Bob Graham
Daniel Robert Graham (November 9, 1936 – April 16, 2024) was an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 38th governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States senator from Florida from 1987 to 2005. He was a member of the Democratic Party.
This article is about the politician from Florida. For other people named Bob Graham, see Bob Graham (disambiguation).
Bob Graham
Wayne Mixson
John Hill
48th district (1970–1972)
33rd district (1972–1978)
Constituency established
Dade County Group 16 (1966–1967)
105th district (1967–1970)
April 16, 2024 (aged 87)
Gainesville, Florida, U.S.
4, including Gwen
Ernest Graham (father)
Phil Graham (half-brother)
Katharine Graham (sister-in-law)
Born in Coral Gables, Florida, Graham won election to the Florida Legislature after graduating from Harvard Law School. After serving in both houses of the Florida Legislature, Graham won the 1978 Florida gubernatorial election, and was reelected in 1982. In the 1986 Senate elections, Graham defeated incumbent Republican Senator Paula Hawkins. He helped found the Democratic Leadership Council and eventually became Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Graham ran for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, but dropped out before the first primaries. He declined to seek reelection in 2004 and retired from the Senate.
Graham co-chaired the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling and as a member of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and the CIA External Advisory Board. He worked at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at his undergraduate alma mater, the University of Florida. He also served as Chairman of the Commission on the Prevention of WMD proliferation and terrorism. Through the WMD policy center he advocated for the recommendations in the Commission's report, "World at Risk". In 2011, Graham published his first novel, the thriller The Keys to the Kingdom.[1] He also wrote four nonfiction books, Workdays: Finding Florida on the Job, Intelligence Matters, World at Risk,[2] and America: The Owner's Manual, and an illustrated children's book, Rhoda the Alligator.
Early life[edit]
Graham was born in Coral Gables, Florida, to Hilda Elizabeth (née Simmons), a schoolteacher, and Ernest R. Graham, a Florida state senator, mining engineer, and dairy/cattleman.[3] He was the youngest of four children. His older half-brother, Phil Graham, was publisher and co-owner of The Washington Post. He married Adele Khoury, of Miami Shores, in 1959. One of their daughters, Gwen Graham, was a U.S. Representative from Florida from 2015 to 2017. In 2021, Gwen was confirmed as Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of Education.[4]
Bob Graham attended Miami Senior High School from 1952 to 1955; he was student body president his senior year. He was International Trustee of the Key Club, the Kiwanis service organization. While at Miami High Graham was the recipient of the Sigma Chi Award, the school's highest honor. He received a bachelor's degree in 1959 in political science from the University of Florida, where he was a member of the Epsilon Zeta chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the University of Florida Hall of Fame, and Florida Blue Key.[5][6] He earned a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1962.[5]
Graham sworn in as governor, January 1979
Graham delivering his last public address as governor before assuming his Senate seat
Honors[edit]
On May 6, 2006, at the spring commencement for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the University of Florida awarded Graham an honorary doctorate, the Doctor of Public Service.[28]
On November 18, 2005, the Florida Legislature renamed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which was rebuilt during Graham's time as governor, the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge.[29]