28 Facts About Bob Graham

1.

Daniel Robert Graham was born on November 9,1936 and is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 38th governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States senator from Florida from 1987 to 2005.

2.

Bob Graham helped found the Democratic Leadership Council and eventually became Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

3.

Bob Graham ran for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, but dropped out before the first primaries.

4.

Bob Graham declined to seek reelection in 2004 and retired from the Senate.

5.

Bob Graham served as co-chair of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling and as a member of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and the CIA External Advisory Board.

6.

Bob Graham served as Chairman of the Commission on the Prevention of WMD proliferation and terrorism.

7.

Bob Graham has written four nonfiction books, Workdays: Finding Florida on the Job, Intelligence Matters, World at Risk, and America: The Owner's Manual, and an illustrated children's book, Rhoda the Alligator.

8.

Bob Graham married Adele Khoury, of Miami Shores, in 1959.

9.

One of their daughters, Gwen Bob Graham, was a US Representative from Florida from 2015 to 2017.

10.

Bob Graham attended Miami Senior High School from 1952 to 1955; he was student body president his senior year.

11.

Bob Graham was International Trustee of the Key Club, the Kiwanis service organization.

12.

Bob Graham received a bachelor's degree in 1959 in political science from the University of Florida, where he was a member of the Epsilon Zeta chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the University of Florida Hall of Fame and Florida Blue Key.

13.

Bob Graham went on to receive a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1962.

14.

Bob Graham was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1966 and reelected in 1967 and 1968, each time representing all of Dade County.

15.

Bob Graham was elected to the Florida Senate in 1970, from Dade County.

16.

Bob Graham was on the Education Committee when it traveled to local Florida jurisdictions.

17.

Three years later, Bob Graham used his "workday" idea to kickstart his gubernatorial campaign.

18.

Bob Graham performed more than 400 workdays during his political career.

19.

Bob Graham emphasized education, and focused improving the state's public universities.

20.

Bob Graham launched the most extensive environmental protection program in Florida history, focused on preserving endangered lands.

21.

Bob Graham was reelected in 1992 and 1998 and chose not to seek reelection in 2004.

22.

In 2004, Bob Graham published Intelligence Matters: The CIA, the FBI, Saudi Arabia and the Failure of America's War on Terror.

23.

Bob Graham was considered as a Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1988,1992,2000, and 2004.

24.

Bob Graham was a finalist on Bill Clinton's shortlist of running mates in 1992, and was reportedly on Al Gore's shortlist in 2000.

25.

In December 2002, Bob Graham announced his candidacy for President of the United States in the 2004 election.

26.

On February 9,2008, The James and Alexis Pugh Hall, funded by longtime friends of the Bob Graham family, was dedicated in the historic area of campus.

27.

In 2009 Bob Graham published America, The Owner's Manual: Making Government Work for You, a book about inspiring and teaching citizens to effectively participate in democracy.

28.

Bob Graham is a member of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank.