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Lindsey Olin Graham (born July 9, 1955) is an American politician from South Carolina. A member of the Republican Party noted for his conservative views, he is currently the senior United States Senator from that state. He serves on the Armed Services committee.
Born in Central, South Carolina, Graham graduated from the University of South Carolina at Columbia with a B.A. in 1977 and from its school of law with a J.D. in 1981, and eventually entering private practice as a lawyer. He has been involved in the United States Air Force since 1982, serving in it until 1984, and later in the South Carolina Air National Guard and as an Air Force reservist. He continues to be an Air Force reservist to this day.
In 1992, he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives and in 1994 to the United States House of Representatives, where he quickly became powerful as a member of the Judiciary Committee during the impeachment attempt against president Bill Clinton in 1998. He opposed some articles, but vigorously supported others. In January and February of 1999, after two impeachment articles had been passed by the full house, he was one of the managers who brought the House's case to Clinton's trial in the Senate. Though the Senate did not convict Clinton, Graham became nationally known.
He was reelected to the House in 1996, 1998 and 2000. In 2002, upon the retirement of the long-serving Senator Strom Thurmond, the much younger Graham was nominated for the United States Senate in 2002 and defeated his Democratic opponent, Alex Sanders.
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