LINDSEY GRAHAM OUR SENATOR - A Tribute Part 2: Shocked and Saddened

LINDSEY GRAHAM: OUR SENATOR – A Tribute, Part 2: Shocked and Saddened

The shock of Senator Lindsey Graham's sudden passing continued to reverberate across South Carolina and the nation as friends, colleagues, political allies, and even longtime opponents reflected on the life of one of America's most influential senators.

Part Two begins with Darlene Graham Nardone taking the oath of office as South Carolina's temporary United States Senator before following the continuing news coverage and public reaction to Graham's death. Through interviews, press conferences, and conversations from those historic days, we hear memories of the man behind the public figure while revisiting many of the defining moments of his long career in public service.

This episode captures a state—and a nation—coming to terms with an unexpected loss. It is a portrait of grief, gratitude, and remembrance as South Carolinians begin to reflect on Lindsey Graham's decades of service and the lasting impact he made on their state and the country.

This is Part Two of our five-part documentary tribute honoring the life, leadership, and legacy of Senator Lindsey Graham.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_08 0:44

The old Please raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter.

SPEAKER_03 1:41

So help you I'm not doing it actually. I am not doing it. Jump over here, but you can press this here.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

What a beautiful dress. He's a good man, even though he's a good thing.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

Hi, sis, you stand in the middle. We have some in common that she knows. We have sisters right and federal campuses. So you hold the Bible so he can put his left hand on and raise his right and get this reenacted. Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic? That you will bear true faith and obedience to the same, that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which you're about to enter, so help you go. I do. Thank you. I like it. One more time. I like it. You guys did a great job. If you need somebody to negotiate a good price for you, call me on a deal maybe.

SPEAKER_05 6:03

You weren't born yet.

SPEAKER_14 6:04

Their graveyards are full of people in this state wanting to be Strom Thurman's heir.

SPEAKER_05 6:08

The Republican contender for that title is Lindsey Graham, a four-term congressman who came to national prominence during the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Graham's opponent, the Democrat, is 64-year-old Alex Sanders, a former state senator, chief judge of the State Court of Appeals, and most recently president of the College of Charleston.

SPEAKER_10 6:32

I have to be very careful not to offend Strong Thurman. You understand that? Because he is so admired in South Carolina. And if I offended him, you know, six years from now, he might run against me.

SPEAKER_05 6:47

Everyone in South Carolina jokes about Thurman's age, but very gingerly. Down here, he's a hero, not because of his politics or his legislative record, but because he delivered federal dollars, federal projects. And over the years, he seems to have extended a favor or a courtesy to nearly everyone in the state, white or black, Republican or Democrat. Lindsey Graham remembers campaigning with Thurman a few years ago. So we start into the crap and we don't get 10 feet.

SPEAKER_14 7:21

This guy comes up and says, Senator Thurman, so good to see you. He says, Glad to be with you. He says, thanks for getting me on Social Security as in the mid-60s. And he says, thanks for getting mama in a nursing home. And thanks for getting my grandson in the Air Force Academy. This is one guy, one family that I have a tough act of follow-fair for the Senate.

SPEAKER_05 7:43

Thurman is also legendary for writing to congratulate every high school graduate in South Carolina and calling to console nearly every widow.

SPEAKER_10 7:54

I said, Hey, Mom, strong thermometry. She said, What are you talking about? I said, Mom, he called him. She said, for political reasons. I think it's awful. A few minutes? She came back a few minutes and she said, you know, he was really sorry about your day. He knew a lot about your fault. And I think it's terrible that you would imply that he was doing this for political purposes. He is a great mate. She turned it on me.

SPEAKER_05 8:36

Thank you, Also. Thank you very much. Strong stories aside, the campaign to succeed Thurman looks pretty much like races all over the country. The Republican says the words Bush and Iraq as much as possible. This president is going to win this war, and I'm going to be there to help him. And on the other hand, the Democrat says the words social security and stock market. The race for strong Thurman's seat is pretty close, even though South Carolina is decidedly conservative. The Confederate flag still flies on the Capitol grounds and it's polarized. While over 90% of black voters support Democrats, Thurman led most white voters into the Republican Party. The bottom line, even Democrats acknowledge, is a Republican advantage.

SPEAKER_08 9:29

If you had two candidates of absolute equal merit, same amount of money, same quality of campaign, a Republican vote win.

SPEAKER_05 9:38

And in this conservative state, Alex Sanders has some unconservative positions. He opposes both the death penalty and an anti-flag burning amendment. Lindsey Graham is pouncing.

SPEAKER_13 9:52

Tell Alex Sanders to support an amendment to protect our flag, not those who burn it.

SPEAKER_05 9:57

So you're doing everything you humanly can do to make Alex Sanders a liberal.

SPEAKER_14 10:02

Well, he is liberal on issues that matter to our state.

SPEAKER_05 10:05

But you're working hard. You're working hard to put that big L on his t-shirt.

SPEAKER_14 10:10

Well, let me tell you what I'm working hard to do, and that is to define the differences. And Alex is a witty, charming guy. You've interviewed him. He's a great storyteller. Get him on the records like Delegalo on the wall.

SPEAKER_10 10:25

I'm on a 30-second spot. I'm in favor of saving Social Security by not spending the Social Security Trust Fund. And then Lindsay runs an ad and says, I'm in favor of saving social security too. So I run an ad and I say, wait a minute. Okay. But you want to put the Social Security Trust Funds in the stock market. A dismally bad idea. I think you have seized the high ground. Then he runs an ad and says, Yes, but you're in favor of burning the American flag. Exactly. I'm not sure, but that's where we are. What I just said consumed a million dollars.

SPEAKER_05 11:07

Neither candidate really fits into his 32nd spot. Graham's ads make him look like President Bush's best friend, but he endorsed John McCain in 2000. And Alex Sanders is no Ted Kennedy liberal. He's a member of the NRA and supports the president on Iraq. But it isn't just about being right on the issues in South Carolina. It's about being colorful. Trying to be like Strom means that Graham and Sanders, both of them with college degrees and law degrees, spent a lot of time trying to outcountry each other.

SPEAKER_10 11:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 11:58

I heard this from Lee Atwater. The most important thing in politics today is authenticity.

SPEAKER_10 12:04

And that's the first thing you gotta learn to fake. That's what Lee Atwater was telling me.

SPEAKER_05 12:09

Alex Sanders is often more candid than you expect a politician to be, particularly about the indignities of running. If you haven't heard of me in your whole life, especially the greatest indignity. The six hours he has to spend on the phone every day begging people for money.

SPEAKER_10 12:29

I call you up now. And I'd say, this is Alex Sanders, you remember me, don't you? I'm supposed to tell you how good his campaign's going on. I got a poll, and it really is going good. My campaign's really going great, Bill. And I'm sure I'm a win. And I don't have one problem. And the problem is I'm running out of money. Let me ask you something, Bill, could you give me another 500 bucks? My only problem is I'm running out of money. You don't say anything when I say that. There's a long pause, right? And that pause is interrupted by me. And I say as pathetically as I can. You know, this is so embarrassing. No decent person would get involved in that. Let me tell you something. I'm embarrassing. You know that. And if you don't say anything, you have to play it.

SPEAKER_05 13:25

No matter how much money Sanders raises, it may not be enough. He has made it a close race and an entertaining one. But he knows better than anyone that it's easier to lay claim to Strom Thurman's crown if you're a Republican like Lindsey Graham.

SPEAKER_14 13:41

Look how many people wanted this job who are now dead. I mean, the job comes open when I'm at the prime of my political life. I've been in the Congress for eight years. We've got a hugely popular president, George W. Bush. So I can't complain. I've been built a good hand. I just had to play it with.

SPEAKER_05 13:59

Let me quote you. Here you are. And this, you said this not that long ago. If I am ever tempted to run for statewide office, I want to be locked in the bathroom so that I can flush $100 down a toilet because that'd be easier than running out and asking for money and then spending it the way you have to put it in the middle.

SPEAKER_10 14:31

Okay. The difference in that and this I have the opportunity him to flush other people's hundred dollar bills down the toilet.

SPEAKER_11 14:43

You got pretty much a joke about everything, which is the one reason you're talking about. You've got a lot of material to work with. Your Senate colleagues like you, media likes you, a lot of voters like you, because you're you're a a uh happy-go-lucky guy. And I'm wondering where that comes from.

SPEAKER_14 14:57

Well, my dad owned a bar. And if you own a bar, the goal is to get people to come into the bar and stay as long as they can and drink. And the more they like you, the longer they'll drink. But my dad was a really outgoing person. We owned a bar, a restaurant, and a liquor store. So we're in the service industry. Service industry people have to have the attitude the customer is pretty much always right. But you gotta be tough because if you don't watch it, somebody will take your business over. So I think my sense of humor comes from my dad.

SPEAKER_11 15:24

Was he a quipster the way you are?

SPEAKER_14 15:25

Yeah, I mean it wasn't you know, I don't get up and tell, you know, 14 jokes like Kenny Youngman. But it's situational humor. My dad was very clever. And again, uh a bar owner, a restauranteer, I mean, these are the people who interact with the public, and if you don't make it a fun experience, people won't come back.

SPEAKER_11 15:41

Were you so this was your personality when you were a teenager?

SPEAKER_14 15:45

Yeah, I was you know, I was I was the guy that was you know talking when I shouldn't be talking. But at the end of the day, I've always I think your personality does come from the people around you, your parents. And uh I grew up in a very uh gregarious environment. We owned one or two bars in the town. It was a small mill town where you had the cotton mill, and everybody worked pretty much in the cotton mill. Clemson University was right down the road, so it was kind of an interesting place. But you know, when they would change shifts at three o'clock, they'd come in and drink.

SPEAKER_11 16:15

People are still getting to know you, so I want to talk about some of the bigger moments in your life, at least as I understand them. And just have you talk about um how how they how they were for you emotionally, and as someone going through you know that phase of your life, obviously the biggest thing to start with is is your parents dying when you were twenty-one or so, uh just a few few months apart, less than just a little over a year apart. Just first talk about your mother uh who died uh of of uh Hodgkin's disease. What was that like? How long was she sick for?

SPEAKER_14 16:42

Uh diagnosed in the fall of 75, died in June of 76. So when she was diagnosed, how how did she tell you and your sister? Well, I remember I was back home from you know, neither one of my parents finished high school, so I'm at the University of South Carolina. 1975, you know, I convinced myself I wouldn't uh get kicked out of school. I went in 1973 as a freshman to college. I remember when my parents dropped me off, my sister was holding my leg. This longest night of my life. We're a close family. The first thing about me, I was unconditionally loved. My parents were older. Uh my dad was in his late 40s when I was born, in his mid-50s when my sister was born. So they focused on on me. I was an only child for a while. But I remember watching the liquor store, he had taken my mom to the doctor. She had been sick and nothing was happening, and we finally changed doctors. And he pulled up, you know, just really disheveled, and he came in and he was just crying, and he said, Your mom's not gonna make it. And I think they told him that she was in the last stage of Hodgkin's stage four. How did the family spend then the rest of her time? Well, she was a fighter. I guess what I get from my mom is a determination. She was quiet, she you know, she was social enough, but she was very quiet, dedicated to the family. Every year she'd set some money aside each month for Christmas. She'd open up a little savings account, and every month she'd put some money in there to make sure we'd have a good Christmas. She doted on us, she was very uh very attentive mother. And uh she fought, man, I tell you, she wanted to live so bad. She got sick, uh, like I was saying, sometime in the fall of 75 and going through chemotherapy. And and when you got a family member who's in a bad way, you you you want to will them well. I mean, you don't want to give up. God knows she didn't want to give up. Easter. That Easter in 76 She had her best Easter. She was feeling good and she cooked dinner for the first time in a long time.

SPEAKER_11 18:40

Is it just the four of you or other family then?

SPEAKER_14 18:42

Yeah, no, that there was some family at first, but in the evening it was just us sitting here on the couch, and and I remember saying, Well, boy, I gave you a good dinner, didn't I? I said, Yes, ma'am, you did. And um, you know, so we thought maybe, you know, maybe we're gonna be the one percent here, and by June she was gone. What were her final days like? Did you spend time with her? Yeah. Uh my dad was in one hospital. He'd had some prostate problems, and she was in another. And if it wasn't for family, I mean, what did people do without family? I had an aunt and uncle, and my sister's, you know, twelve years old. So I'm going back and forth from one hospital to the other, but I had aunt and uncles in both hospitals. I mean, I was just so lucky. I just think to that, what do people do without family?

SPEAKER_11 19:23

Did you take were you taking off school at that point? Or still trying to do that?

SPEAKER_14 19:26

Yeah, I this was in June, so it was in in between. They wanted me to graduate so badly, she would have no part of me dropping out of school. I wanted to just come home and help. Absolutely no go. And I just remember just the pain she was going through. I remember just saying, Mom, it's okay. It's okay.

SPEAKER_11 19:43

So she passed. In that intervening period of months, well, after she had passed and your father was still alive, what was that like for the for the three of you?

SPEAKER_14 19:52

He's 67 and she was 52, so you always thought mom would outlive him. Well, life's just not that way. I've learned life is fragile and you can't take whole life for granted. So I'm going back to school. I try to get in law school. I don't make it. I've got an Air Force ROTC commitment. I'm thinking about getting the Air Force out of the Air Force. I said, no, we'll work with him. So I went to graduate school for a year. And I'd come home every weekend. You know, it was they were intent. My dad was a, you know, he came down when I got commissioned with my sister to put my lieutenant bars on when I graduated. But I started uh graduate school in the fall trying to, you know, get my grades up, uh my SA LSAT gra uh numbers up so I can get in law school. And um early in September he died. And how was how did he do without her? It was terrible. But you know, he had two kids. I mean, he just and he said, you know, don't be an old man with young kids. And um you know, he he understood what was uh gonna happen and it was tough.

SPEAKER_11 20:49

Three amigos. Yeah, said it for a number of years. You, John McCain, who of course still serves with you, and Joe Lieberman, yeah, who was there. Uh talk about the start. How did the three amigos how were they born? Well, a pain.

SPEAKER_14 21:01

They were born of pain. So uh John McCain's sort of a Republican maverick. Joe Lieberman had been the vice presidential vice presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, lost the election by 500 votes in Florida. So along comes Iraq. The thing about Joe Lieberman, and I think any politician can learn from from is they didn't want the job too much. He was progressive by any reasonable definition, but when it came to radical Islam and the war, he understood that we had to get Iraq right. And he was willing to stand by Bush, who had made tons of mistakes, and he was going to adjust his strategy, he was going to go all in to search. And Joe wouldn't give an inch. He stood by the president. He was one, I think, the only Democratic vote to to keep us from pulling the plug. And uh that bond. See, John, you know, he'd he'd been a contrarian in his own party. Joe Lieberman became sort of the outcast, I guess, on national security. And I was John Wingman in 2000 and 2008. And um it just from from that bond of where people wanted not to lose a war that we thought we couldn't afford to lose, and it came from there.

SPEAKER_11 22:08

So what are the activities of the three amigos?

SPEAKER_14 22:10

Mostly me going around saying what what they meant to say. No, we went everywhere together. We we we busted our butt to go to Iraq to try to find out what's working and what's not. The one thing I can tell any senator travel. If you care about national There's no substitute for being on the ground. I've been to Afghanistan about 22 or 23 times, 14 or 15 in Iraq would go alive. And you can see it get worse and you can see it get better. So the three Omegos uh basically were a traveling roadshow. We were going all over the region trying to find out what was working and what was not.

SPEAKER_11 22:43

Has McCain Senator McCain been giving you a lot of advice about how to run for president?

SPEAKER_14 22:47

He is when he's glad I'm running. Uh he will help me wherever he can and when he can't. I gotta become Lindsay Graham. I gotta establish myself, and Pajam will be there.

SPEAKER_11 22:56

I mean in terms of private advice. Yeah, yeah, basically just because he watches a lot of political television. Oh, totally. I mean watching you.

SPEAKER_14 23:02

I mean, so what is he what do you call it? What does he say? Gotta show up, gotta show up, gotta show up. Don't let all the garbage bother you, you know, they're gonna do everything at you and everybody else in front. Just stay on your game, focus on your message, commander chief, ready to go on day one, and do weddings, funerals, or mitzvahs, anything you can in our windows.

SPEAKER_11 23:24

A lot of warmits in Iowa.

SPEAKER_14 23:26

Well, whatever they are, I'm gonna own that vote. So uh key to Iowa by the way, the Jewish vote. It is people.

SPEAKER_11 23:37

You are doing something now you've never done run for president. Yeah, is it making you uh more of a happy warrior, or is it starting to grind you down?

SPEAKER_14 23:44

No, I'm actually enjoying it, but uh you know it's different when it's or a sitting there with John, and you know, it is so much different when it's or not. But I I think I've got a piece about why I'm running and who I am and what I have to offer, and I really feel like I'd be a good president. I'm dying to have the chance to be a commander-in-chief, worthy of the sacrifice of the one percent. We'd take the fight for radical Islam, but we'd do more than that. We'd build up others, we'd be involved in the world. You know, building a small schoolhouse in a remote region in Afghanistan to educate a young girl would do more to her Taliban than any military engagement. So I see the whole government approach to this. But back here at home, I'd love to have the ability to be a Ronald Reagan and find a tip on the ill to come in and say, okay, let's do entitlement reform, let's do sense goals.

SPEAKER_11 24:29

What's the worst thing about being a senator?

SPEAKER_14 24:32

Uh juggling so many demands on your time. What makes you think you could be a good president? Because I've got the background, experience, and judgment to be commander-in-chief, which is the hallmark of any presidency, is can you protect the nation? Over 30 trips in the region, 30 years in the Air Force, so I think I'm good to go on that front. And I know that the next president has got to do what I've been willing to try to do. Fix immigration, deal with the long-term debt problems generated by the retirement of baby bummers. No matter who it is, they better be willing to do what I've tried to do. And I think if I were president, I could get these issues over the line.

SPEAKER_11 25:10

Last two questions. Since President Reagan, of the four presidents since then, who's the best and why?

SPEAKER_14 25:16

Since Reagan, who's the best president? And why? Well, we'll take Obama off the list. Yeah. Best overall president. Well, since I'm a national security guy, I would say this would probably surprise people. I think W had the right view toward the enemy. Execution not so good, but I think he understood what we were in for after 9-11.

SPEAKER_11 25:42

So 43 is the answer. Last question if you were elected president, would you be the funniest president ever? Given the field, yes. That's a group of people in which you consider it.

SPEAKER_14 25:57

No, I don't know.

SPEAKER_11 25:57

You know, I did half waste.

SPEAKER_14 26:05

Did he? What that's what I heard. Uh bottom line is I think a sense of humor, sir, Ronald Reagan. Well, I have a sense of humor, but the purpose of humor is not only to enjoy your own life, to have other people enjoy being around you, but also to make a point at it on occasion. So, yes, I think being able to laugh at yourself is a prerequisite to be president or senator or anything else, but not to take yourself too seriously out, check that block. Senator, thank you. Nice to share.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

Well, the first thing I would say about Lindsey Graham is that he was truly like a born politician, the real old-fashioned kind of politician. He just lived, breathed, ate politics. Uh, you know, the kind of guy you make alliances, you make deals, you do a little log rolling here, a little trading there, all about the the art of the possible, which means that sometimes you have to swallow things you don't like. And, you know, Donald Trump was an excellent example of that. Lindsey Graham actually had a very brief run for the presidency back in 2016. He was very harsh on Trump, uh vicious toward him a couple of times. It certainly seemed to be in the the the never Trump camp. And then once Donald Trump, it was clear that he was going to be the next president of the United States. Lindsey Graham just turned on a dime and was like, okay, all right, now here we are. We're we're gonna be friends because he knew that that's what he needed to do to get his priorities done. The amigos, Senator John McCain, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, uh as a foreign policy trio. And of course, back then it was a very different time. George W. Bush and they were working very hard to make sure that Congress did not abandon uh Bush in the aftermath of uh our uh attacks on uh Afghanistan and Iraq during those wars. But after John McCain died and Joe Lieberman retired, it really was Lindsey Graham there. And in this incredibly important moment, the Trump era, where you had the rise of these isolationist voices that were becoming more prominent in the Republican Party, and Graham was there the whole time um really being an advocate for Reagan-like foreign policy, and he had Trump's ear. That's not just uh going to define his legacy, but it it raises some very big questions about what comes next uh with him gone.

SPEAKER_14 28:25

I learned today that his middle name was Isidore. His passing saves him a lot of grief. I can't believe I didn't know that. Oh wow, I'm gonna get through this, Adasa. We all will. Um so the common bond, why are we all here? We love Joe, right? And he loved us. And to be loved by Joe Luberman is an experience you will never ever forget. Uh his dad owned a liquor store. My dad owned a liquor store. Good training for the job, and which we're talking about today. Good training for religious people. Um so I loved him like a brother, and I never had one. The three amigos. You can't see this if you can come up and see it later. Uh, we're on some 130 going somewhere in Kevlar. John's reading a book, Joey's looking at his phone, and I'm asleep. That's the most accurate picture in the world about the three amigos. Now, how did this happen? You know, Al, you talked about your partner and all the things he did and Susan, what a great summary of uh legislative accomplishments. But people gotta remember after 9-11, Joe changed. Joe was always a social liberal, always the nicest guy in the room, the smartest guy in the room. But after 9-11, uh that night, I talked to him going across the street. He said, Lindsay boy, we can never let this happen again. And from that came the three amigos. And from that is the highlight of my life. So much to talk about in such a short period of time. Everybody's got a Dalai Lama story. Here's mine. We're at the whaling wall. This is how it begins. John's running for president. So me and Joe are just going wherever John goes and making it up as we go. So John is supposed to go to the whaling wall and Western Wall and put his hand out, and that's the money shot for the Israeli press. What did I learn at the Wailing Wall? Do not get between the Israeli press and John McCain. So they crushed me against the wall. And I began to wail. So it's actually help me, help me. Joe got me up. So I wrenched my knees fast forward. The next stop, somehow, is we meet the Dalai Lama in Colorado. You can't make his stuff up, right? So I'm sitting over in the corner because I'm barely walking. Joe brings the Dalai Lama over and he says, uh, I want you to meet my good friend Lindsay Graham. I said, Hey Dolly, I'm hello. I don't know what do you say to the guy? Hello, Dolly. He's heard his knee. Can you help him? So he puts his hand on my knee. The Dalai Lama does, not Joe. And he goes, mmm, mmm, mmm. And he says, is it any better? And I said, no. And he says, I didn't think so. Anyone met Gaddafi? You didn't miss a lot. Susan, you might have been there. So John had all these great ideas and some not so good. This was one of the not so good ideas. Let's go meet Qaddafi. I said, why? Well, anyway, so we go meet him. We drive around in the middle of the night, and we go to this tent, and this guy's jacked up on everything you can put in a human body, and he's got Amazon women, bodyguards, and I'm trying to find a way out of here. So he starts out talking about the great scourge of mankind. It's not climate change in his eyes. It was Switzerland. We're here with this nut job, surrounded by all these people with guns, and he went on and on about how we should dismember Switzerland and give it to the French, the Italians, and the Germans. And it was always John, Joe, and me. John quickly said, I'm gonna let Joe speak first. Joe said, I never really thought about it that way, but I've learned a lot and I appreciate having met you. So we live to tell about it. The last quick story. John read somewhere 500 people were killed in one of the stands protesting against the government. So John called me and Joe said, we need to go. And I said, Why? Joe said, 503 sounds better to John. There was no place that John and Joe wouldn't go to show up for all the right reasons. And I'm here to tell you it was the highlight of my life to be around those two guys doing things that mattered at a time of great peril, being able to laugh. Your husband, your grandfather, your father was the coolest dude on the planet to me because he he could deliver Henny Young jokes, just endless jokes. I am so blessed to have known him. Adjective, he was humble, right? Confident. He knew Iran was bad and nobody was going to convince him otherwise. And he believed we should see it through an Iraq, and he's willing to lose for it. That's confidence. He had confidence in who he was and what he believed. He was kind, incredibly kind to me. But strong. Strong to the point he would give what most of us would never think about giving up our job in politics. That strong. He was religious to the point of enough already. Do we have any Orthodox people here? Raise your hand. Too many rules. Um Joe could tell you when it was sundown any place on the planet on a Friday. I don't care where we were, he knew it wasn't sundown. What did I learn when it was sundown on Saturday, so we didn't have to do this anymore. So I learned a lot. Finally, uh, Vice President Gordon. Joe Lieberman convinced me from South Carolina to do a climate change change bill with him and John Kerry. Which means he's the most persuasive person on the frigging planet. He sold me hook line and hook line and sinker, and the problem is real. And we met and we met and met and we talked and we talked and we talked, and Joe kept me in the game. And so what did I learn? A lot about climate change. And I got a restraining order against John Kerry. So that was uh an incredible experience. So from the time I met the man until the time he passed, uh, I was better off for having met him. Adon said he was the love of your life. Uh to the family, I know he's your patriarch and your rock, your rock. It ought to make you feel good to the grandkids. You're trying to save social security, honor. You're doing your part. To all the grandkids. I hope you'll listen to all the things being said about your granddad. He was a wonderful man, and one of the best things that ever happened to Lindsey Graham was to meet Joe Lieberman. So until we meet again, Mike Mika, die please.

SPEAKER_13 36:47

You know, Mike, uh Lindsay, though, I mean, this Lindsay's story really is the story of the Republican Party from, well, the day that I stepped into Congress until the day he died. Um because he was a shapeshifter. When, you know, when I was there, there were there were twelve of us that raised hell every day about balancing the budget. And Lindsay was there with us. He was one of the twelve. And and it was it was intimidating. You had like the most powerful people in Washington screaming at you and you know, yelling. And you know, we we we got called down one time to HC5, and uh Gingrich and everybody else were were yelling at the 12 of us, made us stand in front of the entire caucus. And Steve Largen got up. Gingrich said, you all, you know, you've explain what you have done. You have shut down the House, you have destroyed our majority, you have, you have humiliated the Republican Party. Explain what you've done. Steve Largen was the first person that came up, and he said, You know, Newt, I used to catch balls across the middle, arms fully extended. I'd have 280-pound guys who not only could kill me, but were actually trying to kill me. Sometimes they got pretty close to doing it. Uh, I'd be knocked out for hours at a time. So, Newt, you can't intimidate me. And he gave one and gave a great speech. Lindsay stood up next and said, My name's Lindsey Graham, and Newt, as you know, you can intimidate me. And the whole place just erupted. Yeah, that's who he was. But then Lindsay went on and said, why he was sticking with the 12 of us, and we were going to continue to shut down bill after bill after bill after bill until they came up with a plan to balance the budget. And so that was Lindsey Graham, 1995, 1996, 1997. We were all sort of surprised when we went over to the Senate and he became John McCain's guy. John, uh, we all love John. John was a war hero, uh, but he didn't care too much for us uh because we were always causing trouble, shutting down the house, fighting too hard for balancing the budget. Uh but but they got along, and and you know, it was a he was with a great honorable man, uh a public servant. And then we saw him go to Donald Trump. And so you can really, again, you can trace what I would consider to be the the fall of the Republican Party just based on the people that Lindsay associated himself with, and you know, uh but that said, I have wonderful memories of him. Said a lot of tough things about him here. Uh but when I saw him at the 30th reunion, he was he was smiling, laughing, joking, which he always did. He never took anything personally, very kind to my family, and that that was that was the guy he was.

SPEAKER_12 39:49

First of all, you you hail from a really complicated era in Republican politics in your House career. Right. But secondly, I always found Lindsey Graham to be immediately funny when you'd meet him. I'd bump into him at airports and I always have something very funny to say, and yet he was such a complicated guy, and you alluded to it, his bounce from John McCain to Donald Trump. Clearly there were psychological issues there, seeking for father, father figures or whatever. The thing that I never understood about him is that he was never cruel in terms of when he would speak to you about different politicians or issues or whatever like that. But he once said about Joe Biden that if you can meet a better person, God never created a better person than Joe Biden. Right. And yet he said some horrific things about Biden during Biden's presidency and just quite recently. And I've never been able to juggle that. What what what would what what went on in Lindsay's head?

SPEAKER_13 40:49

He just access to power.

SPEAKER_06 40:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_13 40:51

At the end of the day, that's what drove him. And if you ask him, he would just admit uh Donald Trump's president, so that's what I've got to do. I don't understand it. I've never understood it. Uh never understood there are a lot of, you know, there are some people like John John Thune, who I've also known since the early days of Congress, who John supports a lot of policies that I'm deeply opposed to, but at the same time, John will speak up when it's time to speak up. John, John spoke on Lindsay, Lindsay just didn't do that.

SPEAKER_06 41:23

I mean, he would tear up on camera talking about Joe Biden. Yeah. And then go, you know, a year or two later attack him, but that's what it was. Donald Trump required that.

SPEAKER_13 41:33

Well, I mean, I can't I came in with Lindsay uh the same day. We were both elected in the 94 class and came in with him. And, you know, Lindsay was always uh he was always laughing, he was always joking. I know in 1998, Steve Lorget, Lindsay, and myself uh we went around the country and campaigned uh together. And uh in that one election, Lindsay uh gave me enough one-liners and jokes to hold me uh through speeches for the next 20 years or so. One of the things I remembered him, uh I think he was in South Carolina when he was joking about it. Lindsay was telling people how hard it was to redistrict in his district because half of the homes were on wheels. But he was it was it was constant joking uh and um, you know, as far as his legacy goes, uh as uh John Beecham uh said recently at uh the passing of his father-in-law, uh he contained multitudes. Uh I will let uh I will let everybody else hear and history judge Lindsay on uh his house face, his John McCain face. I will just say uh we've said some tough things about Lindsay. I've said some tough things about Lindsay. He said a few tough things back uh over time, but uh we saw him on the 30th anniversary of the 1994 uh classes uh reunion. And just wonderful together, like uh not a day had passed. And we were laughing and he was joking, very kind to the family. Uh and that's the way Lindsay usually was. So most senators will tell you they'll they they'd get into pretty hard fights with him and end up walking away with their arms around him. It was never personal, it was always very political. It was, of course, uh his policy positions very personal to a lot of people. I'm just talking about for those that are debating and fighting and moving forward on policy, uh, Lindsay never seemed to make it personal.

SPEAKER_07 43:28

When you think of this shocking news at the moment, Senator McCaskill, you knew him so well, certainly a very well-known name, uh regardless of whether you supported him or you did not.

SPEAKER_04 43:42

Yeah, I obviously this is shocking. Uh obviously, um when I think of Lindsay, I think of somebody who had every intention of staying in the Senate um for his entire life. And you know, Lindsay, especially by Senate standards, sometimes uh was not one of the most elderly of the Senate. So in his shocking, I think what I think is important to remember is how steadfast Lindsay was about the United States military. He was a former job officer, and if you ever watched Lindsay question witnesses, you can tell he's been in the courtroom. He knew how to get the answers. Uh that sometimes witnesses did not want to give in front of the United States Senate, particularly on the Armed Services Committee. We served together on that committee for 12 years, and he uh was a very, very committed um to the United States and our allies. Uh he felt very strongly about supporting Ukraine, very strongly about supporting Israel, uh, very strongly about continuing to make the military as as mighty as possible. Um and and yeah, we can find things about Lindsay that are hard to explain. And I watched Lindsay go from somebody who uh it hung out with Joe Lieberman and John McCain, and John McCain kind of was the leader of that pack, and Lindsay uh was an enthusiastic member of that close friendship. Um, and I think Sean McCain obviously had problems with uh Donald Trump. But then once we lost John McCain, Lindsay gravitated towards Donald Trump and became uh a close golf buddy of the president. And uh it it was hard sometimes, it was a head scratcher to see some of the positions that Lindsay took knowing him as I did when I served with him in the Senate. All that aside, this is a tragedy. It's a tragedy for all of his many friends and staff. And and say what you will about Lindsey Graham that he believes in public service, and for that he should in fact be celebrated.

SPEAKER_07 45:59

Senator McCaskill, when when we look at his travel schedule, we're just showing some video, he just came back from Ukraine uh and he arrived uh just within the last 24 hours. Uh NBC News was reporting that he was then to go on to meet the press. Um what was the schedule he kept? What was the pace that he typically uh did have? Was it always packed as most elected officials senators like yourself keep at all times? Was it that sort of schedule?

SPEAKER_04 46:31

Yeah, he was a very hard worker. Um, but I will say that probably more so than many senators, he focused most of his overseas travel around our military engagement. Um, whether it was going to a security conference uh in in Europe or whether it was going into Afghanistan or Iraq, can't count how many times he made trips into those uh troubled zones when we had military on the ground there. Um various countries in the Middle East has been, I think, a constant supporter of the Ukraine military. And I think should give some credit. Um you noticed that Trump changed his attitude slightly about Ukraine at this last NATO meeting that he attended. And Lindsay gets some credit for that. I'm sure Lindsay has been constantly urging the president to support Ukraine and to stop being so kind to Putin. Uh that was the voice I think that Lindsay was bringing to that conversation. And obviously, um I think that that that he was in the in Ukraine trying to drive whatever he could in terms of the decisions that have been made lately by the White House to be more supportive of Ukraine.

SPEAKER_07 47:47

Yeah, as we watch more of the video and pictures uh from again Senator Lindsey Graham, as he was just returning from Ukraine after a diplomatic trip there. And as uh we look at this, Senator McCaskill, uh that trip's about 20 hours one way. Uh he he he just arrived back from Ukraine. Uh you can see uh certainly that he was meeting with many individuals just based on the pictures that we're seeing right now. And and in the reporting over the years, he he never had necessarily difficulties medically, at least that were reported throughout the years. And so one might think, and and again you know him better, that he was uh uh fairly strong when it comes to constitution, given his schedule, because there's no reported, if you will, major difficulties medically for him.

SPEAKER_04 48:38

No, I you know, I have no recollection of Lindsay um being anything that fully present uh for everything. Uh in fact, sometimes too much so. Um, but yeah, his his travel schedule was was brutal and because of his commitment to the military. And I think also you know, recently he has been doing a lot of shuttle diplomacy around the situation with Israel. I mean, he he was one of the most strong supporters of what Trump did in Iran. Um, and I think a lot of that was because of his relationship with Israel. And it doesn't surprise me that the Israeli Minister Minister of Defense is already out with a strong statement um of of of grief and sympathy. Uh I think he was somebody who had a very direct line to BD Netanyahu and was in constant communication with the powers that be in Israel. Uh he believed that the American military should have been used against Iran the way it was. And frankly, I would not surprise me to think he was pushing for even stronger response to Iran in these weeks where we have gone back and forth with is there a ceasefire, isn't there a ceasefire, is the Strait of Camus open? Is it closed? I'm sure that Lindsay was advocating for the military to push further and harder into Iran in order to achieve a military objective. So I yeah, I honestly, Richard, I'm I'm I'm shocked about this because I do think it it I guess maybe it was a sudden heart attack. We don't know at this point. But um clearly he was he was living a life and had a schedule that would not indicate that he had any medical issues he was dealing with.

SPEAKER_07 50:26

Right, right, right. And and part of this, as you were intimating here, Senator McCaskill, is that a good friend of the White House, the White House loses a very good friend in the Senate, a voice of the Senate, somebody that might say uh was one of the most, if not the most prominent Republican voice in the Senate in terms of having that connection with the White House.

SPEAKER_04 50:47

Yeah, and that he he you know, he he that wasn't something that was a given. Um and this is one of the head scratchers about Lindsay, because there are many things that I worked with Lindsay on when I was in the Senate, um, particularly in the area of the armed services jurisdiction and even other things. And Lindsay, um, it surprised me, frankly, a little that Lindsay became so close to the president because I think there were things the president did that if Lindsay had some truth serum, he would have been uncomfortable with. Um, but I think he believed that his voice inside the tent was going to be more powerful than his voice outside the tent. And so he worked very hard to get inside that tent, and he remained there, obviously, until this sudden and tragic death.

SPEAKER_09 51:39

President and Senator Graham were once political opponents, but Lindsey Graham died last night at peace with himself, friends with the president, and one of the last voices he heard was that of President Donald Trump. Lindsey Graham and vote passion and others, including many of my friends, and I would tell them all the same thing: play golf with us, spend some time around him. You may not vote for him, but you will like him in the end. And to the person they did. I have so many memories of him carrying his bag to a parking lot, wearing those cargo pants. A good bit of his lunch would wind up on the shirt. He was one of the least pretentious people I have ever been around. And it was never personal with him. You could criticize him on Monday, he would help you get your passport on Wednesday, and you would be his friend by Friday. And he loved his country. He loved his country. I went to his retirement from the Air Force, and it was one of the few times I ever saw tears roll down his face. And he loved South Carolina. He loved his sister Darlene and her family, and he loved those who took him in when his own parents died. He was devoted to his staff, many of whom had been with him since day one. He's one of the funniest people I have ever been around, and no one was spared, including himself. Life is fragile. If only I had known last Friday was the last day that I would ever see him. But we don't we don't know. I think he knew that I loved him, even on the days when he made me pull my hair out. I still loved him. I'll see you again, Chairman. In the meantime, enjoy your parents. Rest. I'll see you on the first two. Good night from a brokenhearted South Carolina.