Lindsey Graham Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research
3 minute read
Updated 5:36 PM EDT, Thu July 6, 2023
Click through to see highlights from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham's political career:
Click through to see highlights from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham's political career:
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Graham; Sir Elton John, center; and filmmaker and John's husband, David Furnish, pose after testimony at a U.S. Senate hearing on the global fight against AIDS on May 6, 2015. Graham and Democratic Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont hosted John as part of their bipartisan effort to combat HIV infection.
Graham; Sir Elton John, center; and filmmaker and John's husband, David Furnish, pose after testimony at a U.S. Senate hearing on the global fight against AIDS on May 6, 2015. Graham and Democratic Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont hosted John as part of their bipartisan effort to combat HIV infection.
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for EJAF
Graham rushes to the Senate chamber to vote on an attempt to override U.S. President Barack Obama's veto of the Keystone XL Pipeline legislation March 4, 2015. Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and was re-elected in 2008 and 2014.
Graham rushes to the Senate chamber to vote on an attempt to override U.S. President Barack Obama's veto of the Keystone XL Pipeline legislation March 4, 2015. Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and was re-elected in 2008 and 2014.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Graham listens to testimony during a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting on national security strategy on January 27, 2015. According to his <a href="http://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutSenatorGraham.Biography" target="_blank" target="_blank">website</a>, Graham continues to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force Reserves as a senior individual mobilization augmentee to the judge advocate general.
Graham listens to testimony during a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting on national security strategy on January 27, 2015. According to his website, Graham continues to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force Reserves as a senior individual mobilization augmentee to the judge advocate general.
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Graham arrives for a closed briefing of the Armed Services Committee on July 30, 2014. Before serving in the Senate, Graham was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994.
Graham arrives for a closed briefing of the Armed Services Committee on July 30, 2014. Before serving in the Senate, Graham was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Graham talks to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, before a news conference on Capitol Hill on July 24, 2014.
Graham talks to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, before a news conference on Capitol Hill on July 24, 2014.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Graham and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, listen as President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address on January 28, 2014. Graham was in the U.S. Air Force and logged six-and-a-half years of service on active duty as an Air Force lawyer.
Graham and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, listen as President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address on January 28, 2014. Graham was in the U.S. Air Force and logged six-and-a-half years of service on active duty as an Air Force lawyer.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Graham holds a news conference on Benghazi, Libya, at the U.S. Capitol on October 30, 2013. From left, he is flanked by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona; Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah; and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. Graham has been an outspoken critic of how the Obama administration has handled the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic, in which four U.S. citizens died.
Graham holds a news conference on Benghazi, Libya, at the U.S. Capitol on October 30, 2013. From left, he is flanked by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona; Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah; and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. Graham has been an outspoken critic of how the Obama administration has handled the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic, in which four U.S. citizens died.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, meets with U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Graham on June 30, 2013, in Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, meets with U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Graham on June 30, 2013, in Jerusalem.
Kobi Gideon/GPO via Getty Images
McCain, left, and Graham speak during a news conference about Benghazi on February 14, 2013, on Capitol Hill.
McCain, left, and Graham speak during a news conference about Benghazi on February 14, 2013, on Capitol Hill.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Graham talks with reporters before heading into the Senate Republican Caucus policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol May 8, 2012.
Graham talks with reporters before heading into the Senate Republican Caucus policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol May 8, 2012.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Graham speaks to reporters after a news conference about his Social Security reform plan at the U.S. Capitol on April 13, 2011.
Graham speaks to reporters after a news conference about his Social Security reform plan at the U.S. Capitol on April 13, 2011.
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Graham, left, and McCain call on participants during a health care town hall meeting on September 14, 2009 at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. According to his website, Graham is a native South Carolinian and grew up in a blue collar family in the small town of Central, where his parents ran a restaurant and pool hall.
Graham, left, and McCain call on participants during a health care town hall meeting on September 14, 2009 at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. According to his website, Graham is a native South Carolinian and grew up in a blue collar family in the small town of Central, where his parents ran a restaurant and pool hall.
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U.S. President George W. Bush, left, stands with Graham on the steps of Air Force One at the airport in Greenville, South Carolina, in March 2002.
U.S. President George W. Bush, left, stands with Graham on the steps of Air Force One at the airport in Greenville, South Carolina, in March 2002.
TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images
Lindsey Graham's political career
CNN  — 

Here’s a look at the life of Lindsey Graham, US senator from South Carolina and 2016 GOP presidential candidate.

Personal

Birth date: July 9, 1955

Birth place: Central, South Carolina

Birth name: Lindsey Olin Graham

Father: Florence James Graham, restaurant, pool hall and liquor store owner

Mother: Millie Graham, restaurant, pool hall and liquor store owner

Education: University of South Carolina, Columbia, B.A., 1977; University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., 1981

Military service: US Air Force, 1982-1988; South Carolina Air National Guard, 1989-1995; US Air Force Reserve, 1995-2015; retired from the Air Force Reserve in 2015 as a colonel.

Religion: Southern Baptist

Other Facts

Growing up, Graham worked in the pool hall his family owned, the Sanitary Cafe.

His mother and father died within 15 months of each other when Graham was an undergraduate. He helped raise his then 13-year-old sister, Darline, and later adopted her.

In 1994, he became the first Republican elected to the US House of Representatives from South Carolina since 1877.

Told reporters in March 2015 that he has never sent an email.

Was a close friend of the late Sen. John McCain from Arizona.

Timeline

1982-1988 - US Air Force prosecutor and defense attorney. The last four years were served at Rhein-Main Air Force Base in Germany.

1988-1992 - Assistant attorney, County of Oconee, South Carolina.

1990-1994 - City attorney for Central, South Carolina, his hometown.

1992-1994 - Member of the South Carolina state House of Representatives.

1995-2003 - Republican member of the US House of Representatives.

2002 - Is elected to the US Senate, succeeding Strom Thurmond.

2003-present - US senator from South Carolina.

2013 - Collaborates on a bipartisan immigration reform bill. The measure passes in the Senate but doesn’t make it through the House.

June 1, 2015 - Announces he is running for president during an event in Central, South Carolina.

June 7, 2015 - Graham says in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash that he would welcome Caitlyn Jenner as a political ally and makes a pitch for a more inclusive GOP.

December 21, 2015 - Announces he is suspending his presidential campaign.

May 6, 2016 - Announces he will not be voting for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton for president in the general election.

October 2018 - Tells CNN that although Trump “can be a handful,” Graham wants to see Trump succeed and enjoys the ability to influence Trump by staying in the president’s corner.

January 10, 2019-February 3, 2021 - Graham serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

June 12, 2020 - The group Republican Voters Against Trump releases a campaign ad featuring Graham criticizing Trump and praising Vice President Joe Biden. In the ad, Graham calls President Trump a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.”

November 3, 2020 - Wins reelection to the US Senate, defeating Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison who gained attention for raising huge amounts of money.

January 6, 2021 - Graham defends the certification of the electoral votes on the Senate floor following the US Capitol riots, saying objecting to the results are a “uniquely bad idea to delay this election. All I can say, is count me out, enough is enough.” Weeks later, Graham returns to supporting Trump by serving as an informal adviser to his team during his second impeachment trial and visiting Mar-a-Lago.

August 2, 2021 - Graham announces he has tested positive for Covid-19, despite being vaccinated. He tweets “without vaccination I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now.”

November 22, 2022 - Graham appears before a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to subvert the results of the 2020 election, prosecutors want to question Graham about calls he made to Georgia election officials after the presidential election, as well as his interactions with the Trump campaign, according to court documents.

March 23, 2023 - The Senate Ethics Committee reprimands Graham for soliciting campaign contributions five times during a media interview in a Capitol office building in violation of Senate rules.