US Senator Lindsey Graham has died after what his office described as a brief and sudden illness, according to a statement released on Sunday. He was 71. Graham represented South Carolina in the Senate from 2003 and had been seeking re-election in November.
The announcement is expected to have immediate political consequences in Washington and within the Republican Party. His office asked for privacy for his family and did not provide additional details. The Washington Post, citing police scanner audio, reported that emergency services were called to his Capitol Hill home on Saturday evening in response to reports of chest pain, and later said CPR was underway as a cardiac arrest was suspected.
A longtime figure in Republican politics
Graham had been active in national politics for decades. He grew up in Central, South Carolina, studied at the University of South Carolina, and later served as an Air Force lawyer and in the South Carolina Air National Guard. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994, took part as a House manager in Bill Clinton’s 1999 impeachment trial, and won election to the Senate in 2002.
In the Senate, Graham became known for his hawkish foreign policy views and support for the Iraq war, along with his opposition to the nuclear agreement reached under Barack Obama. He was initially one of Donald Trump’s sharpest Republican critics during the 2016 campaign, but later became one of the president’s closest allies and a frequent adviser on foreign policy. Trump described him on social media as one of the greatest people and senators he had known.
Source: theguardian.com
