Even with disagreements about some of his stances, there are lots of nice things to say about the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died unexpectedly over the weekend of heart failure at the age of 71.

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As I noted in my earlier post, it spoke well for his character that he refused to enrich himself while in public office which is quite a significant credit, given how many who do. Others liked him for his talent with compromises, which a good Senate typically needs to do, his capacity for getting President Trump's conservative judicial picks through the confirmation process, his hawkishness on defense, on democracy, and his many reliably conservative stances on social issues.

I enjoyed this one:

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His most heroic work, though, seem to be found in his work on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which, as a former military lawyer, his experience and talents showed brightly.

Here's some telling praise from an unexpected corner:

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I’ve disagreed with many (many) of Lindsey Graham’s choices and beliefs, but he was also — as one of the house managers on the ‘98 impeachment — the one who worked tirelessly to prove there was a smear campaign against me from inside the WH. RIP.

— Monica Lewinsky (she/her) (@MonicaLewinsky) July 12, 2026

The fact that there was a smear campaign coming out of the White House -- remember how they leaked to the press that Lewinsky was 'a stalker' and Bill Clinton was her hapless victim -- was a detail in the impeachment campaign, and yes, a good deed to have, but to Lewinsky, who was being painted as a monster by invisible and powerful political forces to save the sleazy Clinton's hide, was a very big deal. She was powerless against those forces, she couldn't do anything about ever crazier claims about her and didn't know what would come next, and here comes Graham, focusing in on that issue, exposing it for the lie it was, and keeping after it to create an airtight case demolishing Clinton's lies, must have meant the world to her. Clinton and his wife were trying to destroy Lewinsky, all to save Bill, and too bad about the collateral damage. They thought they could easily get away with it because Lewinsky was such a pipsqueak, and Graham came to her defense, armed with the truth. That was decency in action.

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The same kind of decency showed itself even more powerfully in Graham's memorable speech defending Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on that same Senate Judiciary Committee:

Remember this?

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Regardless of what you think of him, this will always be one of the most powerful speeches in the history of the Senate.

Back in 2018 when this happened, friends of mine who were not political teared up after watching this. pic.twitter.com/ZzosAU8RyG

— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) July 13, 2026

Just replaying it gives me the shivers. He brought the walls down with that passionate speech. Nothing that came after it would ever drown out its power and clarity. 

This is the most unethical sham since I've been in politics. And if you really wanted to know the the truth, you sure as hell wouldn't have done what you've done to this guy. Are you a gang rapist? [response: No.] I cannot imagine what you and your family have gone through. Boy, y'all want power, God I hope you never get it.

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I'm not the only one who thought this:

At the end of a particularly thrilling and rollicking meeting in the Oval Office, Lindsey Graham turned to the room and said: “I’ve never had this much fun in my life.”

I cannot describe to you how much joy President Trump’s leadership and friendship brought to Lindsey. Meetings…

— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) July 12, 2026

Kavanaugh got through, and Graham was triumphant.

That was his finest hour: Fire, compassion, and truth, three things Graham embodied in spades, shaming the toads of hate and lies and division. That was who he was, his true character. Graham died a good man and deserves all the accolades he will without a doubt have coming.

Image: Screenshot from X video.