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