Longtime South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a defining figure in conservative politics and a fierce congressional defender of Donald Trump, has passed away at the age of 71.
Graham passed away on Saturday evening, July 11, following a brief and sudden illness. Emergency responders had previously been dispatched to his Capitol Hill home following a reported "cardiac arrest", according to police scanner audio obtained by NBC News.
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Moving into a period of mourning, the Graham family has requested privacy and prayers from the public.
Graham, a staunch advocate for robust US military intervention abroad, emphasized the financial and geopolitical shift during a Sunday interview on Fox News. “When this regime goes down, we are going to have a new Middle East, and we are going to make a tonne of money,” he said.
Who Was Lindsey Graham?
Lindsey Graham was one of the Republican Party's most influential figures, serving as the US Senator from South Carolina for more than two decades. Born and raised in the small town of Central, South Carolina, Graham came from a blue-collar family that owned a local restaurant and pool hall. He became the first member of his family to attend college, earning undergraduate and law degrees from the University of South Carolina. Outside politics, he lived in Seneca and was an active member of Corinth Baptist Church.
Graham was first elected to the US Senate in 2002 and went on to secure re-election in 2008, 2014 and 2020. At the time of his death, he was campaigning for another six-year term and serving as Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Before entering the Senate, he represented South Carolina's Third Congressional District in the House of Representatives after his historic election in 1994, becoming the first Republican to hold the seat since 1877.
A retired US Air Force Reserve colonel, Graham devoted 33 years to military service. He served as an Air Force lawyer, including an overseas posting in Germany, before joining the South Carolina Air National Guard and later the Air Force Reserve. He was recalled during the Gulf War and also undertook legal deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan before retiring in 2015.
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Initially a sharp critic of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, Graham later emerged as one of Trump's closest allies in Congress, becoming a trusted adviser on national security and foreign policy. His long political career was defined by his influence on defence, judicial and international affairs.
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