WASHINGTON — Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican senator from South Carolina, influential voice on U.S. foreign policy and close ally of President Donald Trump, has died at the age of 71 following a brief and sudden illness, his office announced Sunday.
Preliminary findings from the District of Columbia medical examiner indicate Graham died from an aortic dissection caused by arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Graham had recently returned from a trip to Ukraine and was scheduled to appear Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press before his death. Trump said the two had spoken Saturday evening and described Graham as “a tough one to lose,” later ordering U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff in his honor.
First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 and to the Senate in 2002, Graham served more than two decades in the Senate. A former Air Force lawyer, he became known as a leading advocate of a more assertive U.S. foreign policy, backing military action in Iraq and Afghanistan and later urging strong American support for Ukraine and Israel.
Although Graham sharply criticized Trump during the 2016 Republican presidential campaign, the two later became close political allies. Their relationship briefly cooled after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack before Graham again emerged as one of Trump’s strongest supporters in Congress.
Tributes poured in from leaders in the United States and abroad. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Graham “a great friend of Israel,” while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised him as a steadfast supporter of Ukraine during Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Graham’s death leaves Republicans with a reduced majority in the Senate. Under South Carolina law, Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to appoint a temporary replacement until a special election is held.