Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the Republican Party's most prominent foreign-policy hawks, died on the night of July 11 after a 'brief and sudden illness.' He was 71. Having met President Zelensky in Kyiv just a day earlier, his death drew tributes from Washington, Kyiv and Taipei alike.
Graham's office said in a statement on July 12 that the senator had 'passed away after a brief and sudden illness.' US media reported that emergency responders were called to his Capitol Hill home around 8:30 pm on July 11 for chest pains, and he could not be revived.
광고 문의 · 300×250His final official trip was to Ukraine. On July 10 he met President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and pledged that Congress would continue to support Ukraine; he collapsed within hours of returning home. CNN wrote that 'Ukraine has lost a champion in Washington.'
From McCain's comrade to Trump's ally
Born in South Carolina in 1955, Graham served as an Air Force judge advocate before entering the House in 1995 and the Senate in 2003, where he served for more than two decades. The closest ally of the late John McCain, he clashed with Donald Trump in the 2016 primaries but later became one of the president's staunchest allies.
President Trump mourned him on July 12 as 'one of the greatest people I have ever known, and a true patriot.' Tributes came from both parties, and the Senate lowered its flags.
On foreign policy he was a consistent hawk. After Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 he visited Ukraine ten times and co-sponsored tough sanctions legislation against Russia, earning a place on Moscow's sanctions list.
'A true friend of Taiwan' — Taipei mourns
President Lai Ching-te said Graham was 'a true friend of Taiwan,' the Liberty Times reported. Graham had long led pro-Taiwan resolutions and delegations, a symbol of bipartisan congressional support on Taiwan Strait issues.
Under South Carolina law, the governor will appoint an interim senator, with a special election to follow for the remainder of the term. His outsized role in Senate foreign and defense policy leaves a gap that will be hard to fill.
A third perspective
Reactions to the same death vary sharply by capital. Washington, Kyiv and Taipei remembered a politician of conviction, while responses were restrained in Moscow and other targets of his hard line. The polarized memories surrounding one man show how squarely he stood on the front line of international politics for three decades.
