MIAMI – The former governor of Florida and US senator Bob Graham has died.
Graham, who chaired the Intelligence Committee after the 2001 terrorist attacks and opposed the invasion of Iraq, was 87.
His family announced the death on Tuesday in a statement released to X by his daughter Gwen Graham.
The Florida Democratic Party released the following statement on Graham's death:
“There are no words that can fully capture what Bob Graham meant to the state of Florida. A giant of Florida politics, Bob set the standard for all elected officials who followed, both Democratic and Republican. He lived a life that most of us could only dream of in which he impacted the lives of millions with an unmatched heart for service and a moral compass that always pointed to reality. Our hearts go out to Adele, Gwen and the entire Graham family as they mourn his loss and celebrate his incredible life.
“Part of the DNA of every Florida Democrat is living up to the example Bob Graham set for us. As we honor his legacy, may we all love and serve Florida as he did, with a twinkle in our eyes and curiosity about things unknown”.
Graham, who served three terms in the Senate, made an unsuccessful bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, highlighting his opposition to the invasion of Iraq.
But his candidacy was delayed by heart surgery in January 2003. Never able to gain enough traction with voters to catch up, he withdrew that October. He did not seek re-election in 2004 and was replaced by Republican Mel Martinez.
A man of many quirks, Graham perfected the “day job” political artifice of spending a day doing various jobs, from horse stable striper to FBI agent. He kept a meticulous journal, writing down almost everyone he talked to, everything he ate, the TV shows he watched, and even his golf scores.
But he closed the notebooks to the media during his short presidential bid.
Graham was an early opponent of the Iraq war, saying it diverted America's attention from the war on terrorism to Afghanistan. He also criticized President George W. Bush for not having a plan to occupy Iraq after the US military ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Graham said Bush led the United States into the war by exaggerating claims about the danger posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that were never found. Saying that Bush was distorting intelligence, Graham argued that this was more serious than the sexual misconduct issues that led to President Clinton's impeachment in the late 1990s.
It spurred Graham to launch his brief presidential bid.
“The quagmire in Iraq is a distraction that the Bush administration, and only the Bush administration, has created,” Graham said in 2003.
As a politician, few were better. Florida voters hardly saw him as the wealthy Harvard-educated lawyer he was.
Graham's political career spanned five decades, beginning with his election to the Florida House of Representatives in 1966.
He won a seat in the state Senate in 1970, was elected governor in 1978, and was re-elected in 1982. Four years later, he won the first of three terms in the US Senate when he unseated Republican incumbent Paula Hawkins.
Graham remained very popular with Florida voters, winning re-election by wide margins in 1992 and 1998 when he carried 63 of 67 counties.
Even when he was in Washington, Graham never took his eyes off the state and leadership in Tallahassee.
When Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican-controlled Legislature eliminated the Board of Regents in 2001, Graham saw it as a move to politicize the state university system. He led a successful petition the following year for a state constitutional amendment that created the Board of Governors to assume the role of regents.
Daniel Robert Graham was born on November 9, 1936 in Coral Gables, where his father, Ernest “Cap” Graham, had moved from South Dakota and established a large dairy operation. Young Bob milked cows, built fences and collected manure as a teenager. One of his half-brothers, Phillip Graham, was the editor of The Washington Post and Newsweek until he committed suicide in 1963, just a year after Bob Graham graduated from Harvard Law.
In 1966 he was elected to the Florida Legislature, where he focused primarily on education and health issues.
But Graham had a shaky start as Florida's chief executive and was dubbed “Gov. Jello” for some early indecision. He shook off that label through his handling of several serious crises.
As governor, he also signed numerous death warrants, founded the Save the Manatee Club with entertainer Jimmy Buffett, and led efforts to establish several environmental programs.
Graham pushed for a bond program to buy beaches and barrier islands threatened by development and also started the Save Our Everglades program to protect the state's water supply, wetlands and endangered species.
Graham was also known for her 408 “work days”, including stints as a housewife, ring announcer, flight attendant and fire investigator.
“This has been a very important part of my development as a public servant, my learning on a very human level what the people of Florida expect, what they want, what their aspirations are and then trying to interpret that and make that into policy than to improve their lives,” Graham said in 2004 as he completed his last job wrapping Christmas presents.
After leaving public life in 2005, Graham spent much of his time at a public policy center named after him at the University of Florida and pushed the Legislature to require more civics classes in public schools in the state.
Graham was one of five members selected for an independent commission by President Barack Obama in June 2010 to investigate a massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that threatened marine life and beaches in several southeastern states of golf
Here is the statement released to X by his daughter Gwen Graham:
CBS Miami team
