Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died unexpectedly on Saturday night at the age of 71. Medical examiners reported the cause of death was a torn aorta. (The aorta is the large artery that carries blood from the heart). His office says his decline was “brief and sudden.”
“I don’t know of anybody who . . . started out with less and gained as much from life as he did,” says Bob McAlister, a communications consultant who worked with Graham.
Graham was born in Central, South Carolina, in 1955. His parents owned a restaurant and pool hall. Graham lived with his parents and younger sister in one room at the back of the building.
“It was one room, where we all slept, we all ate, we watched TV, the sofa, everything was in one room,” his sister Darline Graham Nordone recounts.
Despite getting C’s in high school, Graham attended the University of South Carolina. While he was in college, both his parents died of illness within months of each other. Graham became his younger sister’s guardian.
After 10 years as a lawyer, the majority of those for the Air Force, Graham dove into politics in 1992. He served two years in South Carolina’s House of Representatives and eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2002, he won a seat in the Senate, where he served the rest of his life.
Graham was known for his strong vision for foreign policy. He believed the United States should use its military to protect democracies around the world. In recent years, he championed support for Ukraine in the war against Russia.
Analysts in international affairs attribute much of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy to Graham’s influence.
Graham was also known for his bipartisanship. A Republican, Graham often collaborated with Democratic Senators to pass legislation.
“He was a fierce Republican partisan one day and a key bipartisan ally the next,” recalls Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois.
Kevin Bishop worked for Graham for 27 years. He said Graham had a talent for convincing people to work together and “was willing to accept a lot of criticism to move the ball forward.”
“He was incredibly fun to be around,” Bishop says, adding that he inspired fierce loyalty from his staff.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster is expected to appoint a temporary replacement for Graham’s Senate seat. Until then, the Republican Party’s narrow majority in that house of Congress has shrunk. Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell’s seat is also vacant due to a four-week medical absence. McConnell is also a Republican.
South Carolina’s Republican Party will hold a special election by August 11. At that election, voters will select a candidate to vie for Graham’s seat in the November midterm election.
