Graham, Lindsey (1955-…), became a member of the United States Senate in 2003. Graham, a Republican, represents South Carolina. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003.
Lindsey Olin Graham was born in Seneca, South Carolina, on July 9, 1955. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina in 1977. In 1981, he received a law degree from the university’s School of Law.
Graham joined the U.S. Air Force in 1982. From 1982 to 1984, he served at Shaw Air Force Base as base legal officer and area defense counsel. From 1984 to 1988, he was stationed in Germany and acted as a chief prosecutor for United States Air Forces Europe. He became a major in the South Carolina Air National Guard in 1989. From 1989 to 1994, he served as a National Guard base staff judge advocate (a prosecutor at courts-martial).
Graham was the assistant county attorney for Oconee County from 1988 to 1992 and the city attorney for Central, South Carolina, from 1990 to 1994. He served as a South Carolina state representative from 1992 to 1994.
In 1994, Graham won election to his first term in the U.S. House. He took office in 1995 and was reelected in 1996, 1998, and 2000. Graham was one of the strongest Republican supporters of impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton for Clinton’s actions involving an affair with a White House intern. The House voted to impeach Clinton in 1998, but the Senate acquitted him in 1999.
In 1997, Graham was a leader in a move to force the speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich , out of office. Graham and some other Republicans believed that Gingrich compromised too much with the Democrats in the House. Dissatisfaction with Gingrich’s leadership grew, especially after the Republicans lost seats in the 1998 House elections. Gingrich resigned from the speakership in late 1998 and from his House seat in early 1999.
In 2002, Graham won the Republican nomination to succeed retiring Senator Strom Thurmond . Graham won the election and was reelected in 2008, 2014, and 2020. In 2015, Graham also mounted a brief campaign for his party’s nomination for president. As a senator, Graham became known for his conservative positions on social issues and for his willingness to compromise on others. In 2005, he became a member of the so-called “Gang of 14″—a bipartisan group of senators that reached a compromise on the filibuster of judicial nominees. In 2013, Graham helped form the “Gang of Eight”—a group of senators working to forge an agreement on immigration reform.
