Here’s a look at the life of Lindsey Graham, South Carolina senator and former 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: U.S. Air Force, 1982-1988; South Carolina Air National Guard, 1989-1995; United States Air Force Reserves, 1995-2015. Retired from the Air Force Reserve in 2015 as a colonel
Religion: Southern Baptist
Other Facts:
Has never married. If elected president in 2016, Graham would have been the first lifelong bachelor in the position since James Buchanan in 1856.
Growing up, he worked in the pool hall in the business his family owned, the Sanitary Café.
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.
Was the first Republican to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina since 1877 when voted into that office in 1994.
Told reporters in March 2015 that he has never sent an email.
Is a close friend of Sen. John McCain.
Timeline:
1982-1988 – U.S. Air Force prosecutor and defense attorney. The last four years are served at Rhein-Main Air Force Base in Germany.
1988-1992 – Assistant County Attorney, Oconee County, South Carolina.
1990-1994 – City Attorney for Central, South Carolina.
1992-1994 – Member of the South Carolina state House of Representatives.
1995-2003 – Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
2002 – Is elected to the U.S. Senate for the first time, succeeding Strom Thurmond.
2003-present – U.S. Senator from South Carolina.
November 24, 2014 – Graham says the GOP-led Benghazi report by the House Intelligence Committee is “full of crap” and is “garbage” that the report finds no members of the Obama administration lied to cover up what happened in Benghazi.
May 18, 2015 – Tells CBS “This Morning” he will announce his presidential plans June 1 in South Carolina.
May 18, 2015 – Graham calls for 10,000 troops to fight ISIS, and says the war in Iraq was not a mistake, “At the end of the day, I blame President Obama for the mess in Iraq and Syria, not President Bush.”
May 28, 2015 – Announces that he is retiring from the Air Force Reserves because he reaches the mandatory age for retirement when he turns 60 on July 9, 2015.
May 28, 2015 – Graham supporters form a super PAC to raise funds for his candidacy, the Security Is Strength PAC.
June 1, 2015 – Announces he is running for president during an event in his hometown, Central, South Carolina.
June 7, 2015 – Graham says in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash that he would welcome Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner) as a political ally, and makes a pitch for a more inclusive GOP.
December 21, 2015 – Announces that 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.