By admin 
A maverick that wasn’t afraid to buck his own party. A staunch supporter of Israel and Ukraine. A fraught ally and eventual close friend of President Donald Trump. A force in budging the country’s Supreme Court further right.
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South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, one of the most powerful lawmakers in the U.S. Senate, served a long, transformational and sometimes controversial three decades in elected office.
Graham, 71, had not yet finished his fourth term in the upper chamber and was running for another six years in the Senate when he died suddenly July 11.
“It’s absolutely devastating, but I think he died doing exactly what he loved doing,” said a longtime Graham communications staffer Kevin Bishop. “I mean, he really loved the job.”
Political scientists and those close to Graham said the late senator rose to power in congress in part because he was willing to do what it took to be an effective statesman, even when it sometimes meant bucking political trends or made him look inconsistent.
The South Carolinian was constantly involved in large debates surrounding budgeting, the judiciary and international affairs in his time in the U.S. Senate.
“Whoever replaces Graham will not be able to replicate his success for some time,” said Jordan Ragusa, a political science professor at the College of Charleston. “South Carolina will miss Lindsey Graham in the Senate.”
His Washington, D.C. funeral drew international allies, past and present lawmakers from both major political parties, South Carolina leaders and other close family and staff, a testament to Graham’s diverse relationships throughout his career. Many acknowledged Graham’s ability to “build bridges” with others, including Democratic lawmakers, President Donald Trump and other members of his party.
But later in his political career, Graham became more partisan and worked closer with the MAGA faction of congress than Democrats, political scientists said.
“One of the things I think is missing in today’s political world are those folks who can not just build a bridge with folks on the other side of the aisle, but at the same time, he had this unique ability to build a bridge from the Republican Senate to the White House,” U.S. Sen. Tim Scott said July 15.
Graham worked across the aisle on certain issues, including immigration, climate change and foreign policy. In 2013, for example, Graham was part of a bipartisan group of eight senators who worked on immigration policy reform. The bill crafted by the so-called “gang of 8” passed the Senate but never made it out of the House.
He fiercely defended the country’s international allies, including Israel and Ukraine, and helped propel the war in Iran forward in February, even as the “America First” flank of the Republican Party grew.
Graham was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, defeating former S.C. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Sanders. The seat opened after longtime Sen. Strom Thurmond declined to run again.
Thurmond served in the U.S. Senate for more than double the time of Graham. But Thurmond’s political career has been defined by what he opposed and tried to stop, Ragusa said. Thurmond beat the record for longest filibuster in Senate history at more than 24 hours while opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
“Ultimately, civil rights legislation did pass, and we look back at Thurmond and say he was on the wrong side of history,” Ragusa said.
Which side of history Graham might end up on is still an open question, Ragusa said. It may depend on how the Republican Party changes after President Donald Trump leaves office in early 2029. It also depends on how the two conflicts involving Ukraine and Israel resolve, said Ragusa. The perception of the U.S. Supreme Court, which Graham was also instrumental in shifting to the right, could also shape his legacy.
“How will we look back on Lindsey Graham 30 or 40 years from now? It’s really hard to say,” Ragusa continued.
Graham died July 11 from “a brief and sudden illness,” his office said in a statement sent in the early hours of the morning. He turned 71 two days earlier.
South Carolina’s longtime senator, who served in the upper chamber for nearly a quarter-century, left a void in the U.S. Senate and the state’s politics, several political watchers agreed.
“To lose that voice, to lose that influence, is huge,” said Kirk Randazzo, a professor of political science at the University of South Carolina. “It is monumental. It is literally the end of an era.”
A shift toward Trump
Graham was present for major political transformation in the United States, said Ragusa. He was first elected to congress in 1994 during the Republican Revolution. As a “compromiser,” he also oversaw the polarization of political parties and the eventual jolt of the GOP toward President Donald Trump, Ragusa said.
Trump and Graham became close political allies, friends and golf partners, with the president saying Graham was like a member of the family the day after the senator’s death. Trump also eulogized Graham at the Washington National Cathedral Tuesday.
“In a city where politicians often become jaded and cynical, Lindsey Graham never lost the old-fashioned American idealism that brought him to the highest levels of government and life,” Trump said. “He took his duty seriously without taking himself too seriously.”
But Trump and Graham had a fraught relationship that began in the 2016 presidential campaign cycle. Graham ran against Trump for president in 2015, and eventually voted for independent Evan McMullin in the general election instead of his party’s nominee. He also called Trump “a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot” who didn’t represent the values of the GOP and people in the military.
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They eventually grew closer, but after the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Graham spoke against the riot and voted to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
“Trump and I, we’ve had a hell of a journey,” Graham said on the Senate floor Jan. 6, 2021. “I hate it to end this way.”
“All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough,” Graham continued.
Graham went back to supporting Trump when he ran for president again in 2024.
“While he may have started off as kind of the maverick, the one that was very willing to work in a bipartisan manner, towards the end of his career when Donald Trump became president, he kind of flipped on that and very much then became sort of the champion of Donald Trump, of MAGA Republicans,” Randazzo said. The flip-flopping relationship will likely be part of Graham’s legacy, Randazzo said.
Ragusa said someone could argue Graham’s unabashed shift toward supporting Trump was “exactly what a representative or a senator should do.” If anything, Graham’s shift to the right followed trends in politics, where it was easier to get something done by aligning with Trump than the other party.
“Graham had a desire and was very skilled at being part of the group that was the center of the conversation that was shaping policy, and the way he read the politics in the last 10 years, it was less about working in a bipartisan manner, and more about championing MAGA politics, Donald Trump policies” Randazzo said.
Transforming with the party also may have helped Graham stay in office for decades. Graham’s ability to evolve with the politics of South Carolina and be liked among the state Republican Party helped him easily survive challenges, even when he bucked party trends.
Graham’s iconic moments in the U.S. Senate
Graham’s staunch support of international allies and role on the Judiciary Committee helped define his time in the U.S. Senate.
While reflecting on Graham’s legacy, a 2018 instance when he defended U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh came up repeatedly. Kavanaugh was accused of sexually assaulting a classmate in high school, putting his confirmation to the high court into jeopardy.
“This is the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics,” Graham said in an emotional speech during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing. Graham chaired the Judiciary Committee during Kavanaugh’s, and later Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s, confirmation hearings.
The moment didn’t just display Graham’s rhetorical skills in the heat of the moment. As chair of the Judiciary Committee, Graham helped confirm judges during Trump’s first term, which included U.S. Supreme Court Justices.
“A lot of South Carolinians are in favor of abortion restrictions,” Ragusa said. “And by helping to shift the court to the right, Lindsey Graham delivered that, and many other Supreme Court decisions, that would be favorable to Republicans in South Carolina.”
Graham’s commitment to friends of the U.S. abroad also defined his career and public perception. Both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute to Graham when he died and attended his funeral in Washington, D.C.
Conflicts involving Ukraine and Israel are not over, and their resolutions may help shape Graham’s legacy, political scientists say.
“I think seeing how those two conflicts ultimately end will put sort of the final stamp on Graham’s legacy, since he was very involved in both of those,” Randazzo said.
Graham was also front and center for many moments in political history while he served in congress. He spoke to local press often and went on Sunday morning TV shows; a scheduled Meet the Press appearance the morning following his death would have been his 64th.
“For more than 30 years, nothing of consequence happened in this Capitol without Lindsey Graham knowing about it,” Trump said Tuesday. “Nothing of significance happened anywhere in the world without Lindsey Graham having a view on it, and no bill became law in the most exceptional republic in human history without Lindsey Graham having a say in it.”
But despite the public appearances, Graham was serious about governing, Randazzo said.
A Senator for South Carolina
While his role in the U.S. Senate elevated Graham to national and international stature, he also brought benefits to his home state of South Carolina. He delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to South Carolina projects.
Shortly before he died, Graham met with leaders in Summerville and discussed a new regional transportation center, said state Sen. Sean Bennett, R-Dorchester. Graham was excited about the center and planned to help secure federal dollars for the project.
“I wouldn’t say that we were super close, but he had always been helpful to me ever since being elected,” Bennett said. “He’s been good to our community.”
He also helped protect South Carolina’s military communities and Fort Jackson in Columbia, Randazzo said. Joint Based Charleston will reportedly be renamed in honor of Graham, the Post and Courier reported.
Graham, who never married or had children, also reportedly worked constantly, a trait that will not be easily replaceable in another U.S. Senator.
“It’s not going to be easy for someone to match Graham’s effort level, and so I think that that’s part of what South Carolina is losing as well,” Ragusa said.
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Zak Koeske contributed reporting to this article