New York Times, “Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, Dies at 71“
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and stalwart Trump ally who was elected to the Senate four times, has died, his office announced early Sunday. He was 71.
He died of a “brief and sudden” illness on Saturday evening, his office said in a statement. The office did not immediately respond to an inquiry on the cause of death.
Mr. Graham was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, before being elected to the Senate in 2002. He was re-elected to the Senate in 2008, 2014 and 2020.
Last month, Mr. Graham won the South Carolina Republican primary in a bid to serve a fifth term in the Senate, fending off five challengers.
[…]
Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina, a Republican, said in a statement that Mr. Graham was “the fiercest of fighters for South Carolina and America.” Mr. McMaster can immediately appoint a temporary replacement to fill Mr. Graham’s Senate seat. According to South Carolina law, an election for a full-term successor would be held in November.
Mr. Graham’s death, which comes as another influential senator, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, remains hospitalized for undisclosed health reasons, leaves Senate Republicans without a senior lawmaker and reliable vote as they face pressure from Mr. Trump to continue advancing his legislative agenda.
Mr. Graham, who sought the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, built a reputation in Washington and abroad as one of the Senate’s most forceful advocates for an interventionist U.S. foreign policy. Throughout his career, he consistently argued for the use of American military power overseas, including most recently supporting aggressive military action against Iran. He also maintained close ties with Israel, making numerous visits there during his time in Congress.
Washington Post, “Lindsey Graham, longtime senator from South Carolina, dies at 71“
Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican senator from South Carolina, died suddenly on Saturday night, his office said.
Graham, a leading GOP foreign policy voice, was running for reelection this year. He had been a staunch ally of President Donald Trump on most matters but had broken with the president on some issues.
[…]
The governor, Henry McMaster, said in a statement that Graham was “the fiercest of fighters for South Carolina and America — and a loyal and steadfast friend.”
In a social media post, Trump praised Graham as a “true American Patriot” and said details on funeral arrangements would follow.
A U.S. senator since 2002, Graham has been a prominent figure in U.S. politics for decades, particularly on foreign policy matters, and he traveled frequently to conflict zones, including Iraq and Ukraine. He competed unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election.
Graham, whose birthday was Thursday, recently returned from Ukraine after meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Graham told reporters in Kyiv on Friday that a bipartisan group of senators had reached an agreement with the White House to impose new sanctions on Russia in an effort to end that country’s long-running war with Ukraine.
The Post and Courier, “Lindsey Graham, South Carolina’s senior U.S. senator, dead at 71 after ‘brief and sudden illness’“
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham — South Carolina’s senior senator who in his tenure rose to the highest levels of influence on the global stage — has died at age 71.
[…]
The Seneca Republican, first elected to the Senate in 2002, became one of the United States’ most hawkish voices in overseas affairs, including the current wars in Iran and Ukraine, and has served as a staunch supporter of Trump after unsuccessfully challenging him in a presidential run in 2016.
The arc of his career spanned from the S.C. Statehouse to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 where early in his tenure he grabbed national attention as a case leader in the President Bill Clinton impeachment effort.
His jump to the Senate came as he became the endorsed successor to U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C. and defeating Democrat judge Alex Sanders.
[…]
[Gov. Henry] McMaster said his family was devastated by the news.
“ Lindsey Graham is irreplaceable,” he said. “The fiercest of fighters for South Carolina and America—and a loyal and steadfast friend. We grieve with Darline (Graham’s sister), his family and his devoted staff. May God hold him gently in the palm of his hand. We shall not see his likes again.”
I had the pleasure of meeting the Senator and chatting with him briefly at a showing of “Seven Days in May” put on by The Week, probably two decades or more now, back in the days when media outlets were seeking to curry favor with bloggers. He had the affability common to successful politicians.
I’ve followed his career pretty much since he got to Washington. He was, even by Congressional standards, really good at getting himself on television. He was a fierce partisan at a time when I was as well. As my affection for the Republican Party waned, I continued to respect Graham, who, often as the late Senator John McCain’s sidekick, had a penchant for working across the aisle to get things done.
His obituaries rightly cast him as a staunch Trump supporter. It wasn’t always thus.
Back in December 2015, Graham told CNN, “You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.” Responding to the then-candidate’s proposed Muslim ban, Graham proclaimed, “He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. He doesn’t represent my party. He doesn’t represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for.” He added, “He’s the ISIL man of the year” and “What Mr. Trump is doing – and I don’t think he has a clue about anything. He’s just just trying to get his numbers up and get the biggest reaction he can. He is helping the enemy of this nation. He is empowering radical Islam. And if he knew anything about the world at all, you would know that most Muslims reject this ideology.”
In February 2016, he deflected a question by saying, “I’m not gonna try to get into the mind of Donald Trump because I don’t think there’s a whole lot of space there. I think he’s a kook. I think he’s crazy. I think he’s unfit for office.”
In May 2016, he had adamantly rejected the idea of being Trump’s running mate, scoffing, “That’s like buying a ticket on the Titanic.” A few days later, he joined Jeb Bush in proclaiming that he would not support Trump, declaring, “I absolutely will not support Hillary Clinton for President. I also cannot in good conscience support Donald Trump because I do not believe he is a reliable Republican conservative nor has he displayed the judgment and temperament to serve as commander in chief.”
On November 8, 2016, he tweeted, “I voted @Evan_McMullin for President. I appreciate his views on a strong America and the need to rebuild our military.” He explained, “Voting for Hillary Clinton was always a non-starter and I couldn’t go where Donald Trump wanted to take the USA & GOP.”
Once Trump was elected, though, he fell in line. He sucked up to his party’s President to “try to be relevant.”
It took the Capitol Riots to get Graham to revert to his former persona. In a speech on the Senate floor after the building was cleared, he declared, “Trump and I, we had a hell of a journey. I hate it being this way. From my point of view, he’s been a conventional president, but today, first thing you will see, all I can say is: count me out. Enough is enough.” Later in the speech, he said, “Vice President Pence, what they are asking you to do, you won’t do because you can’t. You talk about interesting times. I associate myself with Rand Paul. How many times will you hear that? The mob has done something else nobody else could do: to get me and Rand to agree. Rand is right. If you’re a conservative, this is the most offensive concept in the world—that a single person could disenfranchise 155 million people.” And later still, “[Joe Biden] won. He’s the legitimate President of the United States. I cannot convince people, certain groups, by my words, but I will tell you by my actions that I, above all others in this body, need to say this: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are lawfully elected and will become the President and the Vice President of the United States on January 20.”
Alas, when Trump was re-elected, he fell back in line.
That, alas, will be his legacy.
