U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham dead at 71

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who became one of the most prominent voices on national security and foreign policy in Congress, has died after a brief and sudden illness, his office announced. He was 71 years old.

“On the evening of Saturday, July 11, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness,” his office said in a statement. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.”

No further details about his illness have been released.

Graham had represented South Carolina in the U.S. Senate since 2003, winning four terms after serving eight years in the House of Representatives. Over more than three decades in Washington, he became known as a defense hawk and a forceful supporter of the U.S. military and American involvement overseas.

He was a close friend and political ally of the late Senator John McCain, with whom he frequently traveled abroad and advocated for an assertive U.S. foreign policy. Graham strongly supported Israel and Ukraine and called for a hard line against countries including Iran, Russia and China.

Graham sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 but ended his campaign before voting began. Although he was initially one of Donald Trump’s most outspoken Republican critics, he later became a close ally and frequent defender of the president.

Born in Central, South Carolina, on July 9, 1955, Graham grew up working at his parents’ restaurant, bar and pool hall. Both of his parents died while he was in college, leaving him to help care for his younger sister.

Graham graduated from the University of South Carolina and its law school before joining the U.S. Air Force as a military lawyer. He later served in the South Carolina Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve, retiring as a colonel.

He entered politics in the early 1990s as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives before winning election to Congress in 1994. Graham served in the House from 1995 until he was elected to the Senate seat previously held by Strom Thurmond in 2002.

Graham had recently returned from Ukraine, where he was working on efforts to end the war, according to The Washington Post.