Inside Sen Lindsey Graham’s Final Hours Before His Death

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, died Saturday night, July 12, 2026, at George Washington University Hospital. The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department confirmed he was declared dead at 10:23 p.m. He was 71, having celebrated his birthday just two days earlier.

Graham’s office confirmed Sunday that a preliminary report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Washington indicated the senator died from an aortic dissection. That determination remains subject to additional testing. The medical examiner’s report described the cause as a tear in the main artery carrying blood from the heart, stemming from arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Emergency workers responded to his Capitol Hill home

Emergency workers responded Saturday night to a call about a person experiencing chest pains at Graham’s Capitol Hill address. Recordings of dispatcher calls obtained by The New York Times did not name Graham by name. However, responders could be heard administering CPR to a person suffering from cardiac arrest. An unidentified woman in Baltimore placed the emergency call and told responders the house’s door was open. Crews then requested police assistance for a forced entry.

President Trump said in a Sunday interview that he had spoken with Graham shortly before the incident. He described the senator as tired but otherwise fine. Trump added that early reports of a possible heart attack had made sense to him given what he knew.

Graham’s final act was a trip to Ukraine

In his last public appearance, Graham traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, July 10. There, he announced a bipartisan agreement among senators and the White House on a long-stalled effort to impose sanctions targeting buyers of Russian oil. The deal represented a significant breakthrough after Trump had previously resisted the sanctions push.

Speaking in Kyiv, Graham expressed optimism about ending the war in Ukraine. He called for making Ukraine more capable on the battlefield, holding Russia’s supporters financially accountable and finding an off-ramp that would allow the conflict to end without humiliating Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude for Graham’s visit, posting a photo of the two shaking hands in Ukraine.

The Ukraine trip came just days after Graham had traveled to Ankara, Turkey, for the NATO summit. His final days were, by any measure, busy ones.

Graham’s political career and legacy

Graham served South Carolina in the Senate for more than two decades. He chaired the Budget Committee and previously led the Judiciary Committee. He became one of the most prominent voices in Republican politics and ranked among President Trump’s closest and most loyal Senate allies. A former Air Force lawyer who also served in the Air Force Reserve, he developed a strong reputation as a foreign policy hawk who vocally supported both Israel and Ukraine throughout his career.

His death came just one month after he won the Republican primary in South Carolina’s Senate race. He had been heavily favored to win a fifth term in the November general election, four months away at the time of his passing.

What happens next in South Carolina

South Carolina law allows Republican Governor Henry McMaster to appoint a replacement to serve out the remainder of Graham’s term through Jan. 3, 2027. Trump indicated Sunday that he already had a candidate in mind for the appointment. A spokeswoman for the governor declined to comment on the process.

State law sets a clear timeline for filling the vacancy on the ballot. A special primary election is scheduled for Aug. 11. Candidates must file between July 21 and July 28.

Tributes and honors planned

Trump announced Sunday that he would order flags flown at half-staff until Saturday evening in honor of Graham. Senator Tim Scott, Graham’s fellow South Carolina Republican and close colleague, suggested on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Republican leaders were planning additional ways to honor Graham in the coming week. It remains unclear whether Graham will lie in state in the Capitol, as his close friend and former Senator John McCain did following his death in 2018.

Source: The New York Times