I am in Chautauqua, New York for a book event this week and was shocked to wake up to find that Lindsey Graham has died at 71. I knew and worked with Lindsey since his time in the House of Representatives. We would correspond regularly on legal and constitutional issues. He was an extraordinary man with a deep and unshakable faith in this nation. His death is a great loss for our nation.
Lindsey was a true son of South Carolina. Born in the town of Central, South Carolina, he attended the University of South Carolina for both his undergraduate and law school degrees. He became a prosecutor with the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Office. He held the rank of Colonel in the Air Force Reserves.
His career is legendary and played a major role in military and foreign affairs. However, his greatest influence on the Senate was his practical thinking mixed with a disarming sense of humor. I would often receive texts or emails from Lindsey on ideas for resolving national problems. They were always bold and creative. He loved the law and enjoyed talking through such issues, often setting them aside after reflection on the political or legal complications.
We worked together on matters before the Judiciary Committee and I testified before him on issues ranging from investigations to impeachments. I would hear from him after I posted columns with praise or criticism of the underlying points. He was not only a skilled litigator but also had a keen sense of the practical. He was the ultimate problem solver, always looking for a way to navigate around barriers on the Hill.
What I will miss most was his humor. Lindsey had a puckish side and looked at much of the insanity on the Hill with a sense of exasperated levity. He was often frustrated by the lack of progress in the Senate and would joke about it being the “most deliberative body” with a certain irony. His jokes would often be self-deprecating, downplaying his considerable skills and gifts.
However, Lindsey’s aw-shucks style concealed one of the most penetrating minds in the Senate. He also had an iron core, unflinching in the face of withering criticism and attacks. A mob could surround Lindsey and not raise his pulse rate a tick. He was rock solid.
It was Lindsey’s voice that would often cut through the noise and nonsense of the Hill, with his signature Southern drawl. He was particularly effective in controversies such as the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings.
He was a major supporter of Israel and Ukraine. He recently returned from Kyiv, where he met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address Ukraine’s air defense systems.
The left has already filled the web with vicious attacks on Lindsey. In an age of rage, even a period of mourning is considered intolerable.
People either loved or hated Lindsey, but few had the chance to know him. He was a warm and fascinating man. He stepped forward to enter the fray in defense of the values that he held most dear.
Thank you, my friend, and rest in peace.
Lindsey Graham can be summed up in four words – he was a lawyer.
Beautiful 60-second tribute to Lindsey, produced as a campaign commercial but appropriate for now nonetheless:
Politician- yes, Patriot-No (my opinion)
Why include the political jab to Democrats in a memorial to Graham? Have you forgotten what Trump has said about those that have died?
In one death of a former agency head that formerly served in combat in the Marine Corp, Trump responded “I’m glad he’s dead”.
Those were comments following the death of a former FBI Director and former combat veteran. Trump somehow got out of military service but well enough to play a full round of golf.
Very curious this was included in the article but excluded what Trump said.
My understanding is that Graham voted FOR everyone of Obama’s and Biden’s picks to the court. Not good for our country!
My first thought is – who poisoned Lindsey when he was in the Ukraine?
My first thought is that you are wearing your tin foil hat.
Apparently, Mrs. Butterworth and Jimmy Dean in a years long conspiracy. Now go stand in the corner.
Senator Graham, A Creature of the Warmonger elite EPSTEIN CLASS, serving their interests as well as the interests of the powerful AIPAC Israeli Lobby, MIC, and Wall Street. Never gave a damn about the common man who deals daily with the increasing inflation and the never ending wars.
Socratic Liar, so as your ilk try to mock Graham for being gay you are also tarring him with Bill Clinton’s buddy Epstein?
Also, you and your weak minded idiots have gone from the climate is an existential crisis to Tesla dealerships need to be attacked to anything and everything is Israel’s fault’s.
Notice how it’s never an actual enemy of the west like say China that’s an issue.
It’s all China, Soros, academia and the media trying to harm the west.
ignore the troll. You know who he is, a pathetic, lonely, attention seeking, societal failure, nobody. When he dies no one will know it nor miss him, unlike Lindsey Graham.
Here’s the important part about Lindsey Graham, and this is meant for all of the readers: it was preventable.
Dx: “Aortic Dissection due to Arthriosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease”
There is no reason for Sen. Graham to have incurred an aortic rupture with his access to the best medical care in the world, and living on a very good income. He didn’t manage his heart disease well at all. Don’t let it happen to you
Using historical data on mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 study, encompassing the period of 1990 to 2019, Poisson regression was performed to model mortality and DALYs associated with CVD and its associated risk factors from 2025 to 2050. Subgroup analysis was based on GBD super-regions. Between 2025 and 2050, a 90.0% increase in cardiovascular prevalence, 73.4% increase in crude mortality, and 54.7% increase in crude DALYs are projected, with an expected 35.6 million cardiovascular deaths in 2050 (from 20.5 million in 2025). However, age-standardized cardiovascular prevalence will be relatively constant (−3.6%), with decreasing age-standardized mortality (−30.5%) and age-standardized DALYs (−29.6%). In 2050, ischaemic heart disease will remain the leading cause of cardiovascular deaths (20 million deaths) while high systolic blood pressure will be the main cardiovascular risk factor driving mortality (18.9 million deaths). Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia super-region is set to incur the highest age-standardized cardiovascular mortality rate in 2050 (305 deaths per 100 000 population).
Chong, B., et al. (2025). Global burden of cardiovascular diseases: projections from 2025 to 2050. European journal of preventive cardiology, 32(11), pp.1001-1015. doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwae281
Memento mori
You don’t have to have any underlying cardiovascular disease to have an aortic dissection. High BP can be a factor, as well as age, but this issue is often purely genetic. I had a physician friend die of one. He was elderly, but had a healthy heart and walked 5 miles a day. This is also the event that took the life of actor John Ritter at a relatively youthful age. Aortic dissection is a literal tear in the aorta. This can even result from trauma such as injuries sustained in a car accident. When it does occur, it has an extremely high mortality rate. I doubt that this sudden, tragic death is anything Lindsey Graham could have avoided. I was a Neurology RN and dealt with aneurysms on a regular basis. Most were genetic malformations.
This post by the alleged physician Estovir is nonsensical.
If he really is a physician I would advise strongly against consulting him.
Lindsey Graham’s acute aortic dissection was in no way preventable. The vast majority of acute aortic dissections occur in patients who are otherwise asymptomatic. Around 15% of dissections occur in patients with a known aortic aneurysm, which is a known predisposing factor. However the vast majority of dissections occur in patients who do not have evidence of an aneurysm.
Hypertension and atherosclerotic disease are predisposing factors for an aortic dissection, but the vast majority of elderly people have these conditions and never have a dissection, let alone an aneurysm.
Estovir seems to be suggesting that Graham failed to take care of his heart disease and suffered the consequences. If he had hypertension and atherosclerotic disease then he theoretically had a risk for dissection, but as I stated that risk is minuscule because most people with these problems do not have dissections. The only way of identifying an aneurysm is by echocardiogram or MRI. Estovir seems to be suggesting that maybe if Graham had undergone frequent echo exams, an aneurysm or dissection may have been detected and treated preventatively. But that presupposes he had an aneurysm, and even if he did, that still doesn’t mean he would have had a dissection. As I said, the vast majority of acute aortic dissections occur in patients without aneurysms. And the idea that everyone who has heart disease should undergo routine echo looking for aneurysms or dissections is absurd. The cost would be astronomical and the benefit would be minimal, since the vast majority of patients with heart disease do not go on to develop a dissection. It would be like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack, when most of the time the needle isn’t even there.
If you have heart disease, I suggest that you ask your physician to perform an echo or MRI to look for an aneurysm or aortic dissection, and prepare for the ensuing hysterical laughter.
This Estovir character is a charlatan who spreads dangerous medical misinformation and even more dangerous fanatical religiosity.
Spot on! Aside from the risk of heart disease being hereditary so is the risk for aortic aneurysm.
I didn’t care for Graham’s politics due to his propensity to lean towards war. Having said, I don’t think it’s appropriate to mock his death or disparage his career. He was a war hawk, he did what he believed to be the best thing for our country and our allies. Like I said, may God forgive him for his sins and may he rest in peace. Disrespectful slandering on his death is classless and tells volumes about the poster.
“as well as the interests of the powerful AIPAC Israeli Lobby, MIC, and Wall Street.”
Noting your inclusion of Israel while not including Ukraine causes your stripes to shine bright and clear.
This comment is completely mindless AI hallucinatory gibberish.
Socratic Truth labels Graham a warmonger and cites his support for the AIPAC Israeli lobby. This is a reasonable conclusion.
However the entity known as “S. Meyer” makes an absurd comment about Socratic failing to mention Ukraine, seemingly trying to suggest that this failure to mention Ukraine is somehow evidence that Graham is not a warmonger.
The AI bot entity known as “S. Meyer” fails to understand that Graham was also a staunch supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia. Graham was a warmonger. He never met a war he didn’t like.
There is no logical connection to be drawn between the war in Ukraine and the war in Iran to prove that Graham is not a warmonger. He supported both wars. He loved war. He was a warmonger.
The comment is nothing more than hallucinatory nonsense. Nothing more than a collection of words strung together with no discernible meaning.
And the addition of the meaningless comment about bright stripes is equally absurd.
What stripes? What does the brightness indicate? A collection of words with no apparent meaning, strung together by a mindless hallucinating bot.
“Socratic failing to mention Ukraine, seemingly trying to suggest that this failure to mention Ukraine is somehow evidence that Graham is not a warmonger.”
Along with all his other failures, Sigmund the Fraud cannot figure out what was meant by the comment, which is similar to so many comments I made in the past concerning double standards. (If Israel, why not Ukraine?) He’s no Sigmund, but he is a Fraud. Maybe you should give up on sick-o analysis and start using AI.
Final Grade: Intellectual Pigmy, Rambling Runner, and Sick-O Sig
Ukraine has a lobbyist arm that puts money into American elections? Why would they be in a list with AIPAC and Wall Street?
Why is Israel there?
Annnnd there’s the cruelty of the leftists.
Those of you on the left did not seem to get the message – you do not speak ill of the dead.
At the very least wait til after the funeral.
I highly doubt Turley is a big fan of Graham. But he was able to post a post a pleasant eulogy.
You would be wise to do the same.
I am not a huge fan of Graham either.
But now is not the time to pi$$ on him.
John Say: “you do not speak ill of the dead.”
Tell that to Trump.
dumbocrats and leftoids here today showing who the real haters are.
It’s truly sad when someone dies below their life expectancy, but at least it appears that he his death was relatively quick and that he did not suffer other than a sudden onset of chest pain followed rapidly by cardiac arrest. (according to reporting) No history of heart problems has been reported. As to his political life, it cannot be ignored that Graham would say anything necessary for Republicans and himself to survive politically and maintain power–regardless of the morality of the position or the or consequences of siding with someone willing to tell any lie necessary to get power and use it for self-aggrandizement and to punish his perceived enemies. After decrying the failed insurrection in which Graham himself could have been killed or injured, he changed course and sided with Trump—an avowed misogynist, racist, pathological liar and convicted felon who started an insurrection to try to prevent the rightful election winner from taking office. This is not a quality which I find admirable, regardless of his alleged “patriotism”. How can you be a patriot and support Trump and his lies, his attacks on our allies, the war he started after promisng not to start any new wars, the illegal tariffs, the wasting of our taxpayer dollars, withholding aid from starving people, and using the DOJ and FBI to go after his perceived enemies? Excerpted from US News:
“After the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, Sen. Lindsey Graham said he had finally had enough of the man who was championed by the mob that stormed the pillar of American democracy: President Donald Trump.
“Trump and I, we’ve had a hell of a journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh my God, I hate it. From my point of view, he’s been a consequential president,” an emotional Graham said once authorities cleared the rioters and allowed senators to reclaim their chamber. “All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.”
It wasn’t, of course.
Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died unexpectedly on Saturday night at age 71, realized that his party’s future was inextricably tied to Trump and quickly reverted back to being a staunch defender. The shift made what had once seemed like a final rupture into just another twist in the topsy-turvy relationship between the powerful senator and the president who came to dominate their party.
“Can we move forward without President Trump? The answer is no,” Graham said in May 2021, just four months after the Jan. 6 attack. “I’ve determined we can’t grow without him.”
Graham was right when he said this, but then did a 180.
So, how do you reconcile such contradictory positions–other than political survival, and why is that something that should be ignored when someone dies? Graham chose to hitch his wagon to Trump, a morally deficient narcissist who lives for attention, praise, adulation and shiny gold objects. That’s not something to be admired, IMHO because it is counter to our American values.
“After decrying the failed insurrection in which Graham himself may have killed . . ..”
No one was threatened with death except the protestors. Later, they were prosecuted for simple trespass.
Every lawmaker fled for their lives. They ran because they were threatened rather than calmly continuing while a tour was happening.
News Flash for you: EVERY politician says things to survive themselves, EVERY party says things to promote their agendas, nothing new there.
“Graham would say anything necessary for Republicans and himself to survive politically and maintain power–regardless of the morality of the position or the or consequences of siding with someone willing to tell any lie necessary to get power…..”
Graham’;s change of ming might be because as with all accuasations against Trump – Time proves them false.
J6 was not an insurrection, and the 2020 Election clearly was conducted fraudulently.
What would have been said in private on a golf course that was more convincing than what Trump said on the campaign trail?
Graham’s change of mind could be that Trump blackmailed him, or Trump offered Graham something that Graham wanted to keep secret.
There was no fraud in the 2020 election that wasn’t committed by Republicans. Jan 6th was a failed attempt to set aside the Constitutional Democratic process – call it what you will, it was a violent attack. People were literally climbing the walls to get in and rush the House and use falsified slates of electors.
“. . . why is that something that should be ignored when someone dies?”
If you wish to be vindictive by dancing on a person’s grave, at least have the decency to wait until they are in it.
Next.
The comments here reminded me, forcefully, that there are two brands of “anonymous”. The one(s) spewing hate are either traitors or mental midget trolls looking for the thrill of generating responses. The other(s) are grownups and patriots offering sage observations. That the moderator(s) permit the first is irritating but it is in line with the Free speech we all enjoy. So, haters, hate on but understand that the grownups here are on to you.
“Hate on and love through unrepining hours.
Before us lies eternity; our souls
Are love, and a continual farewell.”
“I never wanted to see anybody die, but there are a few obituary notices I have read with pleasure.”
— Clarence Darrow
which is why you post anonymously.
When a person I despise dies my choice is to say nothing. There are times to criticize but when done immediately upon the person’s passing such venom says more about the critic than it does the person being criticized.
Requiescat in pace, Senator Graham. You were a model American.
Professer Turley, Thank you for sharing your Heartfelt Thoughts about Lindsey.. such a Brilliant Mind and Giant of American Patriotism that I frequently simply referred to him by his first name and eveyone knew it was Senator Lindsey Graham. I really looked forward to your column this early morning, sensing you would put pen to paper with your razor-sharp insights re: his untimely passing which leaves a hole in the hearts of all who appreciated this extraordinary man and his contributions to the American Story. May Lindsey now join the highest rank of Angels guarding the USA!
Shaking my head at the venom here for a Senator who loved and served our country and hasn’t even been dead a day. It’s pathetic and weak that “Let’s dirty up the dead guy!” is the apparent goal.
Maybe the comments are coming from our country’s foreign adversaries, or the bots created by them.
But if they are coming from Americans (i.e.,bot-adjacent idiots useful to our country’s adversaries), these persons should be aware that their comments are offensive to normal people. The comments condemn the authors, not the object of their bile.
Graham carries the chains he forged in life. And now the FBI is clearing Graham’s house of anything that would incriminate Trump.
Lindsey Graham recently wrote “Judge me by my enemies”. He was referring to IRG death threats, but I imagine he would be pleased with the low character of his critics in this comment section. Rest in peace, Senator Graham.
As judiciary chairman Graham could’ve held hearings on the hunter laptop/ burisma bribe / Joe pay for play and gotten Trump re-elected in 2020. He promised it several times. It was called for even if not in an election year. Apparently, he didn’t bc of Biden threats to expose him for something. McConnell should’ve replaced him w Grassley, who would’ve held the hearings. McConnell knew the score. Shares blame.
I hope that when you pass the people who love you don’t have to be subjected to the invective of those who don’t know you.
“subjected to the invective of those who don’t know you.”
I saw no “invective” in the post to which you replied. There was certainly nothing personal in it. I saw a reasoned criticism of political conduct. Frankly, I see no reason for a moratorium on frank discussions about a pubic figure’s career performance, before death, or after. That comes with the territory. YMMV
Now is neither the time for invective – nor even criticism.
Atrleast wait for the body to get cold.
Without a doubt assessments of Grahams life, his strenghts his weaknesses are coming.
No harm will come to you for waiting.
Pi$$ing on the recently died just makes you look like a fool.
Yes, wait until he fades from the news so that no one will pay attention to what Graham did.
Grassley? the RINO? you can’t be serious.
On a side note, Biden could have released all the Epstein files but never did, so what?
These are politicians, they say things ALL THE TIME they have zero intention of actually doing,
have you ever heard a campaign speech when these clowns are running for election?
SELDOM do they do what they ‘promise’: cut taxes, cut spending, election reform – they do NONE of it when they get elected.
During Biden’s term Epstein was under investigation by the DoJ. Releasing information would be prejudicial for the case.
Trump ran on releasing the files and then he reneged, just like Trump always does.
May God grant him eternal peace and let perpetual light shine upon him.
I don’t think God is in any position to grant him anything, considering his most likely current location in a somewhat warmer climate.
His ladybugs deserve sunshine.
Yes, Senator Graham. rest in peace and may God comfort your family and loved ones.
Thank you for your service.