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On foreign policy, Graham's influence may have been felt the most
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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 On foreign policy, Graham's influence may have been felt the most Over the course of his three decades in Congress, Lindsey Graham was a major influence on Capitol Hill and throughout the world as one of the most vocal advocates for U.S.
+ 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 For Graham, foreign policy may be where his influence was felt most Over the course of his three decades in Congress, Lindsey Graham was a major influence on Capitol Hill and throughout the world as one of the most vocal advocates for U.S.
− Politics On foreign policy, Graham's influence may have been felt the most July 13, 20264:05 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By Barbara Sprunt , Claudia Grisales On foreign policy, Graham's influence may have been felt the most Listen · 5:35 5:35 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5890936/nx-s1-9847054" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Over the course of his three decades in Congress, Lindsey Graham was a major influence on Capitol Hill and throughout the world as one of the most vocal advocates for U.S.
+ Politics For Lindsey Graham, foreign policy may be where his influence was felt most Updated July 15, 202612:55 PM ET Originally published July 13, 20264:05 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By
Barbara Sprunt
,
Claudia Grisales
Sen.
− military might.
+ Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., attends a press conference at the U.S.
− Sponsor Message Transcript
BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: A day before his death, Lindsey Graham was in Ukraine announcing progress with the White House on a Russian sanctions bill.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
LINDSEY GRAHAM: I've never been more optimistic than I am today that we have the formula to end this war.
SPRUNT: For months, Graham lobbied the White House for support, believing the bill would compel Russia to end its four-year assault on Ukraine.
+ Capitol on August 05, 2022.
− It was a top issue for the Air Force veteran turned legislative power broker who spent his career traveling the world pushing an interventionist foreign policy approach.
+ Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption
A day before his death, Sen. Lindsey Graham was in Kyiv, triumphantly declaring a deal had been reached with the White House on a sanctions bill the South Carolina Republican believed would compel Russia to end its four-year assault on Ukraine.
− RICHARD FONTAINE: He never saw a foreign policy set of issues that he didn't want to get involved in.
+ "I've never been more optimistic than I am today that we have the formula to end this war," Graham proclaimed.
− SPRUNT: That's Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank. In 2004, as foreign policy adviser to Senator John McCain, he traveled with then-freshman Senator Graham to Ukraine.
+ Ukraine had long been a top issue for the Air Force veteran turned legislative power broker, who championed an interventionist foreign policy approach with a much more isolationist White House.
− FONTAINE: They saw a Russia that was emerging from the end of the Cold War and going in a very different direction - more democratic, more Western friendly, certainly less aggressive - and then take this kind of detour under President Putin.
+ "We've been working for the last year on this bill," said Texas GOP Rep.
− I think that explains why this was such a passion project for Senator Graham for over two decades.
SPRUNT: On Ukraine and other foreign policy matters, Graham became one of President Trump's closest advisers - a far cry from where the two started their relationship in 2015 when they were competing for the GOP presidential nomination.
+ Michael McCaul, who had separate discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week.
− Graham didn't hold back his distaste of the real estate tycoon.
+ "Lindsey wanted to work with the White House so that when we would introduce a bill, the White House wouldn't object.
− Here he is on CNN during the campaign.
+ And we're finally there." A White House official says the president supports the bill, whose text was unveiled Tuesday.
− (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "NEW DAY")
GRAHAM: He's a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.
+ Obituaries Sen.
− He doesn't represent my party. He doesn't represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for.
+ Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Trump ally and foreign policy hawk, dies at 71 McCaul called Graham a mentor.
− SPRUNT: But when Trump became president, Graham began to shift gears.
+ "We were a sort of Reagan generation, if you will, that believe that America is strongest at home when we are strong abroad, that we're not the isolationist party," he said.
− He told NPR in 2019 he had come to like Trump personally, and the people of South Carolina expected him to work alongside him.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
GRAHAM: He's proven to me that he's been a better president than I thought about him.
+ "We've learned the lessons from World War II — not to be a Chamberlain, but rather a Churchill."
Richard Fontaine was Sen.
− Really, I had very low expectations.
+ John McCain's foreign policy adviser in 2004, when he joined the then freshmen Sen.
− But what he does is he listens to people, including me and others.
+ Graham on his first trip to Ukraine.
− SPRUNT: Fontaine says a prime example is 2018 when Trump threatened to abandon Kurdish allies by withdrawing U.S.
+ "Sen.
− forces from Syria.
FONTAINE: Senator Graham brokered an agreement by which Trump would leave some of the troops in place.
+ Graham was quite taken with the democratic movement and the Western leaning activists of Ukraine at the time," said Fontaine, now the CEO of the Center for a New American Security.
− He came up with some of these ideas and had access to the president to be able to kind of sell this deal, and it worked.
SPRUNT: When it came to Ukraine, it was a particularly delicate dance.
+ "[McCain and Graham] saw a Russia that was emerging from the end of the Cold War and going in a very different direction, more democratic, more Western friendly, certainly less aggressive, and then take this detour under President Putin.
− Graham's support often clashed with the America First president, along with other Republicans more skeptical of intervention after U.S.
+ I think that explains why this was such a passion project for Sen.
− wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now Iran.
+ Graham for over two decades."
Sen.
− But at the recent NATO summit in Turkey, Trump praised Ukrainian leadership and offered new U.S.
+ Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
− military cooperation - a remarkable shift from earlier antagonistic meetings with Ukraine's president.
+ answered questions from the media near an exhibition of damaged Russian vehicles in central Kyiv, on July 10, 2026.
− Former GOP Senator Jeff Flake said Graham's influence is clear.
+ Efrem Lukatsky/AP hide caption
McCain and Graham made up two-thirds of the "three amigos," alongside Sen. Joe Lieberman, who traveled the globe promoting a muscular, hawkish foreign policy.
− JEFF FLAKE: Ukraine and the position it's in today owes much to Lindsey Graham for him steering the president in certain directions and certainly working with Congress to make sure that our support for Ukraine continued even over President Trump's objection sometimes.
+ On Ukraine and other foreign policy matters, Graham would go on to become one of President Trump's closest advisers — a far cry from where the two began their relationship in 2015 when they competed for the GOP presidential nomination.
− SPRUNT: Retired General David Petraeus said Graham's support for intervention stretched back to the Iraq War, where he served in active duty as a reservist and visited often with McCain and Senator Joe Lieberman, a trio he dubbed The Three Amigos.
+ Graham didn't hold back his distaste of the real estate tycoon at the time, calling him "a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot" who "doesn't represent my party."
Politics Darline Graham, the sister of Lindsey Graham, is sworn in to serve out his term But when Trump became president, Graham began to shift gears.
− DAVID PETRAEUS: They were always out there.
+ "The bottom line is he won.
− They were out on every recess, and they were hugely helpful.
+ I lost.
− No group had the backs of our men and women in uniform or, frankly, my back more than they did, particularly during the toughest time during the surge in Iraq.
+ People in South Carolina expect me to work with him," he told NPR in 2019. "He's proven to me that he's been a better president than I thought he — really, I had very low expectations. But what he does is he listens to people, including me and others."
Fontaine said a prime example of Graham's influence on Trump can be seen in Syria. Initially, Trump wanted to withdraw all U.S. forces from the country beginning in 2018. But Fontaine said Graham was concerned a full withdrawal would invite ISIS in and abandon the Kurdish allies who had fought alongside Americans.
− SPRUNT: Petraeus, a longtime friend of Graham, said the South Carolina Republican was open about shifting from Trump critic to confidant.
PETRAEUS: And it was quite simple.
+ Graham gestured as President Trump spoke with reporters on Air Force One on Jan.
− He said he wanted to continue to influence our foreign policy.
+ 4, 2026.
− And to do that, he needed to make some concessions in terms of domestic politics and a relationship with the president who he'd criticized when that president was running for office - and developed a very strong friendship with the president.
+ Graham was a trusted adviser on foreign policy for Trump. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption
"And so Sen. Graham brokered an agreement by which Trump would leave some of the troops in place," he said. "Sen. Graham came up with some of these ideas and had access to the president to be able to sell this deal, and it worked."
Fontaine attributes Graham's political pivot towards Trump to a desire "to be constructive."
"If he had just been completely opposed to President Trump, he wouldn't have gotten a hearing. If he had been completely supportive of President Trump, it wouldn't have mattered because he would have just been supporting his policies," he said. "On issues like Syria, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and Israel normalization, I think Sen. Graham was hoping to push U.S. policy in the right direction and to do that through President Trump."
When it came to Ukraine, it was a particularly delicate dance.
− SPRUNT: That friendship gave Graham the president's ear on Iran, where he pushed Trump to maintain an aggressive military posture, and Israel as one of the Senate's most fervent supporters of supplying the country with military aid.
+ Graham's steadfast support often clashed with the America First president, along with other Republicans more skeptical of intervention after U.S.
− Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called him a champion of the American-Israeli alliance.
+ wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now Iran.
But at the recent NATO summit in Turkey, Trump praised Ukrainian leadership and offered new U.S.
− Texas Republican Congressman Michael McCaul called Graham a mentor.
+ military cooperation — a remarkable shift from earlier antagonistic meetings with Ukraine's president.
"Ukraine and the position it's in today owes much to Lindsey Graham for him steering the president in certain directions and certainly working with Congress to make sure that our support for Ukraine continued, even over President Trump's objection sometimes," former GOP Sen.
− He said there was a clear through line of Graham's philosophy on global issues.
+ Jeff Flake said in an interview with All Things Considered.
− MICHAEL MCCAUL: We were a sort of Reagan generation, if you will, that believe that America is strongest at home when we are strong abroad, that we're not the isolationist party.
+ Gen.
− We've learned the lessons from World War II - not to be a Chamberlain, but rather a Churchill.
+ David Petraeus, former CIA director and the Army general who led U.S. forces in Iraq, first got to know Graham when the senator served under him for a brief active-duty stint during the 2007 troop surge.
− SPRUNT: Over the last year, he says the two worked closely on the Russia sanctions measure.
+ "I frankly didn't really welcome that at the time.
− He wants to introduce the bill in the coming days.
+ It was very, very violent. This was the last thing we needed," he said.
− MCCAUL: This is Congress' best way to honor his legacy - is to pass this bill as soon as possible.
+ Graham surprised him.
− SPRUNT: He plans to name it after Graham.
+ "At the end of the first trip, he had some extraordinary insights.
− Barbara Sprunt, NPR News.
+ He had focused that particular trip on our detention facilities down in southern Iraq.
− Copyright © 2026 NPR.
+ And these were really forehead slapping moments," he said.
− All rights reserved.
+ "I thought I was not going to have someone show up for a week and come back with something that we hadn't thought through or considered.
− Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
+ And it was the case."
He said it was the start of a longtime friendship, and that Graham was open with him about his shift from Trump critic to confidante.
"It was quite simple.
− Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary.
+ He said he wanted to continue to influence our foreign policy," he said.
− Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio.
+ "And to do that, he needed to make some concessions in terms of domestic politics, in a relationship with a president who he'd criticized when that president was running for office and developed a very strong friendship with the president."
General David Petraeus (right) talked with Graham prior to the start of a 2008 hearing on Capitol Hill.
− Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication.
+ Graham served under Petraeus for a brief active duty stint in Iraq.
− The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
+ Tim Sloan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
That friendship gave Graham the president's ear on Iran — where he pushed Trump to maintain an aggressive military posture — and on Israel as one of the Senate's most fervent supporters of supplying the country with military aid.
"Israel has lost one of it's greatest friends," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after Graham's death.
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+ "America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend."
His was far from the only tribute that came pouring in from world leaders after Graham's passing.
Zelenskyy noted Graham visited Ukraine 10 times during the years of Russia's assault and called Graham a "true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer."
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called Graham a "powerful advocate for America who believed strongly in the NATO Alliance and was actively working to bring an end to Russia's war in Ukraine."
Graham's congressional colleagues have said a fitting tribute to honor his legacy would be to pass his hard-fought Russia sanctions bill.
That bill seeks to impose sanctions on top Russian political and military leaders, along with Russian financial institutions and energy projects. It would prohibit U.S. persons from making new investments in Russia's energy sector, impose tariffs on imports from countries that are among the world's top five purchasers of Russian crude oil or natural gas, and calls for the United States Trade Representative to reassess the top five purchasers every 180 days.
McCaul said he hopes to name the legislation after Graham.
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