In Miami Lakes, Bob Graham’s legacy of reaching ‘across the aisle’ is remembered
Joyful conversations filled a packed Miami Lakes church on Saturday afternoon as family members, friends and politicians celebrated the life of two-term Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham.
As Graham’s wife, Adele, walked down the center aisle of the Miami Lakes United Church of Christ with a smile, a cane and the help of family members, conversations about the populist former governor came to a halt.
Only the steps of his family could be heard as people stood in silence. Among the elected officials attending were U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
Wasserman Schultz said that while she was sad, she also felt glad to be able to honor Graham’s memory. “Bob was one of our state’s and nation’s greatest elected officials,” Wasserman Schultz said.
Arva Suzanne Graham Gibson, one of Graham’s daughters, said her grandfather was a role model for his descendants and the entire state.
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“If we live and lead like Bob Graham, the Florida sunshine will glow brighter than ever,” Graham Gibson said. “My hope is that we have caught some of that light.”
Graham’s life and legacy
Graham, born Daniel Robert Graham on Nov. 9, 1936, lived much of his life in Miami Lakes, where his family owned vast acres of land, initially farmland for cows.
He attended Miami Senior High School in the 1950s, and was student body president his senior year. He graduated with a bachelor’s in political science from the University of Florida in 1959, the same year he married Adele Khoury, of Miami Shores, with whom he had four daughters.
After earning a law degree from Harvard University in 1962, Graham entered politics four years later. Graham spent nearly four decades in public service, first serving in both houses of the Florida Legislature before becoming governor and then a three-term U.S. senator.
Known for pushing for school-competency testing, protecting the Everglades and focusing his political campaigns on the working class, Graham, who died last month at 87, became a tough act to follow.
Graham dealt with several crises as governor, including when then-Cuban dictator Fidel Castro opened the floodgates for masses of Cuban refugees who wanted to escape to Florida in the 1980s.
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The Coral Gables native pushed for greater transparency around the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and became one of just 23 senators to oppose then-President George W. Bush’s request to invade Iraq in 2003.
Graham won over fans and critics alike, with most detractors begrudgingly acknowledging his successes. He never lost an election.
According to Levine Cava, Graham’s ability to reach across the political aisle is what she will miss most.
“I think he was truly one of the last statesmen that could work across the aisle,” said Levine Cava, who added that she considered Graham a role model.
Graham’s notebook
Graham was known for carrying a spiral notebook almost everywhere he went to take notes when speaking with people, from constituents he would stumble upon on the street to his staff and other officials.
Sarah Logan, one of his grandchildren, said it was because her grandfather was so attentive to what others said that sometimes his family would have to wait a long time for him to spend time with them. Logan calls her grandfather Doodle, a nickname she coined for him as a child.
“If there is anything that I will take from my time with Doodle, it is the importance of listening to and understanding others,” Logan said.
According to Samuel “Buddy” Shorstein, one of Graham’s friends, this particularity — which some reporters and critics called a quirk — cost him being vetted or considered but never selected to be the running mate of Democratic presidential candidates such as President Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Shorstein also served under Graham as the governor’s chief of staff.
“One would wonder whether some reporters’ characterization of him using the notebooks discouraged the candidates running for president from selecting Bob,” Shorestein said. He added that if Gore had selected his friend as vice president, he would not have lost the presidential bid by a few votes and a Supreme Court decision.
Graham’s ‘unconditional love’
Shorstein said that watching Graham’s deterioration for the last three-and-a-half years was painful, but seeing his family’s unconditional love for him was encouraging.
On April 16, Graham died of old age with his family by his side in a Gainesville retirement community.
Graham is survived by his wife of 65 years, former First Lady Adele Graham, children Gwen Graham, Cissy Graham McCullough, Suzanne Graham Gibson and Kendall Graham, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Miami Herald’s David Smiley contributed to this report.
