Bob Graham, former U.S. senator and Florida governor, dies at 87

MIAMI – Former Florida governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham has died. Graham, who chaired the Intelligence Committee following the 2001 terrorist assaults and opposed the Iraq invasion, was 87.

His household introduced the loss of life Tuesday in an announcement posted on X by his daughter Gwen Graham.

The Florida Democratic Occasion issued the next assertion on Graham’s passing:

“There aren’t any phrases that may totally seize what Bob Graham meant to the state of Florida. A large in Florida politics, Bob set the usual for each elected official who adopted — each Democrat and Republican. He lived a life most of us might solely dream of, one the place he impacted the lives of thousands and thousands with an unparalleled coronary heart for service and an ethical compass that all the time pointed true. Our hearts exit to Adele, Gwen, and the complete Graham household as they mourn their loss and have fun his unbelievable life.

“A part of the DNA of each Florida Democrat resides as much as the instance Bob Graham set for us. As we honor his legacy, could all of us love and serve Florida the way in which he did — with a twinkle in our eyes and a curiosity for issues unknown.”

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava posted on X that he impressed so many. 

I’m deeply saddened to be taught of Senator Bob Graham’s passing. He was not solely an amazing buddy and mentor, but additionally a job mannequin whose dedication to public service impressed so many. My heartfelt condolences to his family members. Could his legacy dwell on by the lives he touched. https://t.co/kqyIUj9FQA

— Daniella Levine Cava (@MayorDaniella) April 17, 2024

Graham, who served three phrases within the Senate, made an unsuccessful bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, emphasizing his opposition to the Iraq invasion.

However his bid was delayed by coronary heart surgical procedure in January 2003. By no means capable of achieve sufficient traction with voters to catch up, he bowed out that October. He did not search re-election in 2004 and was changed by Republican Mel Martinez.

A person of many quirks, Graham perfected the “workdays” political gimmick of spending a day doing varied jobs from horse stall mucker to FBI agent. He stored a meticulous diary, noting virtually everybody he spoke with, all the things he ate, the TV exhibits he watched and even his golf scores.

However he closed the notebooks to the media throughout his short-lived presidential bid.

Graham was among the many earliest opponents of the Iraq struggle, saying it diverted America’s deal with the battle in opposition to terrorism centered in Afghanistan. He additionally criticized President George W. Bush for failing to have an occupation plan in Iraq after the U.S. navy threw out Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Graham mentioned Bush took the US into the struggle by exaggerating claims of the hazard offered by the Iraqi weapons of destruction that had been by no means discovered. Saying Bush distorted intelligence knowledge, Graham argued that was extra severe than the sexual misconduct points that led to President Clinton’s impeachment within the late Nineteen Nineties.

The City of Miami Lakes group mourns the passing of Senator Bob Graham. A key member & determine of our city’s historical past, his management and repair will probably be celebrated lengthy after his passing. Our ideas and condolences are together with his family members throughout this troublesome time. pic.twitter.com/zFwBgpnWs8

— Miami Lakes, FL (@MiamiLakesNews) April 17, 2024

It spurred Graham to launch his transient presidential bid.

“The quagmire in Iraq is a distraction that the Bush administration, and the Bush administration alone, has created,” Graham mentioned in 2003.

As a politician, few had been higher. Florida voters hardly thought of him the rich Harvard-educated lawyer that he was.

Bob Graham was a great man and an amazing Floridian who devoted his life to our state. His legacy will dwell endlessly, not due to any title he held, however for what he did with these alternatives to enhance Florida and the lives of households within the Sunshine State.

Ann and I are… https://t.co/9Bqy7LuIiC

— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) April 17, 2024

Graham’s political profession spanned 5 a long time, starting together with his election to the Florida Home of Representatives in 1966.  
He received a state Senate seat in 1970, was elected governor in 1978, and was re-elected in 1982. 4 years later, he received the primary of three phrases within the U.S. Senate when he ousted incumbent Republican Paula Hawkins.

Graham remained broadly widespread with Florida voters, profitable re-election by vast margins in 1992 and 1998 when he carried 63 of 67 counties.

Even when in Washington, Graham by no means took his eye off the state and the management in Tallahassee.

When Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican-controlled Legislature eradicated the Board of Regents in 2001, Graham noticed it as a transfer to politicize the state college system. He led a profitable petition drive the subsequent 12 months for a state constitutional modification that created the Board of Governors to imagine the regents’ position.

Daniel Robert Graham was born Nov. 9, 1936, in Coral Gables the place his father, Ernest “Cap” Graham, had moved from South Dakota and established a big dairy operation. Younger Bob milked cows, constructed fences and scooped manure as an adolescent. Certainly one of his half-brothers, Phillip Graham, was writer of The Washington Put up and Newsweek till he dedicated suicide in 1963, only a 12 months after Bob Graham’s commencement from Harvard Regulation.

In 1966 he was elected to the Florida Legislature, the place he targeted largely on training and well being care points.

However Graham received off to a shaky begin as Florida’s chief government, and was dubbed “Gov. Jello” for some early indecisiveness. He shook that label by his dealing with of a number of severe crises.

As governor, he additionally signed quite a few loss of life warrants, based the Save the Manatee Membership with entertainer Jimmy Buffett and led efforts to ascertain a number of environmental applications.

Graham pushed by a bond program to purchase seashores and barrier islands threatened by growth and in addition began the Save Our Everglades program to guard the state’s water provide, wetlands and endangered species.

“Bob Graham was a selfless public servant, whose legacy and impression will dwell on. From his days within the state Home to his days within the governor’s mansion and the U.S. Senate, Bob Graham all the time understood whom he served. It was a core worth, one which he lived out even after he retired from public service. Florida, and the nation, misplaced an excellent man. Jeanette and I are praying for Adele, their children, and the complete Graham household,” mentioned U.S. Senator Marco Rubio in an announcement.   

Graham additionally was identified for his 408 “workdays,” together with stints as a housewife, boxing ring announcer, flight attendant and arson investigator.

“This has been an important a part of my growth as a public official, my studying at a really human stage what the individuals of Florida count on, what they need, what their aspirations are after which making an attempt to interpret that and make it coverage that may enhance their lives” mentioned Graham in 2004 as he accomplished his closing job as a Christmas present wrapper.

After leaving public life in 2005, Graham spent a lot of his time at a public coverage heart named after him on the College of Florida and pushing the Legislature to require extra civics courses within the state’s public colleges.

Graham was certainly one of 5 members chosen for an impartial fee by President Barack Obama in June 2010 to analyze an enormous BP oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico that threatened sea life and seashores alongside a number of southeastern Gulf states.

This is the assertion posted on X by his daughter Gwen Graham:

pic.twitter.com/UiM70dsQDB

— Gwen Graham (@GwenGraham) April 17, 2024