Opinion

BRET BAIER: Lindsey Graham was a true defender of America and a bridge builder

Lindsey loved to make a deal. He could work with anybody and threw himself into the most challenging public issues

By Bret Baier Fox News

Published July 16, 2026 5:00am EDT

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Brett Baier remembers Lindsey Graham as a 'lion in the Senate'

Bret Baier memorializes late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. Baier highlights Graham's profound influence on foreign policy and his recent optimistic stance on brokering a peace deal in Ukraine.

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Lindsey Graham was a consequential senator. If there was an important issue, he was right there on top of it. But that’s not the whole story. The essence of his character, the shaping of his background, the joy he found in people and in the political process, and the joy he brought to those around him, is the big story.

Over the years I had an opportunity to see Lindsey at work on many occasions, and to hear his passion for the issues. He could be the most entertaining person at any dinner table, but his wit was matched by a razor-sharp mind that was always considering how to solve the next problem. He never stopped working. The night he died he’d just returned from Kyiv, Ukraine where he’d met with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Lindsey’s love for people shined through. He had a special appeal and was socially gifted. Maybe that came from his early years hanging out in the back room of his parents’ bar, where he learned the fine art of schmoozing. People from every walk of life crossed his path, and he was interested in them all.

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Lindsey also learned early in life the meaning of commitment. His mother died when he was 20, followed by his father months later. Lindsey became the legal guardian for his 13-year-old sister Darline, who once called him "a brother, a father and a mother rolled into one." He raised her to adulthood, and they have always been extremely close. With........

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