Lindsey Graham, John McCain and Joe Lieberman were known in Washington as the “Three Amigos,” a group of senators whose friendship crossed party and religious lines but was held together by a remarkably similar view of America’s role in the world.
McCain and Graham were Republicans. Lieberman spent most of his career as a Democrat before becoming an independent. They disagreed on several domestic issues, but they traveled together, supported one another politically and repeatedly advocated for a strong U.S. military presence overseas.
The friendship also went far beyond Senate votes. They vacationed together, visited conflict zones, appeared at campaign events for one another and remained close after Lieberman left office. McCain died in 2018, Lieberman died in 2024 and Graham died in July 2026.
Graham’s death and funeral have renewed interest in the trio because the political and international relationships highlighted during his memorial closely resembled the foreign-policy world the three men had built together.
Who were the Senate’s “Three Amigos”?
The “Three Amigos” were Senators John McCain of Arizona, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
They became known for their close personal friendship, frequent international travel and shared support for an assertive American foreign policy.
McCain and Lieberman had already developed a strong relationship before Graham entered the Senate in 2003. Graham then joined them, forming a trio that regularly appeared together at congressional hearings, military bases, presidential campaigns and overseas conflict zones.
The nickname was partly playful. The three senators had visibly different personalities, backgrounds and political identities.
McCain was a former Navy pilot and prisoner of war who had become a nationally known Republican presidential candidate. Lieberman was an Orthodox Jewish senator who had been the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2000. Graham was an Air Force Reserve lawyer and comparatively junior senator when he became close to them.
What connected them was a shared belief that the United States should actively defend its allies, confront authoritarian governments and maintain a powerful military presence around the world.
How did Lindsey Graham and John McCain become friends?
Graham and McCain became close after Graham arrived in the Senate, but their connection was rooted in military service and foreign policy.
McCain had spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Graham had served as an Air Force lawyer and continued working in the Air Force Reserve while holding elected office.
Both men took a strong interest in national security, veterans’ affairs and military operations.
McCain became something of a political mentor to Graham. The two traveled together, worked on legislation and frequently defended each other during difficult political moments.
Their relationship was close enough that Graham sometimes described it as a “political marriage.” McCain’s family also treated Graham as more than an ordinary Senate colleague.
Meghan McCain later described her father as the soul of the Three Amigos, Lieberman as the heart and Graham as the group’s fire and humor.
Why was Joe Lieberman part of the group?
Joe Lieberman fit into the friendship because foreign policy mattered more to the trio than party affiliation.
Lieberman entered the Senate as a Democrat and became Al Gore’s running mate in the 2000 presidential election. He later became an independent after losing Connecticut’s Democratic Senate primary in 2006.
However, Lieberman remained aligned with McCain and Graham on many national-security questions.
All three supported the Iraq War, favored larger defense budgets and believed the United States should take a forceful approach toward governments and armed groups they considered threats.
Lieberman also endorsed McCain rather than Democratic nominee Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. He spoke at the Republican National Convention in support of McCain, demonstrating that his friendship and foreign-policy views sometimes outweighed his former party ties.
The trio therefore became an example of political friendship that did not fit neatly within normal partisan boundaries.
What did Graham, McCain and Lieberman agree on politically?
The Three Amigos agreed most strongly on foreign policy and national security.
They generally supported:
- A large and well-funded U.S. military
- American leadership in NATO
- Strong military and diplomatic support for Israel
- A confrontational approach toward Iran
- U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan
- Support for democratic movements and American allies overseas
- Military intervention or pressure in response to humanitarian crises
Their influence was especially visible during debates over the Iraq War.
McCain, Graham and Lieberman supported the deployment of additional American troops during the 2007 Iraq troop surge. At a time when public support for the war was falling, the three continued arguing that withdrawing too quickly would worsen the situation.
They also traveled regularly to Iraq, Afghanistan and other strategically important regions. These visits strengthened their public image as senators who viewed international affairs as a central part of their jobs rather than a secondary policy area.
Did the Three Amigos always travel together?
They frequently traveled together, although not every trip included all three senators.
The visits were often official congressional delegations focused on military operations, national security or meetings with foreign leaders.
Their travel style became part of the Three Amigos image. They were seen visiting troops, meeting presidents and prime ministers, touring war zones and speaking jointly to reporters.
The trips also strengthened their personal relationship. They spent long periods together away from Washington, often under difficult or dangerous circumstances.
After Lieberman retired from the Senate in 2013, McCain and Graham continued traveling and working together. Other senators sometimes joined their foreign-policy efforts, but the original Three Amigos label remained associated with McCain, Lieberman and Graham.
Did they disagree on domestic politics?
Yes. Their foreign-policy alliance did not mean they shared the same position on every issue.
Lieberman had a more liberal record than McCain and Graham on several domestic questions. During much of his Senate career, he supported Democratic positions on labor rights, environmental policy and some social programs.
McCain and Graham were Republicans, although both occasionally worked with Democrats on immigration, campaign finance and other bipartisan legislation.
They also supported different presidential candidates at various points.
Graham backed McCain’s presidential campaigns, while Lieberman had previously run as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. Their political histories therefore placed them on opposing sides of major elections before Lieberman endorsed McCain in 2008.
The friendship worked because they did not treat disagreement on every domestic issue as a reason to end their personal relationship.
Their shared worldview on national security remained the strongest political bond among them.
Was the “Three Amigos” friendship controversial?
Yes. Admirers viewed the friendship as an example of bipartisanship and personal loyalty in an increasingly divided Senate.
Critics saw the three senators as overly willing to support military action.
McCain, Graham and Lieberman were sometimes described as foreign-policy hawks, meaning they generally favored military strength, intervention and pressure over restraint or withdrawal.
Their support for the Iraq War became particularly controversial as the conflict continued and public opinion turned against it.
They also advocated forceful responses in countries such as Syria, Libya and Iran. Critics argued that their policies risked drawing the United States into additional wars.
The nickname “Three Amigos” could therefore be used affectionately or critically, depending on the speaker’s view of American foreign policy.
Still, even many of their political opponents recognized that the friendship itself was genuine.
How did John McCain’s death affect Lindsey Graham?
John McCain’s death in August 2018 deeply affected Graham.
Graham delivered an emotional Senate tribute in which he discussed the personal loss of his mentor and closest political friend. He also read a Bible passage during McCain’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral.
McCain’s death left Graham as the only active senator from the original trio. Lieberman had already retired several years earlier.
The loss also occurred during a politically complicated period for Graham.
McCain had been one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent Republican critics, while Graham was becoming increasingly close to Trump. Trump continued criticizing McCain after his death, placing Graham in the difficult position of defending his friend while maintaining his relationship with the president.
Graham argued that supporting Trump did not erase his loyalty to McCain. Nevertheless, the contrast between his long partnership with McCain and his later alliance with Trump became one of the most debated aspects of Graham’s political career.
Did Graham remain close to Joe Lieberman after McCain died?
Yes. Graham and Lieberman remained personally connected after McCain’s death.
The loss changed the group permanently, but it did not erase the friendship between the two surviving members.
Lieberman continued participating in public-policy organizations and remained involved with the McCain Institute, which carries forward parts of McCain’s foreign-policy and leadership legacy.
When Lieberman died in March 2024, Graham mourned another close friend and political partner.
Lieberman’s death meant Graham was the last surviving member of the original Three Amigos.
That gave Graham’s own death in 2026 added emotional significance. It marked the end of a political friendship that had influenced Senate debates and U.S. foreign policy for more than two decades.
What happened to the Three Amigos after Lieberman left the Senate?
Lieberman retired from the Senate in January 2013, ending the trio’s daily partnership inside Congress.
McCain and Graham continued working closely on foreign policy. They traveled together, issued joint statements and criticized what they considered weak responses to international crises.
Lieberman remained their friend and continued supporting many of the same national-security positions outside elected office.
The public profile of the Three Amigos gradually declined because the three were no longer serving together. However, photographs and reunions continued to attract attention.
In 2017, McCain shared a photograph of the trio together and described it as the “three amigos together again,” showing that they continued embracing the nickname years after Lieberman’s retirement.
How were McCain and Lieberman remembered after Graham’s death?
Coverage following Graham’s death frequently mentioned McCain because he had been Graham’s closest political partner and mentor.
Reports about Graham’s career described his long alliance with McCain, their joint foreign-policy work and the ways Graham’s political path changed after McCain died.
Meghan McCain offered one of the clearest personal descriptions of the trio after Graham’s death. She wrote that her father represented the soul of the group, Lieberman its heart and Graham its fire and humor.
Her remembrance presented the Three Amigos not simply as a political alliance but as a family-like relationship that survived elections, disagreements and changes in office.
The international attention surrounding Graham’s funeral also reflected the foreign-policy legacy he shared with McCain and Lieberman.
World leaders, senators and military representatives gathered to remember a politician whose career had been shaped by overseas alliances, national-security debates and personal diplomacy—the same areas that had originally brought the Three Amigos together.
Were John McCain or Joe Lieberman mentioned during Graham’s funeral?
McCain’s influence was repeatedly present in coverage surrounding Graham’s death and memorial, even when individual reports did not provide a complete transcript of every funeral tribute.
Graham’s friendship with McCain was treated as a defining part of his Senate career. Contemporary obituaries and funeral reports described Graham as McCain’s close ally and political partner, particularly on foreign policy.
Lieberman received less attention in immediate funeral reporting, partly because he had been out of the Senate since 2013. However, renewed searches for Lieberman and the Three Amigos show that readers were connecting Graham’s death with the earlier losses of both men.
It would be inaccurate to claim that every speaker formally discussed both McCain and Lieberman without a verified transcript. The confirmed connection is that current remembrances of Graham have revived the story of the trio and emphasized how central those friendships were to his public and private life.
Why was their friendship so unusual?
The friendship was unusual because it survived differences that increasingly divide American politicians.
The three men came from different religious traditions, political backgrounds and parts of the country.
McCain was an Episcopalian Republican from Arizona. Graham was a Southern Baptist Republican from South Carolina. Lieberman was an Orthodox Jew who had spent most of his career as a Democrat from Connecticut.
They competed within a political system that often rewards conflict, but they continued traveling, campaigning and spending personal time together.
Their relationship was not free from political calculation. They benefited from appearing as a bipartisan foreign-policy team and used their combined influence to promote shared priorities.
But accounts from their families, colleagues and the men themselves indicate that the bond became much more personal than an ordinary Senate alliance.
What is the legacy of the Senate’s Three Amigos?
The legacy of the Three Amigos has two distinct sides.
Politically, they represented an interventionist period in American foreign policy. They believed the United States had both the power and responsibility to shape events beyond its borders.
That approach influenced debates over Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, Iran, Israel and NATO. It also attracted criticism from people who believed the country had become involved in too many costly overseas conflicts.
Personally, the trio represented a form of political friendship that has become increasingly difficult to imagine.
They did not overcome every partisan disagreement, nor did their friendship eliminate political ambition. But they demonstrated that senators from different backgrounds could remain deeply loyal to one another while disagreeing on important issues.
With Lindsey Graham’s death, all three members of the original group are now gone.
McCain died in 2018, Lieberman in 2024 and Graham in 2026. The renewed attention following Graham’s funeral is therefore not only about the death of one senator. It is also about the final chapter of one of modern Washington’s most recognizable political friendships.
