Rarely in life do you meet someone who genuinely embodies the weight and responsibility of the word “leader.” Sen. Lindsey Graham was one of those men. He possessed remarkable intellect, matched by a mastery of the political arena that enabled him to achieve noble goals — to say nothing of his quick wit and disarming personality. I have been blessed to call him a mentor and a friend.

We shared the same worldview: America is strongest at home when we project strength abroad. It is perhaps the greatest lesson from my father’s war, World War II, a lesson taught by the failed appeasement strategies of Neville Chamberlain and the strong deterrence of Winston Churchill.