Topic summary
Lindsey Graham
from South Carolina's 3rd district
January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003
from the 2nd district
November 9, 1992 – November 14, 1994
July 9, 1955
- 1982–1989 (active)
- 1989–1995 (guard)
- 1995–2015 (reserve)
Lindsey Olin Graham (July 9, 1955 – July 11, 2026) was an American politician, attorney, and military officer who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 2003 until his death in 2026. A member of the Republican Party, he represented South Carolina's 3rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995.
Born in Central, South Carolina, Graham graduated from the University of South Carolina and its law school. He served on active duty in the United States Air Force from 1982 to 1989 as a member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps, working as a defense attorney and as the Air Force's chief prosecutor in Europe. He later served in the South Carolina Air National Guard and the United States Air Force Reserve, retiring as a colonel in 2015. He received the Bronze Star Medal in 2014 for his legal work relating to military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Graham was first elected to Congress in 1994, drawing national attention as a member of the House Judiciary Committee and as a House impeachment manager during the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. He was elected to the Senate in 2002 and reelected in 2008, 2014, and 2020. He won the Republican nomination for a fifth term in June 2026 but died before the general election. Governor Henry McMaster appointed Graham's sister, Darline Graham, to serve out the remainder of Graham's fourth term.
A war hawk, Graham advocated an interventionist role for the United States and was a prominent supporter of Israel, Ukraine, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He frequently worked with members of both parties, particularly on immigration and national-security legislation, and was closely associated with senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman, with whom he formed a group known as the "Three Amigos". Graham chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2021 and the Senate Budget Committee from 2025 until his death. He also played a prominent role in the confirmation of President Donald Trump's judicial nominees.
Graham sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 but withdrew before the primaries began. Initially an outspoken critic of Trump during Trump's 2016 campaign, he later became one of Trump's closest congressional allies and supported him throughout both his presidencies.