Mr. Graham retired from the Senate in 2005 after nearly 40 years in public service. With the exception of a brief run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, he has never had an unsuccessful run for office. He is also one of the relatively few Democrats (five) to have been elected governor of Florida in nearly several decades, as the state's long-dominant state party lost control of the unstable swing state that has moved to the right. He was also one of the
half-brother Mr. Graham Philip, his sister-in-law Catherine, and nephew Donald, publishers of the Washington Post, made their early fortune in real estate development, building their father's dairy and cattle farms into a planned development called Miami Lakes. contributed to the transformation of the city into a suburban community. He earned millions of dollars through his real estate investments while pursuing his political career. He won his Florida House seat in 1966 and served as a state senator for much of the 1970s.
his father also State representative lost in Democratic primary Graham said his disappointment in the 1944 gubernatorial race sparked his interest in politics. In 1978, Mr. Graham won because Gov. Rubin Askew (Democratic) was appointed for a term-limited term. The Democratic primary to choose his successor was crowded, and he subsequently defeated his Republican opponent. Jack Eckerd of the Eckerd Pharmacy Empire in the general election.
Mr. Graham had little statewide recognition heading into the 1978 campaign, and was perceived in some circles as a wealthy liberal from South Florida. But his campaign was boosted by a “workday” strategy spearheaded by pioneering political consultant Robert Squire.
Long known as “D. Robert Graham,” he became known as “Bob” and worked in 67 counties in the state, building waiting tables, bricklaying, road paving, manure shoveling, citrus boxing, and urban centers. He was photographed doing various jobs, including instructing students in his club.
What started as a campaign stunt became a regular feature of Mr. Graham's governorship. From the beginning, he emphasized that his “workday” was not about photo shoots. He didn't leave even after putting on his apron and work boots for an hour. He stayed after the camera crew left, working all day long, getting to know voters and leaving an indelible impression on Floridians of all political persuasions.
“I took away the learning about not only how people make a living, but how they live their lives,” he later told the Orlando Sentinel.
Tallahassee, the state capital, is spearheading an ambitious environmental initiative that includes: The 1983 “Save Our Everglades” campaign helped save the state's most famous natural resource from development and ecological degradation.
During Mr. Graham's first term, Florida struggled with issues such as: There was a large influx of refugees from Cuba and Haiti, and it took years to secure federal aid for their welfare and resettlement. During that time, the state was plagued by the following problems: Rampant drug smuggling and other crimes are on the rise, and in 1980 Miami's Liberty City neighborhood became more volatile after an all-white jury acquitted a police officer who fatally struck a black insurance agent during a traffic stop. There was a riot.
as an opponent in his 1982 re-election campaign. Mr Graham accused him of being “soft on crime''. He expressed support for the death penalty. The U.S. Supreme Court ended the de facto moratorium on the death penalty in 1976, and Mr. Graham sent convicted murderer John Spenkelink to the electric chair in May 1979. This was Florida's first execution. For the first time in over ten years. With broad public support, he signed 16 death warrants as governor.
Mr. Graham successfully won reelection and won a U.S. Senate seat in 1986, defeating one-term conservative Republican incumbent Paula Hawkins.In Washington, he wasn't really known for specifics. than the law for His ability to work across the aisle on bills that impact the environment and education programs, health care for the elderly and infirm, and the fight against drug crime.
“What I think I do best is bring people together in honorable and reasonable positions,” Graham told the Tampa Tribune in 1998. “My approach to getting things done in the Senate is to start at 50 yards” and start expanding in each direction until you have a majority. When you start in the end zone, it's very unlikely that anything will happen or be accomplished. ”
Graham was floated several times as a running mate, but was never confirmed. Part of the problem, many political observers say, is his lack of charisma. He was ridiculed for keeping a notebook detailing the day's events. One entry read: “8:45-9:35 — Kitchen, family room. Eat some branola cereal and peaches for breakfast.”
post He once described him as “a down-to-earth, conscientious, always polite grandfather who couldn't light up a room with a barrel of Iraqi crude oil and a Zippo.”
His public persona changed significantly after the September 11, 2001 al-Qaeda terrorist attacks, which occurred while he was chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Mr. Graham was one of the few senators to openly oppose President George W. Bush's proposed invasion of Iraq, ostensibly because of the invasion by the tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein. He was hiding weapons of mass destruction.
Graham argued on the Senate floor in October 2002, five months before the U.S.-led invasion. Uncharacteristically passionate, he said the attack on Iraq would distract from pursuing terrorist groups, which he said posed a greater threat to the United States than posed by Saddam Hussein. He also warned that the invasion could well lead to further terrorist attacks.
“We're not talking about a 90-day threat!” he exclaimed with surprising emotion. “We're not talking about a threat that might occur a year from now if nuclear material becomes available. I'm talking about a threat that might occur this afternoon. …If you believe that the American people are under no further threat, then frankly, my friends, I have blood on your hands. It will happen.”
Mr. Graham and Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and later director of the CIA, spent 10 months holding joint oversight hearings on intelligence failures related to 9/11. conducted.
Released in 2003, Their report calls for an overhaul of intelligence gathering, including removing barriers between intelligence agencies. However, their efforts were largely overshadowed by the independent 9/11 Commission. also provided similar recommendations.
That same year, Mr. Graham began running for the Democratic presidential nomination, arguing that President Bush had diverted resources and attention from the war on terrorism to Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, which were never discovered. did.
“My life has been one of progress, and running for president was the logical conclusion,” he told the Post at the time. “What I lacked before September 11th was the element of passion. Now I have passion.” However, he garnered little support and withdrew before the primary.
As a senator, Mr. Graham spent much of his time in his home state; To create a dynamic national image, observed tom fiedler He is a former editor-in-chief of the Miami Herald and covered much of Mr. Graham's early career as a reporter. “He could never do what he did in Florida nationally,” Fiedler said. “He was always going to be a senator from Florida. That's a negative in running for president.”
Daniel Robert Graham was born in Coral Gables, Florida, on November 9, 1936, and raised in a coral rock house in Pensco near the Everglades in Dade County (now Miami-Dade County). His father, Ernest “Cap” Graham, was a brusque and demanding dairy and livestock farmer, and his mother, the former Hilda Simmons, was a schoolteacher. Cap Graham's first wife died, leaving him with two sons, Philip and William, and a daughter, Mary.
Bob Graham worked for his father. He drove tractors, milked cows and showed prize Holsteins at 4-H clubs. At age 16, he was named the county's “Most All-around Teenager” by the Miami Herald. The newspaper noted his skills as a debater at Miami High School, his leadership on student council, and his talent for raising and breeding Angus cattle, which he stated as a future career.
But his half-brother Philip, a graduate of Harvard Law School and 21 years older than Bob Graham, encouraged him to pursue other ambitions. At the time, Philip Graham was a Washington power broker who became publisher of the Post in 1946, six years after marrying Katherine Meyer. Katherine Meyer's father, financier Eugene Meyer, owned the paper. Before his death by suicide in 1963, Phil Graham mentored his younger brother, encouraged him to pursue a law degree at Harvard University, and introduced him to members of Washington's political elite.
“It felt like my father had died,” Bob Graham later told the Orlando Sentinel about Phil Graham's death. He graduated from the University of Florida in 1959 and, following the recommendation of his half-brother, graduated from Harvard Law School in 1962.
In 1959 he married Adele Cooley, a classmate at the University of Florida. They had four daughters named Gwendolyn. Glyn, Alva, Kendall. Gwendolyn Graham (D-Florida) served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2015 to 2017. She ran unsuccessfully for the party's gubernatorial nomination in 2018. A complete list of survivors was not immediately available.
After running for president, Mr. Graham founded the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida. “My approach to life is to always look forward,” he told the Orlando Sentinel. “I appreciated my political life and enjoyed it very much. But I have mentally transitioned toward the future.”
