Senator Lindsey Graham died last Saturday at 71, leaving South Carolina to confront the complex legacy of its longest-serving senator. His sudden exit creates a void in Washington and in a state that elected him four times, as Republicans scramble to find a successor within a month for the November midterm elections.
Shock and Mourning Across the State
Caleb Davis, 21, an air force enlistment candidate, expressed shock while wandering the state house grounds in Columbia. “He was our senator longer than I’ve been alive. He served us in the legacy of the great Strom Thurmond and whether I liked the man or his politics hasn’t got much to do with it. He was truly great and his shoes are gonna be some big ones to fill,” Davis said. Graham succeeded Thurmond, a longtime senator and segregationist, who died in 2003 at age 100.
A Life Forged in a Bar
Graham was born in 1955 in Central, South Carolina, to Millie and Florence James Graham, who owned a restaurant, bar, and pool hall. The family of four lived in one room behind the building. Jennifer Berry Hawes, a ProPublica reporter who covered South Carolina, noted, “He grew up in a bar. The bar’s bathroom was the family’s bathroom and its kitchen was their kitchen. It was not glamorous at all.” Young Graham entertained textile mill workers, dressing as a cowboy and earning the nickname “Stinkball” for stealing beer and cigarettes. Hawes added, “He learned there are a lot of different kinds of people in the world and you are gonna be like some of them and you’re gonna be unlike some of them.”
From C Student to Senator
Graham was a C student in high school and became the first in his family to attend the University of South Carolina. After his mother died of Hodgkin’s lymphoma and his father of a heart attack, he became guardian for his sister Darline, nearly nine years younger. He often credited Social Security for helping them. Darline was sworn in Tuesday to serve the remainder of his term. Graham earned a law degree, served as a judge advocate general in the Air Force, and entered the US House in 1994. In 2002, he faced the daunting task of replacing Thurmond, mastering constituent service and retail politics.
The Maverick Years
For the first half of his Senate career, Graham was a fiercely independent maverick. Alongside Senators Joe Lieberman and John McCain, he formed “the three amigos,” a hawkish bipartisan trio. Danielle Vinson, a politics professor at Furman University, studied his early media savvy. “He very quickly figured out that media could compensate for a lack of institutional power. He was willing to sit down on the Sunday morning talkshows, any Sunday,” she said. He was quotable and self-deprecating. Bakari Sellers, a former South Carolina House member, recalled Graham’s unpretentious style: “He never had his shirt buttoned all the way up. His tie was always hanging down.”
The Trump Transformation
During the 2016 Republican primaries, Graham ran against Trump, calling him a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.” But after Trump won, Graham became one of his most loyal allies and frequent golfing partners. In 2018, he delivered a furious defense of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist, called it a tragic capitulation. “There was Lindsey Graham before Donald Trump, and then there was Lindsey Graham after Donald Trump,” Seawright said. Katon Dawson, former state Republican chair, rejected the notion of betrayal. “Lindsey didn’t sell his principles. Lindsey went to do business to help the state of South Carolina,” Dawson said.
Pragmatism or Principle?
Mark Sanford, former South Carolina governor, whose son was Graham’s godson, argued it was pragmatism. “I don’t think it was a change. He would tell you to your face, look, to wield power, you gotta be close to power. He had a real political nose for where power was,” Sanford said. Miriam Rhett, 72, a retired estate agent, agreed. “He knew how to play the game. Politics, that’s the game, so he did what he had to do. He believed in the Republican party and Donald Trump was leading the Republican party so he knew where the bread was buttered,” she said.
Personal Life and Speculation
Graham never married, saying he had “been close once.” His personal life was subject to speculation, especially in evangelical South Carolina. Davis noted, “It definitely bothered people. I remember my old supervisor would say Lindsey’s gay and a lot people did.” Vinson said his devotion to his sister provided cover. “He always countered it by reminding people of his close relationship with his sister and the fact that he had taken over as her guardian,” she said. Asked who would serve as first lady if elected president, he quipped, “Well, I’ve got a sister.”
A Mixed Legacy
Walking by Thurmond’s statue, Roger Kirby, 66, a state representative, summed up Graham’s legacy. “He was always a mixed bag of politics. You loved him and you hated him and it could all be in the same month. But although I’m a Democrat and Lindsey was a Republican, I was always impressed with his constituent services. It’s amazing to think how much time he actually spent on the job. He was 100% a senator for the state of South Carolina,” Kirby said.
