Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., announced Thursday that he is actively exploring the possibility of a presidential run in 2016.
>>> Update: Graham declared his candidacy for president June 1 in his hometown of Central, S.C., saying: “I want to be president to defeat the enemies trying to kill us, not just penalize them or criticize them or contain them, but defeat them. … I want to be president to meet our problems head on.”
Graham, 59, said his new website, Security Through Strength –marketed as Graham’s version of Reagan’s “peace through strength” philosophy — would help him “test the waters” for “a potential presidential candidacy.”
Here are nine interesting facts about the senior senator from South Carolina:
1. According to his website, he lives in Seneca, S.C., where he attends the Corinth Baptist Church.
2. Graham has never been married.
3. He served in both the South Carolina House of Representatives and the United States House of Representatives before he was elected United States senator from South Carolina in 2002.
4. According to US News and World Report, Graham was the first member of his family to attend college. He attended both the University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina School of Law.
5. Graham and his sister Darline grew up in the town of Central, S.C.. Darline credits her older brother with raising her while their parents worked. The Grahams lost their parents while Lindsey was a student at the University of South Carolina and Darline was 13.
“Lindsey assured me that he was going to take care of me, he was going to be there for me. He never let me down. Never. I don’t see how he did it, to take on the responsibility of raising a little sister. That came from within for Lindsey,” said Darline.
6. He served in the Air Force as a lawyer, and remains in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.
7. Graham has been a vocal critic of the Tea Party movement. In 2010, he told The New York Times: “The problem with the Tea Party, I think it’s just unsustainable because they can never come up with a coherent vision for governing the country. It will die out.”
8. Crowdpac, an organization that ranks candidates based on their voting record and their history of political donations gave Graham a ranking of 4.7C. A Crowdpac ranking of 10C is “most conservative” and 10L is “most liberal.” According to their methodology, a score of 4.7C places Graham to the right of other potential candidates like Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., and to the left of candidates like former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass. Another potential candidate, former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., also received a score of 4.7C from Crowdpac.
9. Graham’s friend Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the 2008 GOP nominee for president, told ABC News that he is “strongly encouraging” Graham to seek the White House.
“I know of no one who is better versed and more important on national security policy and defense than Lindsey Graham, and I don’t think these challenges to our security are going away,” said McCain. “He is eminently qualified.”
This report has been updated and modified.
