Senator Lindsey Graham has died, hours after his return from Ukraine.
According to a preliminary medical report, Senator Lindsey Graham died suddenly of an aortic dissection. He died a few hours after returning from a trip to Ukraine. Donald Trump reported speaking with him on the evening of July 11 and that the call "could have been his last," writes The Washington Post.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) died suddenly on the evening of July 11 at the age of 71, his office announced. His death sparked a wave of tributes from President Donald Trump and lawmakers from both parties, who remembered him as a hard-line foreign policy advocate and a man who forged close personal ties during his three decades in Congress.
The senator's office said in a statement that preliminary findings from the District of Columbia Medical Examiner's Office indicate the cause of death was aortic dissection—a tear in the lining of the main artery. It clarified that this condition was caused by atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Such ruptures most often occur with high blood pressure.
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The death certificate has not yet been issued: the document will be issued after all toxicological and microscopic studies are completed.
"After this, the death certificate will finally indicate the cause of death and properly classify the manner of death," the statement said.
Graham's death reduces the Republican majority in the Senate, which had been 53 to 47. The politician was running for re-election this year.
According to eyewitnesses and police radio recordings, medics arrived at the senator's home on the evening of July 11, attempted to stabilize his condition, and took the politician to the hospital.
Graham, a vocal supporter of Ukraine, died hours after returning from Kyiv, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
State law allows South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, also a Republican, to immediately appoint a temporary senator to serve his term, which expires in January.
Trump called Graham "a true American patriot" and said funeral arrangements would be announced later. The flag at the White House was flown at half-staff.
Speaking on Sunday night's television program, the president said he had spoken with Graham the previous evening, shortly before emergency services were called. According to Trump, the senator mentioned that he was "tired."
"But otherwise, he was fine," Trump said in an interview with CNN, noting that he was shocked by the news of his death.
In an interview with NBC, the president suggested that this conversation "could have been the last call."
"Around 1:00 a.m., someone on his staff texted me and said the senator had died. I just can't believe it. He was like family to me," Trump admitted on Meet the Press.
Commenting on the senator's sudden deterioration in condition, Trump concluded: "Maybe this isn't the worst way to go."
Despite his close alliance with Trump on most issues, Graham disagreed with him on certain topics, including advocating for a tougher foreign policy, specifically increasing support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Graham, who turned 71 on July 9, met with Zelensky and other Ukrainian leaders in Kyiv last week. And on July 10, the senator told reporters that a bipartisan group of senators had reached an agreement with the White House to impose new sanctions against Russia.
He made this statement in the scorching sun, but according to eyewitnesses, the heat didn't bother him: the politician spoke confidently and clearly. The senator spoke at length about his admiration for Ukrainians.
On July 12, the Ukrainian leadership expressed condolences over Graham's death.
According to emergency services, a call came in around 20:30 PM on Saturday, July 11, for a man experiencing chest pains at Graham's Capitol Hill home. About 25 minutes later, paramedics reported performing CPR after the man had gone into cardiac arrest.
A resident of the same street posted photos of a man being wheeled out of his home on a gurney and loaded into an ambulance at around 21:30 PM. He was taken to George Washington University Hospital.
Even before Graham's death, Senate Republicans were dealing with the absence of one of their members. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), 84, has been hospitalized since last month.
On July 12, his office published a photo of the senator with his wife and reported that he had fallen in June, was hospitalized, and suffered pneumonia there. This is the first detailed report on the politician's condition since his hospitalization.
McConnell himself announced that he had been transferred to a rehabilitation center. He is currently unable to return to his Senate duties, but continues to work from the hospital.
Graham won the Republican primary in South Carolina last month, so the state will hold a special election in the coming weeks to choose a new candidate. Due to the tight deadline, the same politicians may run.
Businessman Mark Lynch came in second, garnering approximately 29% of the vote compared to approximately 57% for the incumbent senator. Other candidates included Paul Dance, who served in the first Trump administration and helped develop the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 program, which influenced the president's second term, and Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who is considering a run.
Democrats have nominated pediatrician Annie Andrews as their candidate.
Graham was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1994 and to the Senate in 2002. For decades, he remained a prominent figure in American politics, particularly on foreign policy, and regularly traveled to conflict zones, including Iraq and Ukraine. In 2016, Graham ran for president.
Whoever takes his place will be only the third senator from the state since 1956, when Strom Thurmond, one of the longest-serving senators in U.S. history, was elected to the post.
Graham succeeded Thurmond in 2003 and quickly became one of the most influential Republicans. He participated in negotiations on foreign policy, defense, immigration, and health care. At the time of his death, he chaired the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the Appropriations Subcommittee overseeing foreign policy spending, and also served on the Foreign Relations Committee.
During the first Trump administration, Graham chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee and played a key role in confirming conservative judges, influencing the composition of the federal courts. He presided over the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in October 2020, three weeks before the presidential election.
Graham announced his presidential campaign in June 2015, but failed to gain traction in the polls. He was criticized for his political positions and personal life. Graham, who has never married, jokingly promised a "rotating first lady" if he won.
In December 2015, before the vote, he abandoned his campaign and endorsed former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and then Senator Ted Cruz, declaring that he considered Trump unfit to be president. After Trump's nomination, he voted for third-party candidate Evan McMullin.
Graham later became a key ally of Trump in the Senate, defending his actions and policies and opposing impeachment following his conviction for inciting the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Governor McMaster called Graham South Carolina's and America's most tenacious defender, and a loyal and trusted friend.
Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) said the country had lost a true statesman, and he had lost a friend. He said Graham was a vocal critic of Trump ten years ago, but over time, they developed a working and personal relationship.
"They didn't always agree, but they knew how to disagree without fighting," Scott noted.
Democrats praised his ability to build personal relationships across party lines. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who spoke with Graham on the day of his death, called him "a man of character" who "made his own way."
“We often disagreed, but he listened and tried to find common ground,” he emphasized.
Trump frequently consulted with Graham on policy matters and played golf with him. They discussed foreign policy at length, with Graham frequently urging the president to take tougher action against countries like Iran and Russia.
"He's a remarkable man. He's been with me for a long time," Trump said at a campaign event last month, recalling their rivalry in 2016: "After that fight, we became close friends."
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Graham is survived by his sister, Darlene Graham Nordon. After the death of their parents, 21-year-old Lindsey Graham became his sister's guardian and later adopted her. They were very close, and Nordon said in a 2014 video that her brother "never let her down."
"I still don't understand how he handled the responsibility of raising his younger sister," she concluded.
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