Opinion: Lindsey Graham was Best as a Gangster
Paul Hyde/S.C. Daily Gazette
I’ll remember Lindsey Graham as a gangster.
Not that kind of gangster.
The South Carolina senator, who died July 11 at the age of 71, belonged to two of Washington’s most famous “gangs”: the bipartisan Gang of 14 and the Gang of Eight.
Their mission wasn’t political warfare but political problem-solving.
They were groups of Republicans and Democrats who believed the Senate still had an obligation to work together rather than simply score points.
It’s an image worth remembering because it has become so rare.
Graham could be fiercely partisan, especially in recent years. He could also be fiercely independent. Those two qualities coexisted throughout a public career that lasted more than three decades.
The independent streak is the one I choose to remember.
At important moments, Graham showed a willingness to work with people who didn’t share his politics.
He joined the Gang of 14 to break a judicial nominations stalemate. He became part of the Gang of Eight in an ambitious, if ultimately unsuccessful, effort to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws. That effort prompted Rush Limbaugh to label him “Lindsey Grahamnesty.”
Graham voted to confirm two of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominees: Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
He collaborated with Democrats including Joe Biden, Joe Lieberman and Hillary Clinton on national security and foreign policy, understanding that ideological opponents could still be governing partners.
Of Biden, Graham said in 2015 following Beau Biden’s death, “If you can’t admire Joe Biden as a person, you’ve got a problem.” He added that Biden was “as good a man as God ever created and we don’t agree on much, but I think he’s been dealt a really gut blow.”
Graham believed that trust was not the reward for bipartisan cooperation; it was the prerequisite.
South Carolinians who remember only Graham’s recent partisan battles may forget that his independence once earned him official censures from some county Republican parties.
His willingness to cross party lines has become so rare that it now seems almost quaint.
Perhaps that’s why I find myself thinking about those times in his long career when Graham boldly reached across the aisle. Those are inspiring memories for South Carolinians who have grown weary of bitter partisan rancor.
Equally inspiring is Graham’s own story. South Carolinians know it well.
Long before he became a familiar face on cable TV, Lindsey Graham was a boy growing up behind the family bar in Central. His parents worked long hours to keep the business afloat.
Then, while Graham was still in college, both parents died within months of one another.
Instead of simply finishing school, he became the guardian of his younger sister.
Many people would have concluded that their dreams had ended.
His were only beginning.
He graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law, served in the Air Force, practiced law, entered politics and eventually occupied the same Senate seat once held by Strom Thurmond.
It is one of the most remarkable South Carolina stories of perseverance in modern political life.
Graham liked to joke about his modest height. Physically, he was one of the smallest men in the Senate.
His ambitions were anything but small.
I first covered Graham 30 years ago, when he was a freshman congressman. Like many inexperienced politicians, he could seem nervous in front of a crowd. He had a habit of closing his eyes or blinking quickly when responding to questions, a nervous tic that suggested a young politician still finding his footing.
But year after year, campaign after campaign, by sheer force of will, he grew into one of the most skilled politicians South Carolina has produced.
Watching that transformation was a reminder that confidence is often painstakingly earned rather than inherited.
When I last saw Graham at a campaign event in Anderson last summer, he worked a raucous crowd as skillfully as ever, not dodging the toughest questions.
No assessment of Graham’s career will ever satisfy everyone. He leaves behind the legacy of a lightning rod. History will sort through his contradictions.
What history should not overlook is something simpler.
A young man from behind a small-town bar, suddenly burdened with raising his teenage sister after the death of both parents, refused to let tragedy define his future.
He built a life of consequence through education, military service and public office.
That is an American Dream story.
There will be plenty of time to argue over Lindsey Graham’s politics.
I’ll remember the young man from Central who overcame enormous odds, and the senator who showed that public service is not simply about standing your ground but knowing when to cross the aisle without surrendering your principles.
Paul Hyde is a longtime journalist and teacher in the Upstate. He worked 18 years for the Greenville News as a columnist, editorial writer, education reporter and arts writer. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Clemson and Harvard universities.
