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US Sen. Lindsey Graham has died after a brief and unexpected illness, his office says
+1103 words added -1066 words removed
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+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Sen.
− Sen.
+ Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Trump ally, dies at 71 His office said Graham died Saturday night after a "brief and sudden illness." The Republican senator was instrumental in enacting Trump's policy and staffing priorities.
− Lindsey Graham has died after a brief, unexpected illness, his office says The Republican from South Carolina, who long advocated for a more muscular U.S.
+ Obituaries Sen.
− foreign policy abroad, died Saturday evening.
+ Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Trump ally and foreign policy hawk, dies at 71 Updated July 12, 202610:33 AM ET Originally published July 12, 20263:10 AM ET Eric McDaniel
Republican Sen.
− He was 71.
+ Lindsey Graham speaks after winning the Republican primary on June 9 in Columbia, S.C.
− Obituaries U.S.
+ Jeffrey Collins/AP hide caption
Sen.
− Sen.
+ Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., died late Saturday night following a "brief and sudden illness," according to a statement released by his office.
− Lindsey Graham has died after a brief, unexpected illness, his office says July 12, 20263:10 AM ET By
The Associated Press
FILE - Republican U.S.
+ He was 71.
His office did not immediately reply to a request for information on his cause of death.
− Sen.
+ But audio reviewed by NPR shows that emergency services personnel responded to a call of cardiac arrest at Graham's Washington home Saturday night.
An adaptable and sometimes controversial dealmaker, Graham was the last surviving member of an influential group of Senate defense hawks.
− Lindsey Graham speaks after winning the Republican primary on June 9, 2026, in Columbia, S.C.
+ During his near-quarter century in the Senate, Graham was also instrumental in enacting President Trump's policy and staffing priorities — after first starting out as a fierce Trump critic.
Trump shared a remembrance on his Truth Social platform: "Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead!
− Jeffrey Collins/AP hide caption
U.S.
+ He was always working, and was a true American Patriot."
Politics For Mitch McConnell and Congress, health transparency is a choice, not a requirement His death comes at a difficult moment for the Senate Republican conference, which has struggled with a narrow majority that includes a handful of outgoing members who occasionally break ranks to oppose the president.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune called Graham "a strong advocate for the United States and a strong ally to freedom-loving countries across the globe," in a statement posted on X.
− Sen.
+ "Lindsey fought passionately for the Palmetto State.
− Lindsey Graham, one of President Donald Trump's closest allies in Congress who traveled the globe to advocate for a more muscular U.S.
+ He was a trusted adviser and colleague to me and many others, and numerous presidents and heads of state have relied on his counsel."
Sen.
− foreign policy abroad, died Saturday evening after a "brief and sudden illness," his office said in a statement posted on social media.
+ Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has missed votes during an apparently ongoing hospitalization for an undisclosed health issue, further narrowing the margins for Thune to pass legislation and confirm executive and judicial branch nominees.
Graham served in the House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, when he succeeded Strom Thurmond in the Senate.
− He was 71.
+ He was reelected three times and recently won a primary election as he sought a fifth term.
− His office did not provide any additional details about the South Carolina Republican and said his family "appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period."
"Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead!" Trump posted on social media early Sunday morning.
+ Graham also served in the U.S.
− "He was always working, and was a true American Patriot.
+ military for more than three decades.
− Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!
+ After graduating from the University of South Carolina's law school, he served as an active duty Air Force lawyer for six years.
− DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO FOLLOW.
+ Graham later served in both the South Carolina Air National Guard and Air Force Reserves and retired from the military in 2015 at the rank of colonel.
He made a role for himself in the Senate as one of "the three amigos," alongside the late Sens.
− So sad!"
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said "my heart is heavy this morning to learn the passing of my friend and colleague, Senator Lindsey Graham."
"Lindsey's long and dedicated service in the Air Force and in Congress carried him to far-flung regions of the world," Thune said.
+ John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat-turned-Independent.
− "He was a strong advocate for the United States and a strong ally to freedom-loving countries across the globe.
+ The group was a fixture of congressional delegations to conflict zones.
Sen.
− He believed in the might of America to achieve good in the world and dedicated his life to advancing that cause."
First elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 after serving in the House, Graham briefly ran for president in 2016 and clashed with Trump, criticizing him as "unfit for office."
However, he later emerged as one of Trump's top allies, speaking with him frequently and becoming a regular presence on the golf course alongside the president.
+ Dirk Durbin, D-Ill., was on one of those delegations with Graham this past week at the NATO Summit in Turkey.
− FILE - Sen.
+ "At a private dinner at the Ambassador's residence, he was working every Senator on a strategy to end the war in Ukraine.
− Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., left, gestures as President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on Air Force One, Jan.
+ Typical Lindsey," Durbin wrote.
− 4, 2026, as they were returning to Joint Base Andrews, Md.
+ "Lindsey was part of every important policy issue and an indispensable player in every Senate 'gang'.
− Alex Brandon/AP hide caption
Graham especially advised the president on foreign policy matters such as Iran and Russia, and had just announced an agreement on Friday with the Trump administration to move forward on a package of Russia sanctions.
+ He was a fierce Republican partisan one day and a key bipartisan ally the next."
Graham was also among the most vocal supporters of the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran.
"Israel has lost one of its greatest friends.
− The senator had been in Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who acknowledged the senator's 10th visit to the country and thanked him for "recognizing our warriors."
As a member of the U.S.
+ America has lost a great patriot.
− House in the 1990s, Graham backed policies aimed at isolating Iran and limiting its missile and nuclear programs.
He also cheered on Trump's decision to strike nuclear sites last year and had been a supporter of the latest conflict that started a few months ago.
But before he allied himself tightly with Trump, Graham was most known for his friendship and partnership with the late Sen.
+ I have lost a beloved friend," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement posted to X.
− John McCain, R-Ariz.
+ "Our hearts are with Lindsey's family and with the American people at this difficult time."
Law Wave Of Young Judges Pushed By McConnell Will Be 'Ruling For Decades To Come' Trump critic turned staunch ally Graham also sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and staked a lane as a fierce critic of Donald Trump. In a 2015 CNN interview, Graham referred to then-candidate Trump as "a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot" who doesn't represent the views of the Republican Party.
− McCain and Graham, along with former Sen.
+ In the decade since Trump's victory, though, Graham has become one of the president's staunchest advocates.
− Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., were known as the "Three Amigos" and frequently traveled to push their hawkish foreign policy views around the globe.
+ A longtime friend and ally of McCain, Graham attributed his transformation to a sense of patriotic duty.
− Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday mourned Graham's death, calling him "a great friend of Israel" and "a cherished friend of mine."
Netanyahu said Graham understood that the security of Israel and the United States is inseparable and devoted his life to defending America, strengthening the U.S.-Israel alliance and standing up for the free world.
"Israel has lost one of its greatest friends.
+ "I am not going to give up on the idea of working with this president.
− America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend," Netanyahu said, extending condolences to Graham's family and the American people.
+ The best way I can honor John McCain is help my country," he told CBS News in 2018.
− Graham had been serving as the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, giving him a central role during Trump's second term as Republicans pushed major legislation on party-line votes with a slim majority in the chamber.
+ During Trump's time in the White House, Graham served as chair of two committees key to the president's agenda.
− His committee oversaw a process called reconciliation, a Senate procedure that allowed Republicans to pass significant policies such as last year's tax law without the threat of a Democratic filibuster.
+ As chair of the Judiciary Committee during much of Trump's first term, Graham oversaw the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court and of scores of federal judges.
− He had previously led the Senate Judiciary Committee when Republicans confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in 2020, and was in line to regain that gavel if the party kept control of the Senate after this year's midterms.
+ And last year as head of the budget committee, Graham shepherded the president's landmark tax package, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, to passage despite unanimous Democratic opposition and thorny negotiations with his Republican colleagues.
− Graham also played a central role in the Senate's efforts to craft a massive immigration overhaul in 2013 as a member of the so-called Gang of Eight, a bipartisan group that wrote a sweeping measure that rewrote virtually every part of U.S.
+ Sen.
− immigration law.
+ Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
− It passed the Senate with 68 votes but was never taken up by the House, so it did not become law.
But Graham's views on immigration, particularly an endorsement of a pathway to citizenship for people in the U.S.
+ (left) gestures as President Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on Air Force One as they were returning to Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Jan.
− without legal status, put him at odds with much of the Republican Party and made him vulnerable to primary challenges in South Carolina.
This year, Graham faced primary threats from Paul Dans, a key author of Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for governing drafted while Trump was running to regain the White House.
+ 4.
− But Dans dropped out of the race in April and Graham won his primary outright in June and was facing Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician from Charleston, in November.
Graham relied heavily on his close ties with Trump as he fended off primary challengers, and he addressed the president in his victory speech last month, saying, "I'm going to help you change this world and change this country."
The sparse statement by Graham's office, which did not explain his death, comes during a stretch of concern about a lack of transparency about lawmakers' health.
Rep.
+ Alex Brandon/AP hide caption
A frequent Trump golf companion, Graham hewed closely to the president in his recent Senate primary election — his campaign website touts the president's "Complete and Total Endorsement."
Graham was born in Central, S.C., in 1955 and lived with his family in a single room behind their liquor store, restaurant and pool hall, according to his campaign biography.
− Tom Kean Jr., a New Jersey Republican, was absent without explanation for months before returning to Congress and disclosing that he had been diagnosed with depression.
+ His parents died while Graham was still in school. After their death, Graham became the primary caretaker of his younger sister, Darline, whom he eventually legally adopted.
− Sen.
+ In a statement on the social media platform X, South Carolina Gov.
− Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, was hospitalized weeks ago for undisclosed health reasons.
+ Henry McMaster described Graham as "irreplaceable," adding, "We shall not see his likes again."
McMaster, a Republican, will appoint a successor to serve the remainder of Graham's term. A replacement Republican nominee for this fall's general election race will be determined by a special election in August.
+ NPR's Brian Mann and Claudia Grisales contributed to this report.