U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a long-serving South Carolina Republican and a prominent voice in American foreign policy, died Saturday night at the age of 71.
Graham’s congressional office confirmed the passing in a social media announcement early Sunday, stating that he “passed away from a brief and sudden illness,” and adding that his family “appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.” Local emergency audio indicated that emergency personnel responded to a cardiac arrest call at Graham’s Capitol Hill residence before he was transported to George Washington University Hospital.
Graham’s longtime communications director Taylor Reidy later said that according to the Medical Examiner of the District of Columbia’s preliminary findings, Graham’s cause of death was due to a “aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.” The Medical Examiner noted that “the death certificate will be PENDING until all the toxicological and microscopic testing are finalized and at that point the death certificate will be updated to reflect the cause of death and appropriately classify the manner of death.”
Upon learning of Graham’s death, President Trump expressed grief over the loss of his close congressional ally, writing on social media, “Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead! He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!” Speaking on Sunday news programs, Trump noted that he conversed with Graham shortly after the senator returned from a diplomatic trip to Kyiv, recalling that Graham “sounded a little bit tired, but perfect.” The president, who ordered federal flags to be flown at half-staff, stated that the conversation “could’ve been his last call.”
Graham’s sudden death occurred hours after completing his 10th trip to Ukraine since the 2022 Russian invasion, where he had just met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to advance a new bipartisan package of economic sanctions against Russia. Zelenskyy expressed that he was “deeply saddened” by the news, praising Graham as “a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also extended condolences, stating that “America has lost a great patriot. Israel has lost one of the great champions of the American-Israeli alliance,” while commemorating Graham as “one of its greatest friends” on the global stage.
During his three decades in Washington, which included serving in the House before his 2002 election to the Senate, Graham established himself as a fierce neoconservative and self-described “Reagan Republican.” Alongside the late Sen. John McCain and former Sen. Joe Lieberman, he formed a hawkish foreign policy trio famously known as the “Three Amigos.” Though Graham initially opposed Trump during the 2016 campaign, calling him “unfit for office,” he later pivoted to become one of the president’s closest confidants and a pivotal strategist in confirming three conservative Supreme Court justices.
The vacancy creates a temporary shift in the Senate, where Republicans hold a narrow majority. Under South Carolina law, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster will appoint an interim successor to serve until January, while a special election in August will determine the party’s new nominee for the upcoming November midterms.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle honored his legacy of bipartisan negotiation, with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) describing his late colleague as a “strong-minded” legislator who “marched to his own drummer.” Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said in a statement that “personal relationships often mattered more to him than the political disagreements of the day,” while Jaime Harrison, a former national and state Democratic Party chairman who unsuccessfully ran against Graham in 2020, said that even during their “fiercest political battles” the two men “could still share a conversation, a laugh, and a mutual respect for South Carolina.”
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