F. Scott Fitzgerald and Lindsey Graham never crossed paths.
Lindsey Graham, the vibrant senator from South Carolina whose unexpected passing on Saturday night has sparked a flurry of conspiracy theories even among typically reserved political circles, disproves Fitzgerald’s well-known assertion: ‘There are no second acts in American lives.’
In the span of just the last quarter-century, Graham’s public life unfolded in at least four distinct stages, each marked by its own blend of approval, scrutiny, and critique.
As I spent my Sunday morning addressing the questions of worried politicians, business figures, and journalists, as well as a few curious relatives, regarding the peculiar circumstances of Graham’s death at 71, I found my thoughts drifting back to his remarkable life—a life I began documenting in the late 1990s.
Graham’s journey to becoming the future chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee was anything but typical; he emerged from a small-town South Carolina background, where his family ran a multifaceted establishment that included a restaurant, bar, pool hall, and liquor store.
His mother died when he was just 21; his father passed on a mere 15 months later. Graham became the legal guardian of his 13-year-old sister, Darline, and remained one of the central figures in her life. He was the first member of his family to attend college; he then became a lawyer and served for decades in the Air Force, Air Force Reserve and South Carolina Air National Guard.
Graham initially attracted sustained national notice in the House during Bill Clinton’s impeachment back in 1999, before succeeding Strom Thurmond in the Senate four years later – a generational transfer that, in South Carolina terms, was roughly like replacing the Washington Monument with Waffle House.
The first major Graham act was as the very junior partner in the so-called Three Amigos, alongside fellow Republican John McCain and Joe Lieberman, then a Democrat. During the first decade of the 21st century, the trio traveled the world, appearing in war zones and television studios to promote an interventionist, internationalist, hawkish view of American power.
The death of colorful South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has even some normally normal political types spouting conspiracy theories
Graham served as the very junior partner in the so-called Three Amigos, alongside fellow Republican John McCain (center) and Democrat Joe Lieberman (right)
Graham’s role was part policy advocate, part loyal lieutenant and part comic relief.
McCain was the hero, Lieberman the conscience and Graham the man most likely to have a punch line ready before the motorcade reached the inevitable airport press conference.
Then, to the surprise and joking of even many who knew him well, Graham became a presidential candidate in the 2016 cycle. His campaign never threatened to catch fire, but it did produce one of the era’s great political feuds.
After Graham called Donald Trump a ‘jack***’ for attacking McCain’s war record in July 2015, Trump publicly read out Graham’s private mobile number. Graham responded with a comic video in which he destroyed his phone by cleaver, golf club, blender, fire and gravity. It was perhaps the most effective moment of his candidacy, although not traditionally the sort of thing that gets a man into the Oval Office.
Graham called Trump a ‘race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot,’ told him to ‘go to hell’ and issued a prediction that would follow him forever: ‘If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed…and we will deserve it.’
Graham ended his campaign in December 2015 and, when Election Day finally arrived the following November, he voted for independent conservative Evan McMullin.
Then, just like that, came Act Three.
After Trump took office, Graham began what was perhaps the most famous and notable phase of his career: ultimate Trump loyalist, frequent golf partner, adviser and advocate for the Maven of Mar-a-Lago, both on television and in the Senate.
The transformation was so total that Washington spent years debating its cause. Had Graham decided Trump was indispensable to conservative policy? Was he seeking influence over national security? Was he afraid of a primary challenge for his Senate seat? Did he simply enjoy being near the sun, looking for a father figure of sorts?
The answer was probably some combination of all four.
Graham helped Trump move judicial nominees through the Senate, defended him during two impeachment trials and became one of his most indefatigable television surrogates.
Even after the January 6 attack, when Graham declared, ‘Count me out. Enough is enough,’ he eventually counted himself back in.
Finally, through the end of his life, Graham was the ultimate neocon warrior, pressing Trump and Congress to remain supportive of Ukraine against Russia and of Israel against its enemies. Graham was particularly hawkish when it came to Iran, strongly advocating for American intervention and, ultimately, regime change in Tehran.
In both Ukraine and the Middle East, Graham went against the energy, passion and anger of a substantial part of the MAGA base, and sometimes against Trump himself.
Just before his death, Graham had returned from another visit to Ukraine and announced progress on a sanctions package aimed at Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, NATO leaders and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were among those who immediately praised him as an unusually steadfast friend.
After Trump took office, Graham began what was perhaps the most famous and notable phase of his career: ultimate Trump loyalist, frequent golf partner, adviser and advocate for the Maven of Mar-a-Lago, both on television and in the Senate
Just before his death, Graham had returned from another visit to Ukraine and announced progress on a sanctions package aimed at Russia (Pictured: Graham with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 10)
Volodymyr Zelensky, NATO leaders and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (above with Graham in 2026) were among those who immediately praised him as an unusually steadfast friend
Mark Halperin is the editor-in-chief and host of the interactive live video platform 2WAY and the host of the video podcast ‘Next Up’ on the Megyn Kelly Network
Woven through every Graham phase were themes and memes as persistent as they were contradictory.
Nearly everyone who knew him personally thought he was a nice guy, while much of the left viewed him as a Trump lapdog owing to that often confounding loyalty to the president.
Graham was viewed by some as wickedly smart and by others as unsophisticated and dopey. His personal life (he never married) was usually kept private despite the speculation about his sexuality, which was deployed publicly and crudely by his critics, and marveled at by some of his admirers, including the president himself.
Graham played a major role in both American politics and culture for a quarter-century, but he never quite became the larger-than-life figure represented by his two friends (who were enemies with each other) John McCain and Donald Trump.
Still, it is no surprise that his death brought immediate accolades from American and world leaders. From humble origins, the genial Graham made himself a force on the international stage, both displaying and surviving ideological pirouettes that would have toppled a lesser politician.
Through it all, he remained unmistakably Lindsey.
With the FBI now investigating Graham’s death, conspiracy theorists are likely to continue their field day long after a definitive cause of death is announced.
Meanwhile, Graham’s admirers and detractors will conduct their final arguments, while his funeral is sure to contain tears, laughter, political incongruities and at least one story that cannot safely be repeated in polite company.
It will be a hoot, like the man himself.
RIP, Lindsey Graham.
Mark Halperin is the editor-in-chief and host of the interactive live video platform 2WAY and the host of the video podcast ‘Next Up’ on the Megyn Kelly Network.
