Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Olin Graham (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.

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.

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.

Upon graduating from the University of South Carolina School of Law, Graham was commissioned as an officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG 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.

He served as assistant county attorney for Oconee County from 1988 to 1992 and city attorney for Central from 1990 to 1994.

After his service in Europe, he returned to South Carolina, leaving active duty in 1989 and entering private practice as a lawyer.

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.

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 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 2002, Graham won the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Republican incumbent Strom Thurmond.

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 was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in 2014 and held the rank of colonel.

Graham sought the Republican nomination for president between June and December 2015, dropping out before the 2016 Republican primaries began.

He was an outspoken critic of Donald Trump's 2016 candidacy and repeatedly said he did not support Trump; in particular, he took issue with Trump's comments on Graham's close friend, Senator John McCain.

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.

A member of the Republican Party, Graham chaired the Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 2019 to 2021.

He became chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in January 2019, and led the U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett, who was confirmed in October 2020.

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.

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 was reelected to a fourth term in 2020.

In the Senate Graham advocates for strong national defense and aggressive interventionist foreign policy.

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.

He has criticized the Tea Party movement, arguing for a more inclusive Republican Party.