Sen. Lindsey Graham’s career in Washington has been shaped by his hard-line foreign policy beliefs and changing views of President Donald Trump.
Lindsey Graham dies at age 71 after “a brief and sudden illness”
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham died on July 11, according to his office. He was 71 years old.
WASHINGTON – Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly on July 11, left behind a complex legacy that reflects the political changes that have reshaped America over the past three decades.
A former Air Force lawyer from South Carolina died of an aortic dissection, a tear in the main artery that carries blood from the heart, the Washington, D.C., coroner’s office has ruled in a preliminary ruling. He was 71 years old.
After more than 30 years in Congress, Mr. Graham has become one of the most influential Republicans in Washington. He was a foreign policy hawk who defended America’s military power overseas, was a central figure in the conservative remaking of the federal judiciary, and was a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump.
He came to Washington as part of a generation shaped by the Cold War, bipartisan consensus-building, and an interventionist vision for American foreign policy. He ended his career as one of the president’s closest allies, whose rise to power upended many of these traditions.
To fans, he was a pragmatist who recognized the changing political landscape in Washington and deservedly earned a reputation as a problem solver. To his critics, he repeatedly abandoned positions he once held with conviction, becoming a symbol of political opportunism.
In perhaps no more impressive reversal than his relationship with Trump, Graham in a statement called him “one of the greatest men and senators I have ever known.”
Lindsey Graham and Donald Trump relationship
During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Mr. Graham was one of Mr. Trump’s fiercest critics, dismissing him as a “racist, xenophobic and religious bigot” and warning that his nomination could damage both the party and the country.
But after Trump won the election, Graham steadily began to climb into the presidential orbit. He served as an emissary to skeptical Republicans, an advocate during impeachment battles, and a trusted advisor on foreign affairs and national security issues.
At the time, Graham framed this change as an acceptance of political reality.
“I want him to win. I want him to be successful,” Graham said in a 2018 CNN interview. “He defeated me. The election is over.”
After the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Mr. Graham turned cold again toward Mr. Trump, at least for a while. Speaking to reporters after the attack, Graham declared: “Enough is enough.”
“Trump and I have been on an incredible journey, and I don’t want it to end like this,” Graham said. “All I can say is please leave me out. Enough is enough.”
Of course, that wasn’t the end.
As Mr. Trump reasserted his dominance over the Republican Party and returned to the White House last year, Mr. Graham again became one of the president’s most trusted allies, helping him deliver on his biggest campaign promises.
Mr. Graham played a pivotal role in passing President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which increased spending on defense and immigration enforcement, among other things. He has since become one of Washington’s most outspoken supporters of the Iran war, which has become increasingly unpopular with the American public and Congress.
In an interview with NBC News in February, Mr. Graham called himself Mr. Trump’s “North Star.”
“We don’t agree, but he knows where I’m coming from,” Graham said. “He thinks I’m helping him as much as anyone in the Senate.”
On the night of his death, Graham called Trump and asked him to talk about the SAVE America Act, Trump’s long-promoted bill to overhaul federal elections. The president said Graham’s talk was “great,” but said he was tired from his recent trip to Ukraine. They planned to speak again soon.
“He’s a tough guy to lose,” Trump said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “He was amazing. In fact, he was unique in every way.”
foreign policy hawk
If Trump defined Graham’s political contradictions, foreign policy defined his deepest beliefs.
Mr. Graham, along with the late Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman, became one of the Senate’s most outspoken advocates of America’s aggressive role on the world stage, especially after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
He supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, serving briefly in both countries as a senator. He later condemned the decision to withdraw US troops from both countries.
In recent years, Mr. Graham has urged the Biden and Trump administrations to provide aid not only to Israel but also to Ukraine, and has been one of the most vocal supporters of the Iran war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was “deeply saddened” by the news of Graham’s death, calling him “a true defender of freedom and the values that make the world safer.” The two met in Kiev on July 10.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel had lost one of its greatest supporters. “I lost a dearest friend,” he said in a statement.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) described his colleague’s relentless focus on foreign affairs on “Fox News Sunday” and recalled a recent conversation with him.
“Lindsay was who she was and spent about 10 seconds on economics and 90 minutes on foreign policy, because you can’t change this guy,” Scott said. “That’s why the people of South Carolina understood who he was and kept reelecting him because they knew he was a statesman, not a politician.”
How Lindsey Graham helped reform the federal courts
Perhaps nowhere was Graham’s political influence more enduring than in the federal judiciary.
As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Graham oversaw the confirmation of hundreds of federal judges and played a central role in solidifying the conservative majority on the Supreme Court.
By managing the confirmations of Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, he helped secure courts that would shape American law for generations.
In 2018, Graham passionately defended President Trump’s nominee Kavanaugh amid sexual assault allegations against the candidate. Kavanaugh was narrowly confirmed by the high court. President Trump said in a CNN interview on July 12 that Graham was the “best moment” of his career as a senator.
But even those accomplishments reflected the tensions that characterized Graham’s decades-long political career.
Graham endorsed Barrett’s confirmation weeks before the 2020 election. But four years earlier, toward the end of Democratic President Barack Obama’s second term, Graham was among a group of lawmakers who blocked the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Graham praised Mr. Garland’s qualifications but ultimately stuck to the Republican line that no one should be confirmed in an election year.
Emerging as conservative firebrand and bipartisan dealmaker
A native of Pickens County, Graham attended the University of South Carolina and later became a lawyer for the U.S. Air Force. Her parents died when she was in her early 20s, and she was responsible for raising her younger sister.
In 1994, Graham was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first Republican to represent South Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District in more than 100 years. Mr. Graham was elected to the Senate in 2002.
In Congress, he gained national attention for his role as impeachment manager in the 1999 Senate trial that led to the conviction of former President Bill Clinton.
Mr. Graham made a name for himself as a conservative firebrand, but he also became known for his ability to work with members across the aisle and, at times, defect from the party.
In 2013, for example, Mr. Graham was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who co-authored the “Gang of Eight” bill, which aimed to strengthen border security while also providing a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants. Mr. Graham was also one of the few Republicans to support the DREAM Act, which would help undocumented immigrants who entered the country as minors gain citizenship.
But just as President Trump and the entire Republican Party are taking a tougher stance on immigration, so is Mr. Graham.
Last year, he withdrew his support for the bill after nearly a decade, saying, “There will be no DREAM Act. There won’t be one until we deal with millions of people here illegally.”
After Graham’s death, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) praised Graham for his willingness to sponsor in the first place, despite his later decision to withdraw his support.
“He knew that the DREAM Act was the most important bill to me, and he was the only Republican to co-sponsor it over the years,” Durbin said in a statement. “I’ll never forget it.”
contribution: Joey Garrison, USA TODAY; Baker Maultsby, Greenville News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reuters
