The last thing I ever said to Senator Lindsey Graham was “You’re a good man.” The way Senator Graham lived made it easy to tell him.
Lindsey Graham first attained national prominence in the late 1990’s as one of the floor managers (prosecutors) from the House of Representatives during the impeachment of President Clinton. He was elected to the Senate in 2002, and until the time of his death, was one of only two people (the other being Strom Thurmond) to hold that Senate Seat from South Carolina since 1956.
I first met Senator Graham, along with a very young Pete Hegseth and future Medal of Honor recipient David Bellavia, in 2007. While there were a lot of opinions on the Iraq War, the purpose of our visit to the Senator was to support the troops in Iraq and General Petraeus during the time of The Surge, a visit which was later successful and whose results overseas validated our efforts.
Supporting the military never was a question for Senator Graham, who later went to Afghanistan and Iraq as Colonel Graham in the Air Force Reserves, and he remained one of our biggest allies.
The next year, I guided the Senator around Liberty University, and we talked at the preserved office of Rev. Jerry Falwell, who passed away in 2007. Senator Graham was very impressed with all that Dr. Falwell and his son had done. Standing in Doc’s office, Senator Graham told me Jerry Falwell was a great man; a comment he seriously meant and not a surprising one coming from a fellow Southern Baptist.
He remained a steadfast supporter of the American-Israeli alliance, and later, Senator Graham was a huge supporter of Ukraine and saw that helping that nation, as part of a larger worldwide struggle against the Axis of Upheaval, was vital to America First.
Sometimes I felt bad for the Senator. There always seemed to be a bit of loneliness in him, especially after his good friend Senator McCain passed away, but one would barely know it. He was consistently smiling and witty, while turning us to the best version of ourselves.
Senator Graham caught a lot of flak, even from his own party at times, but he put his money where his mouth was and should be admired for that.
Always, we said that we wanted politicians who spoke what they believed, and that was Senator Graham. The last time I saw Lindsey Graham, he was speaking at a group where the reception was unfortunately not that great due to his speaking on national security, during a time where that was not the go-to issue.
The Senator was off by himself afterwards, while most everyone was focusing on the next speaker. I walked up to him and didn’t wish to offer him advice, but, and maybe this was God whispering, merely to encourage him. I told him that he was a good man.
He remembered me and said about the gathering, "It's OK. We agree on the same thing; we just disagree on how to get there." In his trademark way, he grinned and went off to his next event.
What cannot be disagreed with was that Lindsey Graham not only loved his country but loved people, even those he did not know.
Senator Graham was one of the most pro-life Senators in Congress, and since 2013, he consistently introduced the Pain-Capable series of bills, seeking to ban abortion from a window of time (15-20 weeks) where the baby certainly feels the pain of abortion.
On a personal level, Lindsey Graham was also pro-life. He adopted his little sister after his parents died and joined the Air Force (Active, Guard and then Reserves), partially in order to provide for her. He never left the Air Force, and only retired from it at the mandatory age of 60. He remained in Congress until he died this weekend.
He wore the flag, fought for it on Capitol Hill and overseas, and will be buried with it covering him.
He never married, but was married to America and its institutions. And by adopting his sister, as Jesus adopted us, Lindsey Graham reminded us that you don’t need to be married or have kids to have a family.
He was one of us, and fought for us like family. Lindsey Graham was an amazing public servant but more so, was a thoughtful and good man. We will miss you.
* Views expressed are those of the author and not any government agency.