make it harder on him," Graham said.
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Graham served as a former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chair of the Budget Committee. Despite running against Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential race — a campaign built on America First isolationist policies — Graham forged a close relationship with the president that made him a key go-between for fellow senators and world leaders alike.
"There will be no deal without Ukraine being consulted and on board — because it won't work, I talked with Zelenskyy today," Graham said.
His death leaves both the president and the Senate without a critical figure at a pivotal moment, as the U.S. faces a prolonged conflict in Iran and a war between Russia and Ukraine that has stretched on for over four and a half years.
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Graham's passing has also created an opportunity for face-to-face diplomacy, with world leaders traveling to Washington for his funeral. Zelenskyy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are each set to meet separately with President Trump this week. Meanwhile, members of Congress are pushing to pass a Russian sanctions bill now named in Graham's memory as they work to bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
