Lindsey Graham’s legacy: Israel advocate, Trump ally, Iran war supporter
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- Lindsey Graham died of a "brief and sudden illness" late Saturday at age 71, leaving behind a legacy defined by hawkish foreign policy and unwavering support for Israel.
- Graham backed the 2003 Iraq invasion, staunchly opposed Russia and China, and emerged as "one of the most vocal cheerleaders of the war on Iran," per Al Jazeera's profile of his career.
- Graham traveled to Israel after the 2021 Gaza assault, posed with Netanyahu holding a "More for Israel" sign, and secured an additional $1bn in US military aid; Netanyahu told Fox News Graham even fought to increase US aid when Israel itself wanted to phase it out.
- Graham told NBC News in 2024 that a nuclear bomb on Palestinians would be justified, citing Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and in October 2023 said of Gaza, "Do whatever the hell you have to do to defend yourself. Level the place."
- Graham met with President Trump in January and got him to sign a "Make Iran Great Again" hat signaling regime change; weeks later the US and Israel began bombing Iran, with crisis-group analyst Michael Hanna saying Graham was among those who "succeeded in convincing Trump to go to war."
- Graham called Trump a "race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot" and "unfit for office" during the 2016 primary, but later became one of his most loyal allies — a transformation Hanna called "peculiar" and "not answerable."
- Trump called on South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster to appoint Graham's sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to fill the seat through early next year; McMaster complied, preserving a reliable Trump-aligned vote in the Senate.
Why it matters: Graham's death removes the Senate's most vocal advocate for military intervention at a moment when polls show both younger Republicans and Democrats growing skeptical of foreign military campaigns and unconditional Israel support. His sister fills the seat only through early next year, leaving the interventionist wing without a clear successor. Netanyahu's tribute — noting Graham lobbied for more US aid than Israel requested — underscores how the pro-Israel lobby's Senate muscle now lacks its loudest voice.
