Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Olin Graham (/ɡræm/; born July 9, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, Graham chaired the Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 2019 to 2021.
Lindsey Graham
A native of Central, South Carolina, Graham received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1981. Most of his active duty during his military service happened from 1982 to 1988, when he served with the Judge Advocate General's Corps in the United States Air Force, as a defense attorney and then as the Air Force's chief prosecutor in Europe, based in West Germany. Later his entire service in the U.S. Air Force Reserve ran concurrently with his congressional career. He was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in 2014 and held the rank of colonel.
Graham worked as a lawyer in private practice before serving one term in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995. He served four terms in the United States House of Representatives for South Carolina's 3rd congressional district from 1995 to 2003. In 2002, Graham won the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Republican incumbent Strom Thurmond. He was reelected to a fourth term in 2020. In the Senate Graham advocates for strong national defense[1] and aggressive interventionist foreign policy.[2] Initially, he was known for his willingness to be bipartisan and work with Democrats on issues like campaign finance reform, a ban on waterboarding, cap and trade, immigration reform, and judicial nominees.[3][4][5][6][7][8] He has criticized the Tea Party movement, arguing for a more inclusive Republican Party.[7][9][10][11][12][13]
Graham sought the Republican nomination for president between June and December 2015, dropping out before the 2016 Republican primaries began.[14][2] He was an outspoken critic of Donald Trump's 2016 candidacy and repeatedly said he did not support Trump;[15] in particular, he took issue with Trump's comments on Graham's close friend, Senator John McCain.[16] After a March 2017 meeting with Trump, Graham became a staunch ally of his, often issuing public statements in his defense. His reversal caught both parties by surprise and sparked media speculation.[16][17] He became chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in January 2019,[18] and led the U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett, who was confirmed in October 2020.
Early life
Lindsey Olin Graham was born in Central, South Carolina, where his parents, Millie (Walters) and Florence James "F.J." Graham, ran a restaurant/bar/pool hall/liquor store, the Sanitary Cafe.[19][20] His family is of Scots-Irish descent.[21][22] After graduating from D. W. Daniel High School, Graham became the first member of his family to attend college, and joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. When he was 21, his mother died of Hodgkin's lymphoma, aged 52, and his father died 15 months later of a heart attack, aged 69.[21] Because his then-13-year-old sister was left orphaned, the service allowed Graham to attend the University of South Carolina in Columbia so he could remain near home as his sister's legal guardian.[12] During his studies, he became a member of the Pi Kappa Phi social fraternity.[23]
He graduated from the University of South Carolina with a B.A. in psychology in 1977, and from the University of South Carolina School of Law with a J.D. in 1981.[24]
South Carolina House of Representatives
In 1992, Graham was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives from the 2nd district, in Oconee County. He defeated Democratic incumbent Lowell W. Ross by 60% to 40% and served one term, from 1993 to 1995.[36]
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
In 1994, 20-year incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Butler Derrick of South Carolina's northwestern-based 3rd congressional district decided to retire. Graham ran to succeed him and, with Republican U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond campaigning on his behalf, won the Republican primary with 52% of the vote, defeating Bob Cantrell (33%) and Ed Allgood (15%).[37] In the general election, Graham defeated Democratic State Senator James Bryan Jr., 60% to 40%.[37] As a part of that year's Republican Revolution, Graham became the first Republican to represent the district since 1877.[11]
In 1996, he was challenged by Debbie Dorn, the niece of Butler Derrick and daughter of Derrick's predecessor, 13-term Democratic Congressman William Jennings Bryan Dorn. Graham was reelected, defeating Dorn 60% to 40%.[37] In 1998, he was reelected to a third term unopposed.[37] In 2000, he was reelected to a fourth term, defeating Democratic nominee George Brightharp, 68% to 30%.[37]
Campaign contributions
In 2016, The Boston Globe reported that Graham was "the only Republican recipient of money from a major Democratic donor now facing scrutiny for some questionable campaign donation habits."[265] The Thornton Law Firm is nationally known for its expertise in asbestos-related litigation. Over a ten-year period, Graham received $62,800 in campaign contributions from the firm's partners. The Boston Globe found that the firm, in almost every case, would reimburse partners' political contributions—in the exact amount[265]—within 10 days of the contributions being made. Between 2010 and 2014, the firm's partners and one of their wives contributed $1.6 million to politicians; $1.4 million was given back to the partners from the firm. The firm told reporters that according to outside consultants the practice was not unlawful because the checks are not bonuses, instead coming out of the partners' firm equity accounts.[265]
A spokesman for Graham said that Graham would return the money he received from the firm's lawyers if the law firm were indicted or convicted on corruption charges.[265]
Personal life
Graham helped raise his sister, Darline Graham Nordone, after the deaths of his mother and father, which occurred within 15 months of each other,[282] leaving the two without parents when Graham was 22 and she was 13. Graham has said that his parents' early deaths made him mature more quickly, and Nordone, who introduced her brother at his 2016 announcement of his candidacy for president, said she hoped to be with him on the campaign trail frequently to show voters his softer side. "He's kind of like a brother, a father and a mother rolled into one," she said. "I've always looked up to Lindsey."[283]
Having never married or had children,[11] Graham has said, "I never found time to meet the right girl, or the right girl was smart enough not to have time for me." According to his memoir, while in law school, he had a girlfriend named Debbie, and two more during his time in the Air Force in Germany: a JAG officer named Carol who later served on Colin Powell's staff, and a flight attendant named Sylvia, whom he considered proposing to.[284] He has denied being gay.[285]
Graham lives in Seneca, South Carolina. A Southern Baptist, he is a member of the Corinth Baptist Church.[26]