Graham's political career spanned more than three decades. He was elected to South Carolina's state house in 1992, then to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, becoming the first Republican to represent the state's Third Congressional District since 1877, according to his official biography.
He won the election to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and was reelected in 2008, 2014, and 2020. In 2008, he became the first person in South Carolina history to receive more than one million votes in a general election.
At the time of his death, Graham chaired the Senate Budget Committee and also served on the Appropriations Committee, the Judiciary Committee, and the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
According to his congressional record, he previously chaired the Judiciary Committee and served as one of the House managers during the 1998 impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton. He also mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
Before entering politics, Graham built a long military career. He served six and a half years on active duty as an Air Force lawyer, including an overseas assignment in Germany from 1984 to 1988. He later joined the South Carolina Air National Guard and, in 1995, moved into the Air Force Reserves, where he continued to serve during military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Graham retired from the Air Force Reserves in June 2015 at the rank of colonel, closing out 33 years of military service.
He grew up in the small town of Central, South Carolina, where his parents ran a restaurant and pool hall. Graham was the first in his family to attend college, earning both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of South Carolina. He lived in Seneca, South Carolina, and was a member of Corinth Baptist Church.
