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US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has died following a “brief and sudden illness”, his office confirmed in a statement released early Sunday.
Graham passed away on Saturday evening, with his office stating simply that the family “appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.”
The South Carolina lawmaker’s death marks the end of a decades-long career that made him one of Washington’s most recognisable and influential voices on defence and foreign policy.
First elected to the US Senate in 2002, succeeding the seat once held by Strom Thurmond, Graham went on to win re-election twice by comfortable margins. Beyond his foreign policy portfolio, he also chaired the Senate Budget Committee, giving him a central role in shaping federal fiscal policy.
Graham’s political trajectory saw a notable transformation over the years — from an early skeptic of Donald Trump to one of the president’s most steadfast allies in the Senate. That closeness to the White House cemented his standing as a key power broker in Republican politics.
Notably, Graham’s final public engagements kept him squarely focused on the international stage. He had only just returned from Kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, underscoring his enduring commitment to the transatlantic alliance and Ukraine’s defence against Russia.
That commitment was long-standing and often expressed in blunt terms. Speaking to the BBC in 2023, Graham warned of the broader consequences of a Russian victory, insisting that “Putin will not stop in Ukraine.”
He extended that argument to America’s posture in Asia, cautioning that weakness in Europe would embolden adversaries elsewhere: “to be weak in Ukraine means that you lose in Taiwan.”
Tributes are expected to pour in from across the political spectrum in the coming days as colleagues reflect on the legacy of a senator who, for more than two decades, helped shape America’s approach to some of its most consequential foreign policy challenges.
