US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham died at the age of 71 from what his office called “brief and sudden illness” on Saturday.
He was a close ally of US President Donald Trump and a supporter of foreign policy on matters of US military advancements overseas.
President Trump posted on social media, further telling other media outlets that he had just spoken hours before about the senator’s sudden death. 
“Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and senators I have ever known, is dead! He was always working and was a true American patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!! Details and arrangements to follow. So sad!,” he posted.
The Vice President, JD Vance, also described Graham as a politician who ‘came from humble beginnings and became one of the most powerful lawmakers in the most powerful nation on Earth’.
Vance recalled how, during his early days in the Senate, he and Graham had engaged in a heated argument over a Ukraine funding bill during lunch. The following day, he discovered that Graham was advocating for rail legislation that also aligned with Vance’s interests, working ‘behind the scenes’.
“That was Lindsey Graham. He fought like hell for the things he believed in, and he was just as willing to go to bat for you when it counted,” he posted on X.
“Lindsey had the best sense of humour in the Senate. He loved the game of politics. He was constantly asking which races were up and down and how he could help. As he liked to say, “I don’t care if you’re an isolationist or a religious fanatic, so long as you have an R next to your name, I want you to win.”
Graham from South Carolina was elected into the Senate in 2002. According to the BBC, he had just returned from Kyiv, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.
Reports surrounding the emergency medical personnel suggest that he was at his home in Washington, DC, and suffered a cardiac arrest. However, they have not yet been confirmed, and his family requested privacy.
