A statement from his office announced that Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Republican who had represented South Carolina in the Senate for over two decades, passed away Saturday following what was described as a "brief and sudden" illness. He was 71. The D.C. Medical Examiner's preliminary findings cited aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
"Senator Graham's family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period," his office said in a statement posted on social media, according to ABC News.
His Senate tenure began with his 2002 election victory, and voters returned him to office on three subsequent occasions, with his last reelection coming in 2020. Heading the Senate Budget Committee at the time of his death, Graham had channeled that role toward pushing through a reconciliation measure of roughly $70 billion dedicated to border security funding, which President Donald Trump signed into law in June. His committee assignments additionally included the Appropriations, Judiciary, and Environment and Public Works panels.
Prior to his Senate career, Graham spent four terms in the House representing South Carolina's third district, and in 1998 was appointed to help manage the impeachment case brought against President Bill Clinton, according to ABC News. His military career in the U.S. Air Force, where he worked in a legal capacity, concluded when he stepped down from the reserves in June 2015 having attained the rank of colonel.
On Sunday, Trump took to social media to remember Graham as "one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known," according to ABC News. In honor of the senator, White House flags were brought to half staff.
Ukraine had received Graham for the 10th time just before his death; during the trip he sat down with Zelenskyy, and on Friday a cross-party group of senators joined him in unveiling a White House-backed agreement on sanctions targeting Russia. In a statement Sunday, Zelenskyy, who noted that the two had met twice over the preceding week, described himself as "deeply saddened" and remembered Graham as a "true defender of freedom," according to ABC News.
After losing both parents, Graham took on legal guardianship of his younger sister and brought her up; she survives him.