Remembering Lindsey Graham

The good, the bad, and the miscalculations

It’s been a couple of days now since Senator Graham’s sudden passing from a probable aortic tear. While I sympathized with his family and friends immediately, I didn’t feel it was appropriate to jump on the bandwagon with a quick retrospective. I’m not a professional writer and I’m not in this for clicks, so I don’t have to the internet punditry equivalent of an ambulance-chasing vulture with a rapid reaction.

I also didn’t want to join the parade of ghouls who celebrated the man’s death. By now, we’ve established that both sides are both reprehensible and hypocritical with the roles changing depending on which tribe the recently departed hailed from. Both sides have decent people and awful people, and the awful people often try to paint even decent people on the other side as awful.

Image by ChatGPT

But now, a few days later, as passions have cooled and the shock has subsided, it seems like a good time to reminisce about Graham and contemplate his legacy. Like him or not, he was a giant in the Senate, and he had a profound impact on America.

Lindsey Graham was a complicated figure. Like most of us, he was neither all good nor all bad. How you viewed him largely depended on what era of his life you examine and what your values are.

For me, there are three things that stand out in my mind about Graham. I first came to know him (by reputation, not personally; I never met him) when he was a member of a bipartisan group of moderate senators that tried to reach compromises on contentious issues like immigration.

At that point in his career, Graham was not popular among Republicans. I remember him being labeled as a RINO and Republican talk show hosts calling his immigration reform proposals “grahamnesty.” He was part of the bipartisan Gang of Eight that included Republicans John McCain, Marco Rubio, and Jeff Flake. All moderates, all reviled by the talk radio set.

A lot changed after Donald Trump got elected. In May 2016, Graham tweeted, “If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it,” (that tweet is still up, by the way), yet Graham soon became a strong Trump ally even though it meant abandoning many of his closely-held convictions. He even came around to supporting mass deportations over a fair, just, and merciful treatment of immigrants. Graham also flipped from criticism of Trump’s actions on January 6 to rationalization and acquiescence.

Graham went so far as to say, ““Mr President, you’re not far behind God,” just over a month before his death. Some might wonder if that sort of blasphemous idolatry might have led to a divine abridgment of his life. I can’t say for sure, but if God was in the habit of serving up lightning bolts for blasphemous statements about Trump, there wouldn’t be many Republicans left.

I’ve often wondered whether Trump had something on Graham or whether his shift was a political calculation. Graham was long rumored to be gay, but that wouldn’t necessarily be a disadvantage in the new GOP that doesn’t seem to care about anything except support for Trump. I think it’s more likely that Graham just saw the political winds shifting and made the move that ensured his political survival. It’s worth noting that, of the Republican members of the Gang of Eight, one died shortly after MAGA became ascendant in the party, another was forced out, largely due to his criticism of Trump, and two eventually crossed over to join the MAGA movement.

The third area that stands out about Graham was his support for Ukraine. Even as the senator became a Trump ally, he remained a staunch defender of Ukraine’s fight for survival. In fact, Graham’s last days were spent trying to bridge the gap between Zelensky and Trump and rekindle American aid. Russia will definitely be a beneficiary of Graham’s passing.

Different people will have different reactions to Graham’s death, but I’ll remember him as a politician who seemed to be a decent man, even if he was partisan to the core. I disagreed with him often, especially in his last years, but even when he aligned himself with Trump, he stayed mostly respectable and rooted in reality (except for likening Trump to God), unlike many others I could mention. (Mike Lee, I’m looking in your direction.)

Graham spent 31 years in Washington, first arriving in 1995 as a congressman, and 23 years in the Senate. His legacy will be no less complex than the man himself.

I tend to think that future Americans will likely judge Graham harshly for his role in enabling Trump. I believe that, one day soon, MAGA will be viewed the way we see the McCarthyites of the 50s and the segregationists of the 60s. God willing, these years will prove to be a historical aberration that will looked upon with disdain (and God willing, the country will hold together so that there are future Americans to study the history we are making).

It’s also quite likely that Graham will be remembered critically for his role in starting the Iran war. While the blame (or credit) for starting the war lies squarely with Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, Graham was an early cheerleader for striking Iran and regime change.

Over the weekend, Trump reportedly informed Congress that the war is back on, restarting the 60-day War Powers clock. With new strikes against Iran, it appears increasingly likely that the US has become involved in another long, costly, and this time, possibly economically devastating war. If that turns out to be the case, Graham’s legacy will carry a share of the blame for blocking Congress from its constitutional oversight of the president’s actions.

Even bad movements have good people. People who have their own misguided motives or just make bad choices. Lindsey Graham made some bad decisions near the end that will taint his place in history, and that’s a shame.

LONG LIVE SENATOR GRAHAM South Carolina’s governor has appointed Darline Graham Nordone, Lindsey’s sister, to fill the remainder of his term after Donald Trump made the suggestion. It isn’t clear whether Darline is qualified for the job, although she did assist with Lindsey’s campaigns, or whether she will run in the August 11 special election.

NOT DEAD That apparently describes Mitch McConnell, who released a statement and proof-of-life photo, complete with a newspaper, on Sunday. McConnell has not been seen he reportedly fell on June 11.

TRUMP SPEECH A televised presidential speech was announced for Thursday. Rumor has it that the topic will be 2020 election fraud, specifically a claim that the election of Georgia Senators Ossoff and Warnock was fraudulent. Multiple audits have found no widespread fraud, and many Trump supporters were in DC for the “Stop the Steal” 𝚛̶𝚊̶𝚕̶𝚕̶𝚢̶ insurrection the next day, but Trump’s DOJ raided Fulton County elections offices in January, and Kash Patel has committed hundreds of FBI agents and analysts to the effort instead of hunting real criminals. Lawfare much?

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE If you need something funny to watch, check out HBO’s “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: an Almost History of America.” Currently three episodes in, the series features Larry David and a smorgasbord of guest stars in American history sketches. They’re almost all comedy gold if you like Larry’s Seinfeld-esque humor. (And if you don’t, what’s wrong with you?)

Among my favorites so far are Larry as Joseph McCarthy, as Meriwether Lewis with Clark trying tell their wives about their big expedition, at the Boston Tea Party, as the third Wright Brother (stuck in the middle seat), sharing a bus seat with Rosa Parks, and hosting a stop on the Underground Railroad.

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