Lindsey Graham 1955-2026
When a person dies you often learn personal details you never knew about them.
As the tributes began pouring in Sunday for Senator Lindsey Graham who died suddenly on Saturday from a ruptured aorta, we learned that his favorite drinks were Diet Coke and Reisling. Hopefully, not mixed.
Quirky, like the 71-year-old statesman from South Carolina.
Many didn’t know that Graham’s parents died when he was in college and that he adopted his 13-year-old sister and cared for her while attending school and during his service in the Air Force.
It was no surprise to those of us who admired Graham that he lived modestly and didn’t amass enormous wealth during his four terms in the U.S. Senate and his four in the House. He died in the house that he bought in 1993 for $165,000.
One of the first to announce Graham’s shocking death on X was President Trump:
Hundreds of others followed.
Those who knew him well, confirmed what many of us believed from watching Graham from a distance: He was a one-man powerhouse in the Senate and after initially opposing Donald Trump in 2016, turned into one of the president’s trusted advisors. He was a good-natured politician, with strongly held beliefs who managed to win over friends on the opposite side of the aisle
That wasn’t a total surprise, given the he was one of the Senate’s famous “Three Amigos” along with the late John McCain and Joe Lieberman.
In fact, one clip of Graham making the rounds yesterday was of his eulogy at Lieberman’s funeral in 2002.
It’s long, but worth watching. On display is his deep love of his friend and his self-deprecating sense of humor.
It was Graham’s political opponents who were among the first to offer full-throated sorrow at his passing. A reminder that there are still some Washington politicians who can put aside their differences and form deep friendships.
Sen. Amy Klobucher of Minnesota, for instance. She offered this gracious and unreserved tribute to her former colleague.
It was a shock this morning to find out that my friend Lindsey Graham has died. He was a man who loved his work, his country, and his family. He didn’t have an easy life growing up and to me that explained a lot about him as well as his devotion to his remaining family members including his sister. It also explained his almost kid-like exuberance about his job and the responsibilities he was given (even in his sixties he would get off a plane in a foreign land with a twinkle in his eye and look at me as if to say, can you believe we are actually here and doing this?).
Lindsey was loyal to friends and causes. He was willing to work on gnarly issues and take on (at times) political risks for the right reasons. It is fitting that he died shortly after visiting Ukraine, one of those causes he would stand up for through thick and thin.
Much will be said in the coming days about his relationships with others—President Trump and John McCain for instance—but what can’t be forgotten is the reason why so many people he worked with—from senators to staff—will mourn his loss: Lindsey had a zest for life and the Senate that made you want to get to work on a bill with him or at least debate him. He brought joy to his job.
Lindsey Graham was the one who was willing to work with me (when so few would) on helping the Afghan refugees. I remember standing outside of a little phone booth in the Republican cloakroom last year as he spoke with the Vice President, holding up a sign that said “Save the Afghans” and he put the phone on hold and said “OK OK I will go on your bill even if it gets me in trouble.” Or his early willingness to lead on big tech bills, including repealing the provision that protects them from consumer suits.
But mostly my fond memories of spending time with Lindsey (and we travelled the world with John McCain) was not about the ups and downs of his policy positions. It was about his love for the world, his loyalty to hard causes and his friends, and the pure joy he brought to life. I will miss him.
My favorite memory of the senator will always be his blistering defense of Judge Brett Kavanaugh during Kavanaugh’s bruising confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court.
Lindsey Graham will be miss. The U.S. Senate without the powerful senator from South Carolina will be lacking the sort of moral clarity that Graham brought to nearly every issue.
