Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican from South Carolina and ally of President Donald Trump, has died “from a brief and sudden illness.”
Graham, 71, died shortly after returning from a visit to Ukraine, one of many he made after the Russian invasion in 2022. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” a spokesperson said.
First elected to the US Senate in 2002, Graham was running for a fifth term in this fall’s midterm elections. Under state law, South Carolina Governor, Henry McMaster can appoint a temporary replacement to fill Graham’s now-vacant seat. Because Graham was up for reelection this year, there is also now a vacancy in the Republican nomination for the seat.
State law appears to call for a special primary election to be held on August 11, with a possible runoff on August 25, to choose his replacement, but officials have not yet announced a process.
Graham made a name for himself as a foreign policy hawk who ardently advocated for military intervention in Iran and Iraq and was a leading voice for the unwavering US support for Israel and Ukraine. His political career was intrinsically connected to his close relationship to two giants in the Republican Party: first with the late-Senator John McCain of Arizona and then with Donald Trump.
First elected to the US Senate in 2002, Graham was a critic to Trump who turned fiercely loyal and grew to be one of the President’s closest advisers on Capitol Hill.
Graham began his political career in the early 90s after serving as a city and County Attorney in South Carolina. He was elected to the House in 1994. He also served in the US Air Force as a Prosecutor and Defense Attorney.
Graham briefly ran for the Republican nomination for President in 2015, arguing the GOP needed to tell Trump, his then-rival, to “go to hell” after Trump proposed a ban of Muslims coming to the US. During the 2016 Republican party primary, Graham was one of Trump’s fiercest Republican objectors, calling him the “most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican Party” and warning that nominating Trump would doom the party and in the general election refused to vote for him.
That changed after a March 2017 meeting with the newly inaugurated President. By Trump’s second term, Graham became one of his most trusted voices in the Senate, calling himself at one point, the President’s “North Star.”
At the same time, Graham also remained close with McCain, his best friend in the Senate who clashed personally and politically with the President. McCain died in 2018.
Graham worked with McCain on a massive, bipartisan immigration reform package that passed the Senate in 2013 and bolstered border security while creating a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants who had entered the country illegally. He was also a sponsor of the DREAM Act, which provided Americans who had been brought to the country illegally as children an opportunity to gain lawful permanent residence if they met certain work or educational requirements.
Graham has served as the Chairman of the highly influential Senate Judiciary Committee and the Budget Committee. He played a critical role in advancing Trump’s second-term agenda through budget frameworks, including a package of tax cuts and changes to social programs, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Tributes Pour In After Announcement
World leaders and US politicians paid tribute after the announcement of Senator Lindsey Graham’s death.
Trump paid tribute to Graham in a post on his Truth Social platform, saying, “Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead! He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune praised Graham’s decades of military and public service and his belief in “the might of America to achieve good in the world.” “His influence on the federal judiciary, our national defense, and his beloved South Carolina will be felt for generations,” Thune said in a statement.
Israeli leaders were among the first foreign officials to praise Graham’s legacy, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that Israel had lost “one of its greatest friends.” “Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable,” he said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said he met with Graham twice over the past week, said he was “deeply saddened” by the news. “Lindsey was a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer,” he said, adding that Ukraine will “always be especially grateful for the recognition of our people and words of admiration for the courage of Ukraine’s defenders.”
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