Politics
Illustration: Mark Marturello/The Des Moines Register
PARTY: Republican
BORN: July 9, 1955 in Central, South Carolina
What he’s got: Broad experience on the national and international stages; three decades of military service and the credibility and esteem that go along with it; a blue-collar upbringing; a South Carolina base; a winning personality; unflappability; the abundant goodwill of political and media elites; the unmistakable spirit of the happiest warrior in the race.
What he lacks: A signature domestic issue; a national political following; organizational strength outside his home state; an off-the-shelf all-star team of backers.
Senator Lindsey Graham greets Colonel Michael Hudson, commander of the South Carolina Air National Guard's 169th Fighter Wing, at McEntire Joint National Guard Base in Eastover, South Carolina on May 30, 2012. Photograph by: John W. Adkisson/The New York Times
Graham meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on May 27, 2015. Photograph by: Kobi Gideon/Flash 90/Redux
Graham chats during a campaign stop at Mary Ann's Diner in Derry, New Hampshire, on June 2, 2015. Photograph by: John Hill/Redux
Graham talks with a soldier in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, on May 30, 2012. Photograph by: John W. Adkisson/The New York Times
Graham lines up a shot during a campaign stop at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Waterloo, Iowa, on June 5, 2015. Photograph by: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Graham, the only U.S. Senator in the military's Guard or Reserves, gestures during an interview at an American base in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 10, 2008. Photograph by: AP Photo/Musadea Sadeq
Graham speaks at the first annual Roast and Ride, a Republican outreach event hosted by Senator Joni Ernst, on June 6, 2015, in Boone, Iowa. Photograph by: Scott Olson/Getty Images
With All Due Respect
Lindsey Graham tells a joke during the intro of With All Due Respect on March 17, 2015.
“My state will never be able to move forward after this shooting if we don't take the flag down.”
- On the South Carolina state house’s Confederate Flag
“I've got a lot of friends. We’ll have a rotating first lady.”
- On FLOTUS with a bachelor president
“If they do something good, you can read about it on the front page of the New York Times. If they have a national security debacle, like Benghazi, it’s like pulling teeth.”
- On the Obama administration
“If Caitlyn Jenner wants to be a Republican, she is welcome in my party.”
“I mean, it’s easier to talk to Kim Jong-Un than it is to her.”
- On Hillary Clinton.
Graham was the first member of his family to attend college.
Parents
Millie Walters, Mother
Florence "F.J." Graham, Father
Close family
Darline Graham Nordone, Sister
