A Senator’s relative taking over their seat and achieving political success? It’s happened before.

Darline Graham’s victory in the South Carolina Senate primary is being framed as a huge win for President Donald Trump, a reversal of his waning endorsement power. Graham’s win over Democrat Annie Andrews in November is virtually assured in this reliably red state. Critics, including many conservative Republicans, are aghast, citing Graham’s total lack of political experience.

It was at Trump’s request that Graham sought election to the U.S. Senate seat to which she was appointed following the death of her brother and one-time legal guardian, Lindsey Graham. While her brother was known for hawkish, interventionist policies, since her appointment Darline Graham has insisted that she will focus on domestic issues over foreign affairs. As she admitted during the Aug. 18 Republican primary debate, “I’m not that informed on national security.”

Her opponent, Ralph Norman, repeatedly responded to her attacks on his record by claiming, “It’s silly season, folks,” a none too subtle swipe at Graham’s political inexperience, limited expertise, and the fact that she had been appointed to the seat because of her family ties.

Although this is the first time a sibling has been appointed to complete a senator’s term and subsequently sought election, a variety of past scenarios in which a relative of a deceased incumbent took over the seat indicate that there is precedent for Graham becoming a powerful senator in her own right.

Beginning in 1931 with Hattie Caraway of Arkansas, eight wives have replaced their husbands in the Senate by “widow’s succession,” and two (Caraway and Oregon’s Maurine Brown Neuberger) went on to be elected.

There are two examples of children being appointed to Senate seats vacated by their fathers’ deaths, and then winning full terms in their own elections. Lincoln Chafee (R., Rhode Island) took over for his father John Chafee in 1999, and was elected in 2000. In that case, Chafee had considerable political experience, having served multiple terms as mayor of Warwick before becoming Senator.

A more instructive example is Robert M. La Follette Jr. (R., Wisconsin) who took over for his namesake in 1925 and whose entire electoral experience to that point was being elected president of his freshman class at the University of Wisconsin.

La Follette Sr. had a storied career and is widely regarded as one of the greatest progressive politicians in the nation’s history. He served three terms in the U.S. House (1885-1891), was governor of Wisconsin (1901-1906), and served for 19 years as a U.S. senator, from 1906 until his death in June 1925. As a youth, his son had been intimately involved in formulating La Follette Sr.’s policies and had stumped for him in campaigns for years. His father called him his “son, brother, and companion.” La Follette Jr., even served as campaign manager for his father’s 1924 presidential bid, in which La Follette Sr., running as an independent, received almost 17% of the vote.

“Young Bob” was ridiculed in his bid to be elected to his father’s seat in his own right.

La Follette Sr. was a towering figure with an enormous and loyal following due to his uncompromising commitment to more equitably redistribute the nation’s power and wealth. “Fighting Bob” was known for skillfully wielding the power he had acquired over decades to advance his agenda, contributing meaningfully to reforms including the direct election of senators, women’s suffrage, workers’ protection, and opposing U.S. entry into World War I.

By contrast, La Follette Jr. rather grimly endured the public meetings his father relished. When taunted during the special election campaign, “You ain’t as good as your pa and you never will be,” La Follette Jr., replied, “No one knows that better than I, my friend. No one knows that better than I.”

But to the surprise of those who decried his lack of experience and political passion, Robert La Follette Jr., served 21 years in the U.S. Senate conscientiously and with distinction. He achieved national attention during the Great Depression as one of the first to develop a coherent plan for combating declining purchasing power. There was talk of his being Franklin D. Roosevelt’s running mate in 1936, and he served a four-year stint as chair of the Senate Civil Liberties Committee that was investigating industrialists’ violations of the civil liberties of unionists. His efforts to modernize the Senate culminated in the La Follette-Monroney Reorganization Act of 1946.

That same year, however, he was narrowly defeated in the Wisconsin Republican primary by Joseph McCarthy, a failure he felt so deeply that it, combined with ill health, may have contributed to his death by suicide in 1953. He nevertheless contributed to a progressive legacy that is indelibly written into the political history of Wisconsin and the nation.

Darline Graham has the president’s enthusiastic endorsement and the support of many Lindsey Graham loyalists. Her brother told C-SPAN in 2015, “If she took a role on, she would be a great representative of our country. I can’t think of a better person to represent our country in an event than my sister.” She also has considerable administrative experience in her work on behalf of Americans with disabilities, including overseeing a $90 million budget in her leadership of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind.

She also has under her belt more than 20 years of consulting with her brother and campaigning on his behalf. Her victory in the primary in August casts serious doubt on Ralph Norman’s dismissal of her campaign as a “silly season.”

A well known last name and familial relationship to the deceased senator certainly played a key role in putting her in this position. But as the history of Robert La Follette Jr. shows, that family tie may prove the beginning of a long and meaningful political career.

Nancy C. Unger is professor emerita of history at Santa Clara University and the author of the award-winning biographies “Fighting Bob La Follette: The Righteous Reformer,” and “Belle La Follette: Progressive Reformer.”

Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of The Inquirer.