Friends, colleagues react to death of Bob Graham, past Florida governor, U.S. senator

Florida's political class paid homage to the late Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham after news of his death Tuesday night at the age of 87.

His daughter Gwen, a former member of Congress for the Tallahassee area, announced his death in a social media post. He died at home in a Gainesville retirement community, surrounded by family.

Graham, a lifelong Democrat, was governor in 1979-87 and one of the Sunshine State's U.S. senators from 1987-2005.

Gwen Graham posted a statement from the Graham family, calling the family patriarch a “visionary leader, dedicated public servant and even more importantly, a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.” The family added that he devoted his life to bettering the world around him.

“The memorials to that devotion are everywhere – from the Everglades and other natural treasures he was determined to preserve, to the colleges and universities he championed with his commitment to higher education, to the global understanding he helped to foster through his work with the intelligence community and so many more,” the family said.

They also recalled his “work days,” the hundreds of events where he performed for a day the jobs held by average Floridians.

“While he valued his opportunities to represent others in public office, the jobs Bob Graham most loved were those he spent working alongside everyday Floridians,” the statement said, adding that it “forever changed his perspective on Florida and his approach to public service.”

Joe Biden calls Graham a 'colleague, friend, and devoted Floridian'

President Joe Biden, in a statement released by the White House, said Graham's "nearly 50 years of service to his beloved home state and to our country have made America a safer and stronger nation.""Bob chose a life of service, working his way up from state legislator, to governor, senator, and presidential candidate. He and I served together in the U.S. Senate, as respective chairs of the Intelligence and Foreign Relations committees in the wake of 9/11, working to heal a shattered nation and to protect America in a changing world," the president said.

"Bob stood on principle against the Iraq War," he added. "He cosponsored my landmark Violence Against Women Act, transforming the way our nation responds to domestic abuse and sexual assault. He was committed to education and to the environment, continuing work that he’d begun as governor to support public schools and universities, and to protect the water supply, wetlands, and wildlife of Florida’s iconic Everglades. He was full of humor and humanity, and I’m grateful for the support that he gave me over the years."Bob loved people, and he knew that politics at its core is about learning from and serving others. That’s why he spent more than 400 'work days' on the job with constituents, doing everything from picking tomatoes, to handling baggage, to patrolling the streets with police. He knew it matters to walk a mile in other folks’ shoes.

"In recent years, he sought to instill that same ethic and empathy in a new generation of public servants through his center in Gainesville, and by working to require civics classes in public schools. He inspired his own daughter, Gwen, to serve in Congress as well; and I’m proud to have her in my administration today, as an Assistant Secretary of Education. Bob was so proud, too."

Later Wednesday, former President Barack Obama posted on X: "Bob Graham was a friend and a consummate public servant. As a governor, senator, and legislator, he spent decades fighting for the people of Florida. He was also a champion of the environment, which is why, after the BP oil spill, I asked Bob to co-chair a commission tasked with preventing a disaster of that magnitude from ever happening again. Michelle and I are thinking of Bob’s family today, and everyone who knew and loved him."

Who is Bob Graham? Here’s what to know about the former Florida governor and senator

Bob Graham 'made a huge difference for Florida'

Jim Eaton, a Tallahassee attorney, worked in legislative affairs for Graham as governor and managed his 1986 campaign before that.

“Like all of those who had the privilege to work with Bob Graham, I’m deeply saddened to hear of his passing," Eaton said. "President Kennedy said, ‘One man can make a difference and every man should try.’  Bob Graham made a huge difference for Florida, in so many ways — environmental programs, improving education, and many others.

"Graham’s particular genius was working alongside average Floridians day-by-day at their jobs, working a full day in construction, picking vegetables, teaching classes and collecting trash at the back of a truck," Eaton added. "Work days connected him to the people of Florida in a fundamental, non-partisan way that is gone from our politics.

"We need more like him and we mourn his passing.”

Graham was 'one of my heroes'

“He is one of my heroes for a large number of reasons,” said Jon Mills, dean emeritus at the University of Florida Law School and a former Florida House Speaker.

“I’m looking at my home office wall and I have pictures of signing ceremonies of bills related to wetlands, growth management and water quality: All things that he was integral in supporting and doing. In the environmental area, he was a hero.”

'He was truly beloved'

Steve Schale, a longtime Democratic operative and Barack Obama’s 2008 Florida campaign director, recalled Graham’s ability to connect with people.

“Whether staffing him at an event or grabbing breakfast at a local diner, he always took the time to make whoever wanted his time feel special,” Schale said.

“He was truly beloved. I remember one poll we did in 2012, he had virtually no negative name ID whatsoever. Even people who disagreed with him believed him to be a good man. And he was.”

His 'genuineness' stood out; lost in current, divided era of politics

Susan MacManus, a retired political scientist at the University of South Florida, author of books on Florida politics and member of the council of advisors at the Graham Center at the University of Florida, said what stood out about how Graham was his “genuineness.”

“Here’s a guy who was very rich, Harvard-educated, who could stand next to a person flipping hamburgers at a fast food restaurant and be conversant in a genuine way,” she said.

MacManus said Graham was from a more cohesive era in politics. And memories of him stand in sharp contrast with the bitterly polarized politics of today.

“Now, you see this real gap between people, the education and wealth gap. He was able to make that not even an issue,” she said. “There’s a divide now between the working class and the elites. He was not like that. And the person he was conversing with felt his equal. He was not just saying to them, ‘Hey, vote for me.’”

Whether Graham could have emerged in the current, divisive era of politics remains a question, she conceded.

“Bottom line is he had a genuineness about him that is just so missing in politicians today,” MacManus said. “And it was reflected in wanting to know someone’s name, and all about anyone he worked alongside on his work days, which were full days, not just 15 minutes while the cameras are there.”

'Florida weeps for you'

Sean Shaw, son of the late Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Leander Shaw, who Graham appointed to the court in 1983, posted on X, “This hurts."

“Bob Graham was the best of Florida. Ethics, Environment, Diversity. People. Without Bob Graham, there would be no Chief Justice Leander Shaw. And it was the honor of a lifetime for me to campaign by his side.”

Shaw, a former state representative, said of Graham, “Florida weeps for you.”

'A statesman who truly cared'

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, a Republican whose family owns Panama City’s Captain Anderson’s restaurant, also wrote on X that Graham “will long be remembered as as a statesman who truly cared for the state of Florida.

“He was a longtime customer of Captain Anderson’s and was kind enough to take me to lunch in the FL Senate dining room and share some wisdom when I was just a student in community college.”

A 'good man ... a great Floridian'

Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, who also served two terms as Florida governor, called Graham a “good man and a great Floridian who dedicated his life to our state.

“His legacy will live forever,” Scott said on X. “Not because of any title he held, but for what he did with those opportunities to improve Florida and the lives of families in the Sunshine State. Ann and I are heartbroken to learn of his passing.”

Florida's other U.S. senator, Republican Marco Rubio, added: "Bob Graham was a selfless public servant, whose legacy and impact will live on. From his days in the state House to his days in the governor’s mansion and the U.S. Senate, Bob Graham always understood whom he served. It was a core value, one that he lived out even after he retired from public service. Florida, and the nation, lost a very good man."

Fellow Democrats mourn Bob Graham's passing

State Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, posted on X, “In times of loss, we remember a giant among us. Bob Graham was not just a governor or a U.S. Senator, he was a beacon of leadership and a devoted family man. His legacy of compassion and dedication will endure.”

Nikki Fried, the state’s Democratic Party chair and a former state agriculture commissioner, recalled that “growing up in Miami, (Graham) was the first political name I learned as he was beloved by all. His love for our state may have only been matched by his love for his Florida Gators.”

Florida's current governor on Bob Graham's passing

Graham's daughter, Gwen, ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2018, when Florida's current governor, Ron DeSantis ran and was first elected as the Republican nominee. She has since been a critic of the DeSantis administration.

DeSantis posted on X Wednesday morning his reaction to Graham's death, hours after many of the remembrances had begun rolling in.

"Florida mourns the loss of former Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham today," DeSantis wrote. "He was a devoted public servant who, among other important work, made enormous achievements in conserving Florida's natural resources. We are grateful for his service to our state and nation. May he rest in peace."

A 'great public servant,' lost

Former two-term Florida Gov. Jeb Bush also commented Wednesday morning on X: "Florida and our country has lost a great public servant. Bob Graham served Floridians with a servant's heart, with integrity and with civility. Columba and I are praying for the Graham family."

'Always understood whom he served'

Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, elected to the U.S. Senate six years after Graham left in 2005, remembered his qualities.

“Bob Graham was a selfless public servant, whose legacy and impact will live on," Rubio said, adding that he "always understood whom he served."

"It was a core value, one that he lived out even after he retired from public service. Florida, and the nation, lost a very good man," Rubio said.

Lawson recalls what Graham meant

Former U.S. Rep. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, remembered the former governor and U.S. senator as a guide.

"Gov. Graham gave African-Americans the opportunity to play major roles in state government," Lawson said. "He was my role model. Gov Graham cared about poor people in the state and opened up doors to help them live a better life. He was a beloved governor throughout the state because he put people over politics."

Former state Sen. Rob Bradley remembers Bob Graham

Former state Sen. Rob Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican, posted on X that "Bob Graham loved Florida. Never stopped fighting for her."

In a personal memory, Bradley – who served in the Senate 2012-20 – said "in 1988, he gave a group of kids a personal tour of the U.S. Senate floor after we randomly ran into him. I next visited with him 30 years later at the Florida Capitol. We talked land conservation. May he rest in peace."

Bob Graham: A possible vice president

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley of West Palm Beach wrote with an anecdote about Graham after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

“There were no commercial flights so Bob Graham (and former U.S. Reps.) Ileana Ros- Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart and I met at Andrews Air Force Base to be flown by Mil-Air (military airplane) to Hialeah,” Foley said.

“During the trip I approached Bob, who always had a reporter’s notepad in hand, … and said, ‘Senator, if Al Gore had picked you instead of Joe Lieberman, we’d be flying on Air Force 2 now to Florida instead of this old relic of an Air Force parachute plane.’ “

The 2000 presidential election was famously decided by 537 votes in Florida. If Graham “was on the ticket, ‘Gore-Graham’ would have swept Florida and the presidency (and) would have altered the course of history,” said Foley, a Republican.

Tallahassee's first Black leadership mayor remembers Graham

In 1978, Graham "made a decision that shaped my professional life," former Tallahassee Mayor John Marks said. Graham appointed him to the Florida Public Service Commission, making him the then-youngest, at age 29, and "first African-American ever to hold such a position."

"This decision marked a significant milestone not only in my career but also in state government's efforts to embrace diversity and inclusivity," said Marks, in office 2003-14, the longest-serving mayor in Tallahassee history.

"I was deeply honored by the governor's trust and foresight, which provided me with an invaluable platform for growth and public service. He will forever be remembered as a humanitarian, a statesman and an architect of change."

Obituary: Bob Graham, former Florida governor and U.S. senator with a common touch, dies at 87

Jim Rosica and other staff of the USA TODAY Network-Florida contributed.

Do you have memories, moments or photos you want to share about the life of former Gov. Bob Graham? Email us at news@tallahassee.com. Please include your full name, title and city of residence.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Friends, colleagues react to death of late Florida Sen. Bob Graham