Former Florida Governor Bob Graham, who chaired the Intelligence Committee after the 2001 terrorist attacks and opposed the invasion of Iraq, has died at the age of 87.
His family announced the death Tuesday in a statement published on X by his daughter Gwen Graham. His wife, Adele, was by his side when he died at a retirement community in Gainesville.
Graham, who served three terms in the Senate, made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, emphasizing his opposition to the invasion of Iraq.
But his candidacy was delayed by heart surgery in January 2003. Having never managed to gain enough ground with voters to catch up, he withdrew in October of that year. He did not seek re-election in 2004 and was replaced by Republican Mel Martinez.
His wife Adele told the Tallahassee Democrat: “We are very attached and love him so much, so proud of him. She was a person absolutely dedicated to public service, to getting things done for everyone.
Graham is remembered as a “visionary leader and dedicated public servant.”
Former Florida Senator Bob Graham, who chaired the Intelligence Committee after the 2001 terrorist attacks and opposed the invasion of Iraq, has died at the age of 87.
Senator Bob Graham, right, speaks during the National Commission Meeting on BP Deepwater Horizon Spill and Offshore Drilling, September 27, 2010, in Washington.
A man of many quirks, Graham perfected the “work day” political ploy of spending a day doing a variety of jobs, from stable grinder to FBI agent.
He kept a meticulous diary, recording almost everyone he spoke with, everything he ate, TV shows he watched, and even his golf scores.
But he closed his diaries to the media during his brief presidential campaign.
Graham was an early opponent of the Iraq War, saying it diverted U.S. attention from the fight against terrorism, centered in Afghanistan. He also criticized President George W. Bush for his failure to implement an occupation plan in Iraq after the U.S. military ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Graham said Bush dragged the United States into the war by exaggerating claims about the danger posed by Iraqi weapons of destruction that were never found. In asserting that Bush misrepresented intelligence data, Graham argued that this was more serious than the sexual misconduct issues that led to the impeachment of President Clinton in the late 1990s.
This prompted Graham to launch his brief presidential bid.
“The quagmire in Iraq is a diversion that the Bush administration, and it alone, 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.
A man of many quirks, Graham perfected the “work day” political ploy of spending a day doing a variety of jobs, from horse grinder to FBI agent.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bob Graham, left, poses with his running mate Wayne Mixson, right, of Marianna, Miami, while reviewing the 1987 election results.
Florida Senator Bob Graham greets people at Miami Lakes hearing Tuesday, May 6, 2003
He won a seat in the State Senate in 1970, was elected governor in 1978 and re-elected in 1982. Four years later, he won the first of three terms in the U.S. Senate by ousting 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 in Washington, Graham never took his eyes off the state and Tallahassee leaders.
When Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican-controlled Legislature eliminated the Board of Regents in 2001, Graham saw it as an attempt to politicize the state university system. The following year, he successfully led a petition for an amendment to the state Constitution that created the Board of Governors to assume the role of regents.
Daniel Robert Graham was born November 9, 1936, in Coral Gables, where his father, Ernest “Cap” Graham, had moved from South Dakota and established a large dairy farm. Young Bob milked cows, built fences and scooped manure as a teenager. One of his half-brothers, Phillip Graham, was publisher of the Washington Post and Newsweek until he committed suicide in 1963, just a year after Bob Graham received his law degree from Harvard.
In 1966, he was elected to the Florida Legislature, where he focused largely on education and health care issues.
Former Florida Governor Bob Graham, right, signs an autograph for Maria Dulce before a campaign appearance at the Miami River Festival at Jean Marti Park, October 25, 1986.
But Graham had a rocky start as Florida’s chief executive and was nicknamed “governor.” Jello’ for some early indecision. He shook that label by managing several serious crises.
As governor, he also signed numerous death warrants, founded the Save the Manatee Club with artist Jimmy Buffett, and led efforts to establish several environmental programs.
Graham passed a bond program to purchase beaches and barrier islands threatened by development and also launched the Save Our Everglades program to protect the state’s water supply, wetlands and endangered species .
Graham was also known for her 408 “days of work,” including positions as a housewife, boxing ring announcer, flight attendant, and arson investigator.
“It’s been a very important part of my development as a public official, I’ve learned on a very human level what the people of Florida expect, what they want, what their aspirations are, and then I tried to interpret that and make it into a policy that would improve their lives,” Graham said in 2004 as he finished 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 courses in schools. 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 the Gulf.
dailymail us
