Graham sought the Republican nomination for president between June and December 2015, dropping out before the 2016 Republican primaries began. He has criticized the Tea Party movement, arguing for a more inclusive Republican Party. Initially, he was known for his willingness to be bipartisan and work with Democrats on issues like campaign finance reform, a ban on waterboarding, cap and trade, immigration reform, and judicial nominees. In the Senate Graham advocates for strong national defense and aggressive interventionist foreign policy. He was reelected to a fourth term in 2020. Senate seat vacated by retiring Republican incumbent Strom Thurmond. He served four terms in the United States House of Representatives for South Carolina's 3rd congressional district from 1995 to 2003.

Graham worked as a lawyer in private practice before serving one term in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995. He was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in 2014 and held the rank of colonel. Air Force Reserve ran concurrently with his congressional career. Most of his active duty during his military service happened from 1982 to 1988, when he served with the Judge Advocate General's Corps in the United States Air Force, as a defense attorney and then with the Air Force's chief prosecutor in Europe based in West Germany. A member of the Republican Party, Graham chaired the Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 2019 to 2021.Ī native of Central, South Carolina, Graham received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1981. Lindsey Olin Graham (born July 9, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003.

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