Lindsey Graham, the ‘Three Amigos’ and the shifting politics of Israel

July 13, 2026 — 12:56pm

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For weeks, Washington was mystified by the status of Mitch McConnell, the outgoing Republican senator who finally surfaced on Sunday after being admitted to hospital in mid-June.

That has now taken a back seat to the sudden death of Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator who, unlike McConnell, was seeking re-election in November, and had much more public service left to contribute.

Both men, but more so Graham, were part of a Republican old guard on foreign policy, supporting aggressive military intervention around the world – particularly against Iran – and close relations with America’s traditional allies.

Graham was the last surviving member of the so-called “Three Amigos”, alongside Republican senator John McCain and Democrat-turned independent Joe Lieberman, who shared similarly hawkish views on national security.

He was also an old-school Washington character. A 2010 New York Times Magazine profile noted Graham could not cook and had a penchant for Chick-fil-A, Baileys liqueur and almond schnapps.

In a recent book, Louisiana senator John Kennedy wrote that if you invited Graham to dinner, “you don’t know if he’ll sit down for an intelligent conversation or get drunk and vomit in the fish tank”.

But the South Carolinian was best known for his enthusiasm for deploying the US military. “If you want to stump Lindsey,” Kennedy also wrote, “Just ask him to name a country he wouldn’t bomb.”

Graham was a staunch supporter of........

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