“Daniel R. ‘Bob’ Graham served Florida as an elected official for nearly four decades at the local, state and national level. As first a state legislator, then governor, and finally as a three-term U.S. Senator, Graham had a role in nearly every major public policy issue in modern Florida’s history.
“He created the Bob Graham Center for Public Service to continue his legacy of leadership and to train the next generation of Sunshine State leaders.”
Excerpted from “Daniel Robert ‘Bob’ Graham” by Steven G. Noll from The Governors of Florida, edited by R. Boyd Murphree and Robert A. Taylor. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2020. Reprinted with permission of the University Press of Florida.
In the 1950s, “Robert” became a star at Miami Senior High School, where the Miami Herald named him “Best All-Around Teenage Boy.” (photo courtesy Florida Memory)He graduated from Miami Senior High as class president, pictured second from left with classmates. (photo courtesy University of Florida Libraries)Bob and Adele Khoury met in high school on a double date arranged by friends. They went their separate ways before bumping into each other on the steps of the University of Florida’s Tigert Hall. He asked, “Adele, what are you doing here?” and she replied she was having trouble with her physical science course. Bob recounted in 2007: “I told her – with modesty – that I had made an A in the course and would be happy to be her tutor. I did and she has been a loving tutor and best friend for 47 years plus one.” They married in 1959, before graduating college – pictured together in 1958 at Sigma Nu fraternity, University of Florida. (photo courtesy University of Florida Libraries)Bill Graham (left) and young Bob Graham (middle) help plan Miami Lakes Town Center with R. Floyd Luckey Jr. in the 1960s. The area came from parts of the Grahams’ South Florida dairy farm, which later grew into the 3,000-acre project of establishing Miami Lakes. (photo courtesy The Graham Companies)Florida’s political reapportionment in the 1960s significantly changed the political face of Dade County. Reflecting the exponential population growth of South Florida, the number of representatives for Dade increased more than sevenfold. In 1966, many seats became available. Graham ran against six other opponents for a Dade County seat in the Florida House of Representatives and won easily. (photo courtesy University of Florida Libraries)When Graham announced in 1976 that he was planning to run for governor, his family and friends were shocked. Until then, Graham remained rather little known outside his South Florida district. (photo courtesy Florida Memory)Graham endeared himself to the people of Florida by spending 100 days of his gubernatorial campaign participating in what he called “Workdays” – a full day working next to ordinary Floridians in their workplaces. Some consider the Workdays to be the most effective campaign Florida saw in the 20th century. (photo courtesy Florida memory)The Workdays campaign radically changed his persona from Robert Graham, buttoned-down Harvard lawyer and dairy farmer and land developer, to folksy, down-home “Bob.” (photo courtesy Florida Memory)A habit dating back to his father’s log of farm tasks, Graham journaled details and observations every day in pocket notebooks. He first used them during the campaign to keep track of who supported him as an underdog candidate, and document lessons from the Workdays . The notes often contained the names and addresses of people he met throughout the day, which allowed him to follow up the visit with a personalized note a few days later. Graham amassed a collection of over 4,000 notebooks throughout his public service career. (photo courtesy Florida Memory)To join the ticket as Lieutenant Governor, Graham chose Wayne Mixson, a conservative Democrat from the panhandle who would later serve as governor for three days. Together, they became known as the “Graham Cracker Ticket.” (photo courtesy University of Florida Libraries)Tuesday, Jan. 2, 1979, dawned cold and blustery in Tallahassee as state Senator Bob Graham took the oath of office as the 38th Governor of the Sunshine State. During his tenure, he achieved remarkable progress on the capstones of his agenda: education, the environment and the economy. (photo courtesy Florida Memory)As the son of a schoolteacher and the husband of another, Graham was keenly aware of Florida’s need to increase state support for public education. By many measures, Florida’s classrooms were better off at the end of Graham’s two terms than they had been when he was inaugurated. Class size was reduced, test scores were improved, teacher salaries rose and per-pupil spending increased to 13th in the nation. Pictured lecturing students at Tallahassee’s Rickards High School, 1983. (photo courtesy Florida Memory)Graham’s special passion for Everglades restoration, and willingness to fight for significant state and federal resources to fund it, marked a major turning point in Everglades policy. Although the Glades today are still under siege from development and pollution, Graham’s ideas for saving the region as a total ecosystem provide hope in the form of the current Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and Graham’s “Florida Forever” legislative legacy. He also worked diligently to protect other parts of Florida’s fragile environment through public purchases of sensitive wetlands and coastal areas. Pictured in a 1986 Newsweek Magazine feature on Graham’s “Save Our Everglades” program. (photo courtesy University of Florida Libraries)Reverend Jesse Jackson, a friend of Governor Graham, delivered the keynote address at the 1984 Democratic National Convention. Graham addressed the audience immediately after: “If you are a human being and weren’t affected by what you just heard, you may be beyond redemption.” Pictured at a 1984 voter registration drive. (photo courtesy Florida Memory)Graham’s gubernatorial tenure occurred during a time of profound social change and turmoil. He pushed hard for the Florida Legislature to pass the ultimately unsuccessful Equal Right Amendment, even marching in a crowd of more than 10,000 that converged on the Florida Capitol. “Florida was a pivotal state,” Graham said. “If Florida had ratified, it might have given it momentum.” (photo courtesy Florida Memory)On May 31, 1985, Graham hands out souvenir pens after signing the historic growth management bill that will set guidelines for Florida’s growth in the future. (photo courtesy Mark Foley/Associated Press)In 1981, Governor Graham got backstage at a Jimmy Buffett concert. Their ensuing friendship would lead to the creation of the “Save the Manatee Club,” the iconic manatee license plate, and a movement by state government to provide protection for the large, slow-moving marine mammal. (photo courtesy University of Florida Libraries)“Walkin’ Lawton” Chiles, Governor of Florida from 1991-98 and previously a U.S. Senator, showed his old friend the boots he used to walk across the state during his campaign. (photo courtesy Florida Memory)Graham left Florida’s governorship with an 83 percent approval rating. He was pictured with his notepad on his last day as governor, Jan. 3, 1987. (photo courtesy Florida Memory)Graham (right) stands with Florida Governors elected before and after him who shared a dedication to forward-thinking leadership. From left: Reubin Askew, Buddy MacKay, Lawton Chiles and C. Farris Bryant. (photo courtesy University of Florida Libraries)Graham defeated Paula Hawkins for Florida’s U.S. Senate seat in 1986, garnering almost 55 percent of the vote. Part of a Democratic senatorial class that regained control of the Senate, Graham was immediately touted as “one of this party’s rising new stars among a group of emerging moderate Southerners.” He was sworn in by then-Vice President George H. W. Bush on Jan. 6, 1987. (photo courtesy Florida Memory)With Bob now a Senator, the Graham family takes on Washington, D.C. (photo courtesy University of Florida Libraries)Sen. Graham continued Workdays, here packing citrus at the Alcoma Packing Company in Lake Wales, Florida in 1990. Throughout his tenure, Graham conducted over 400 Workdays – more than a year’s worth of full days spent with the people he represented. In that span, he worked 921 jobs in over 109 cities and five states. (photo courtesy Florida Memory)In 1992, Graham joined then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton at Sunrise, Florida’s Temple Beth Israel as Clinton campaigned for president . (photo courtesy University of Florida Libraries)In 1993, President Clinton nominated Miami-native Janet Reno to become U.S. attorney general and the first woman to hold the role. Clinton tasked Senator Graham with overseeing her confirmation hearings. On March 11, the Senate confirmed Reno by a vote of 98 to 0 and she served until 2001. (photo courtesy Public Press)Senator Graham took his progressive views on civil rights to the U.S. Senate, marching on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Jacksonville in 1993 and across the state annually. He also signed the first proclamation recognizing Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the state of Florida. (photo courtesy University of Florida Libraries)Sen. Graham stands with friend and eventual Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink on 1994 Election Day. Graham served as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from 1993-95. (photo courtesy Florida Memory)In 2001, Graham became chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He met with foreign leaders, helped resolve international conflicts and became a renowned intelligence expert. (photo courtesy Daily Kos)During his tenure as head of the intelligence committee, the tragic September 11 terrorist attacks spurred Graham into action on improving Americans’ safety and helping the nation heal. Graham’s work led to the establishment of the joint congressional investigation into the September 11 attacks, which he chaired. In December 2002, the Miami Herald commended Graham for his work at the international level. (photo courtesy University of Florida Libraries)At the urging of other senators, Graham published “Intelligence Matters” with his discoveries and recommendations regarding American national security. (photo courtesy Bob Graham Center)When he later ran for president in the 2004 election, Graham joined Stephen Colbert to sing his campaign song: “You’ve got a friend in Bob Graham, that’s what everybody’s sayin’, all across the good ol’ U.S.A. From the Atlantic to Pacific, we all say ‘he’s terrific!’ Bob Graham is what America needs today.” Graham was known to love music and often broke out into song regardless of objections, no matter how well-deserved. (photo courtesy University of Florida Libraries)After serving in elected office, Graham founded the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida in 2006. (photo courtesy Bob Graham Center)At the Center, Graham frequently led public events, hosted lunch-and-learns with students and worked in his University of Florida office. (photo courtesy Bob Graham Center)In 2010, President Barack Obama spoke in the Rose Garden of the White House with Graham, whom Obama appointed to co-chair the BP Oil Spill Commission. (photo courtesy Associated Press/Charles Dharapak)The Commission delivered findings for Congress, local governments and industries to prevent further man-made disasters, which the Commission argued could be imminent and catastrophic. (photo courtesy Bob Graham Center)After office, Graham also continued to pressure federal agencies to declassify documents related to who funded the September 11 terrorist attacks and hold them accountable on behalf of families who were waiting over a decade for justice. As part of the build-up to proposing “The Transparency for the Families of 9/11 Victims and Survivors Act,” Graham was pictured at a 2015 press conference with bipartisan legislators and family members of victims of the attacks as he angrily flipped through the 28 remaining classified pages. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order based on the act, which revealed detailed contacts between the hijackers and several Saudi officials as justice continues to be pursued. (photo courtesy Gary Cameron/Reuters)Led by Bob Graham’s dedication to hard work and experiential learning, the Graham Center partners with local, state, and federal governments to sponsor internships for University of Florida students in all branches and levels of government. Pictured with Gainesville City Commissioner and former Mayor Cynthia Chestnut, and Bob Graham Center interns. (photo courtesy Bob Graham Center)Representative John Lewis, an old friend of Graham, visited the Graham Center to speak with students in 2015. (photo courtesy Bob Graham Center)The Graham Center also hosted Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as part of its civic engagement initiatives. Other guests have included Jimmy Carter, senators, representatives and governors, as well as public figures like Madeleine Albright, Kal Penn and Tessa Thompson. (photo courtesy Bob Graham Center)Bob Graham frequently spent time with students and community members including student assistants at the Graham Center, members of student organizations and attendees at public events. (photo courtesy Gustavo Duran)Governor Graham spent much time at the Bob Graham Center in Pugh Hall where his on-campus office is housed. His inspiring and impactful legacy continues to be felt throughout the university and far beyond. (photo courtesy Bob Graham Center)In 2020, the Graham Center partnered with Senator Bill Nelson to host presidential historian Jon Meacham at UF for a program about political division in America. It would be Graham’s final appearance on behalf of the Center before stepping back from public life. (photo courtesy Zachariah Chou/Bob Graham Center)
