Senator Lindsey Graham Dies at 71

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died on Saturday evening after a brief and sudden illness, his office said in an X post early on Sunday. He was 71. A Senator since 2003, Graham was a vocal advocate for a muscular and hawkish foreign policy.

He also went from being an outspoken critic of Donald Trump to one of his most prominent supporters, particularly pushing the president to launch war against Iran. Graham’s office said his family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.

Former President Donald Trump paid tribute to Graham on Truth Social, calling him one of the greatest people and Senators he has ever known. Trump described Graham as a true American Patriot who was always working and will be greatly missed. Graham’s death comes as Senate Republicans face an additional crisis, with Senator Mitch McConnell hospitalized since last month and few updates about his health.

At the time of his death, Graham was running for a 5th term as Senator from South Carolina against Democrat Annie Andrews. Term-limited Republican Governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, will now likely need to find a replacement for Graham. Graham was born on July 9, 1955, to parents who ran a pool hall and restaurant. He graduated from the University of South Carolina for both his undergraduate and law degrees and served in the US Air Force as an active-duty lawyer before joining the Air Force Reserves.

Graham was elected to the state legislature in 1992 before winning a seat in the US Congress’s House of Representatives during the 1994 Republican revolution. In the House, Graham would serve as an impeachment manager in the Senate trial against Bill Clinton. Despite this, when he came to the Senate in 2003, he worked occasionally with the former president’s wife, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York.

As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Graham built friendships with Senator Joe Biden, who would later serve as vice president and president, and Senator John McCain of Arizona. Graham vocally supported McCain’s 2008 campaign for president and McCain would return the favor during Graham’s ill-fated candidacy eight years later.

Graham even crossed the aisle to vote for Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, who serve on the court to this day. However, during Trump’s presidency, Graham would morph from a largely congenial dealmaker to a hardline partisan. Graham initially criticized Trump but would later warm up to him, occasionally golfing with him and facilitating the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett.

After the January 6 riot at the Capitol, Graham criticized Trump for his actions but would vote to acquit him. Graham remained a hawk despite Trump’s initially isolationist foreign policy and vocally supported Ukraine in the war against Russia, visiting the eastern European country just last week. It is not entirely clear how Graham will be replaced, with South Carolina law stating that filing to replace him opens a week from Tuesday and a substitution primary will take place.