In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.Sen. Lindsey Graham died suddenly over the weekend at age 71, sending shockwaves through Washington. Graham, the senior senator from South Carolina, lived an extraordinary and consequential life. He will be remembered for many things, including his multifaceted service to the nation, his intense patriotism, and his sense of humor.He exhibited the latter two in a single social media post published just days before his death. At Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral in Tehran, pro-regime stooges held placards wishing death upon various objects of their fanatical hatred. One poster featured Graham’s face, with crosshairs trained on his forehead. “Target Lindsey Graham,” the caption read. “Sooner or later your heads will roll.”
Graham shared it on his X feed, writing, “at least they used a good photo of me.” He added, “Judge me by my enemies.”On the latter point, there is no dispute. Graham loathed America’s enemies, and the feeling was mutual. What a tribute. Graham was a complicated figure who accumulated many friends, and his fair share of detractors, in politics — some of whom fell into both columns. He was generally a happy warrior who viewed his opponents as simply that: opponents, to be debated and engaged, not enemies.The harsher distinction was reserved for anti-American tyrants, terrorists, and other nemeses of the United States. Graham explicitly asked to be judged by his enemies, and it’s a test he passed with flying colors. On the Fourth of July, he shared a stirring video honoring our country’s 250th birthday.“One nation, under God. Here’s to the next 250 years of freedom,” he reflected.Given the stunning and unexpected nature of his passing at a relatively young age, which his office described as the result of a “brief and sudden illness,” one silver lining in the tragedy is that he lived to celebrate that milestone for the nation he loved so deeply.Graham was a thoroughly political animal. He might be described as a center-right conservative and foreign policy uber-hawk who, despite his generally partisan voting record, consistently pursued and cultivated a spirit of bipartisanship. Many of the condolences that have poured in from many of Graham’s Democratic colleagues have warmly referred to him as “my friend,” and it feels as though that word isn’t being deployed in the hollow, polite way politicians often wield it.The gentleman from the Palmetto State collected friends easily, often surprising critics by winning their affection and grudging respect with his genuine charm. This winsome and sunny nature is what made his occasional flashes of fierce, partisan indignation all the more notable, the most memorable of which flared in 2018.That moment was foreshadowed more than a decade prior, in a similar setting.During the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, multiple Senate Democrats relentlessly and very personally hammered the nominee. Some of the worst offenders were Joe Biden of Delaware and Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. Their aggressive grilling was typical of Democrats’ escalatory and venomous approach to the judicial wars, but it was still too much to bear for Alito’s wife. Worn down after witnessing the nastiness and character assassination directed at her husband over many hours, she fled the hearing room in tears.Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) arrives at a campaign event on Aug. 19, 2025, at Holt Bros. BBQ in Florence, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
