Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Olin Graham is an American politician and attorney 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.
Prior to politics, Graham served as a member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps in the U.S. Air Force from 1982 to 1988, working as a defense attorney and chief prosecutor in Europe. He later served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve while in Congress. He was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in 2014 and held the rank of colonel. He did not see combat action during his service. Graham worked as a lawyer in private practice before serving in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995 and the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, representing South Carolina's 3rd congressional district. In 2002, Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate. He was reelected in 2008, 2014, and 2020.
A neoconservative, Graham is a war hawk and strong advocate for interventionist foreign policy. He has been known for his willingness to work with Democrats on issues such as immigration reform, judicial nominations, and cap and trade. He ran for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but dropped out before the primaries began. Graham was a critic of the Tea Party movement, particularly over taxation and immigration, and an outspoken critic of Donald Trump's 2016 candidacy. After a March 2017 meeting with Trump, Graham became a staunch ally of his, often issuing public statements in his defense and catching members of both parties by surprise. Commentators have noted that Graham’s public reconciliation with Trump coincided with his expanded influence on foreign policy, supporting military interventions, increased defense spending, and a more aggressive U.S. role abroad. He is running for re-election in 2026.
Early life
Lindsey Olin Graham was born in Central, South Carolina, where his parents, Millie and Florence James "F.J." Graham, ran a restaurant/bar/pool hall/liquor store, the Sanitary Cafe. His family is of Scots-Irish descent. 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. 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. During his studies, he became a member of the Pi Kappa Phi social fraternity.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.
Military service
Upon graduating from the University of South Carolina School of Law, Graham was commissioned as an officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps in the United States Air Force in 1982 and began active duty that year. His duty began with a stint as an Air Force defense attorney, after which he was transferred to Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt, Germany, where from 1984 to 1988 he was the Air Force's chief prosecutor in Europe. In 1984, as he was defending an Air Force pilot accused of using marijuana, he was featured in an episode of 60 Minutes that exposed the Air Force's defective drug-testing procedures. After his service in Europe, he returned to South Carolina, leaving active duty in 1989 and entering private practice as a lawyer. He served as assistant county attorney for Oconee County from 1988 to 1992 and city attorney for Central from 1990 to 1994.File:Lt. Gen. Jack Rives pins Col. Lindsey Graham.jpg|thumb|left|Lt. Gen. Jack L. Rives pins the Meritorious Service Medal on Colonel Lindsey Graham, April 2009.
After leaving the Air Force, Graham joined the South Carolina Air National Guard in 1989, where he served until 1995, then joining the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
During the 1990-1991 Gulf War, Graham was recalled to active duty, serving as a judge advocate at McEntire Air National Guard Station in Eastover, South Carolina, where he helped brief departing pilots on the laws of war. In 1998, the Capitol Hill daily newspaper The Hill contended that Graham was describing himself on his website as an Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm veteran. Graham responded: "I have not told anybody I'm a combatant. I'm not a war hero, and never said I was.... If I have lied about my military record, I'm not fit to serve in Congress", further noting that he "never deployed".
In 1998, Graham was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 2004, he received his promotion to colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve at a White House ceremony officiated by President George W. Bush. That year, a lower court determined that Graham's service as a military judge while a sitting member of the Senate was acceptable. In 2006, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces set aside the lower court's ruling after concluding it was improper for Graham to serve as a military judge.
In 2007, Graham served in Iraq as a reservist on active duty for a short period in April and for two weeks in August, where he worked on detainee and rule-of-law issues. He also served in Afghanistan during the August 2009 Senate recess. He was then assigned as a senior instructor at the Judge Advocate General's School, though he never went.
In 2014, Graham received a Bronze Star medal for meritorious service as a senior legal adviser to the Air Force in Iraq and Afghanistan from August 2009 to July 2014, overseeing the detention of military prisoners. In 2015, he retired at his last rank of colonel from the Air Force with over 33 total years of service, after reaching the statutory retirement age of 60 for his rank. Graham earned points toward a military pension but was unpaid as an Air Force officer while a congressman and senator as he was ineligible for a military paycheck during his time in federal government service.
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.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 and Ed Allgood. In the general election, Graham defeated Democratic State Senator James Bryan Jr., 60% to 40%. As a part of that year's Republican Revolution, Graham became the first Republican to represent the district since 1877.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%. In 1998, he was reelected to a third term unopposed. In 2000, he was reelected to a fourth term, defeating Democratic nominee George Brightharp, 68% to 30%.
Tenure
In 1997, Graham took part in a leadership challenge against House Speaker Newt Gingrich.In November 1997, Graham was one of 18 House Republicans to co-sponsor a resolution by Bob Barr that sought to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Bill Clinton. The resolution did not specify any charges or allegations. This was an early effort to impeach Clinton, predating the eruption of the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal. The eruption of that scandal ultimately led to a more serious effort to impeach Clinton in 1998. On October 8, 1998, Graham voted in favor of legislation to open an impeachment inquiry. He was a member of the Judiciary Committee, which conducted the inquiry. In both the Judiciary Committee vote on forwarding proposed articles of impeachment, and the full House vote on the proposed articles of impeachment, Graham voted for three of the four proposed articles of impeachment. He voted against the second count of perjury in the Paula Jones case. This made him the only Republican on the Judiciary Committee to vote against any of the proposed articles of impeachment. During the inquiry, Graham asked, "Is this Watergate or Peyton Place?" The House passed two of the impeachment articles. Graham served as a House impeachment manager in the impeachment trial.
Committee assignments
During his service in the House, Graham served on the following committees:- Committee on International Relations
- Committee on Education and the Workforce
- Committee on the Judiciary
- Committee on Armed Services
U.S. Senate