Former Florida Governor & Senator, Bob Graham, Passes Away at 87

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Daniel Robert Graham, born in 1936 to Ernest R. “Cap” Graham and Hilda Graham, was a part of a family with a history in newspaper publishing, politics, and possible common ancestry with several U.S. Presidents. Graham’s education led him to receive high honors, including induction into the Phi Beta Kappa honors society, leading to a political career that began with his election to the Florida House of Representatives in 1966. He married Adele Khoury in 1959 and had four daughters, one of whom, Gwen Graham, served as a U.S. representative and later an assistant secretary of education in the Biden administration.

Renowned Public Figure Daniel Robert Graham: A Life Full of Achievements

Daniel Robert Graham, better known as Robert, was born on November 9, 1936, in Coral Gables, Florida, to Ernest R. “Cap” and Hilda (Simmons) Graham. He had three half-siblings, Mary, Philip, and Bill Graham, through his father’s previous marriage to Florence Morris. Philip Graham and his wife Katharine were co-owners of The Washington Post.

Ernest Graham, a man of many professions including dairy farming, mining engineering, real estate development and Democratic politics, served as a Florida senator from 1937 to 1944. The Grahams had \[genealogical ties\](#) to Presidents Jimmy Carter, Richard M. Nixon and Warren G. Harding.

Robert Graham’s early life was marked by success. While attending Miami Senior High School, he earned the Sigma Chi Award, a prestigious honor for character, leadership, scholarship, and service, and was elected student body president. He graduated in 1955. At the University of Florida, he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1959. Robert obtained his law degree from Harvard in 1962.

In 1959, Robert Graham married Adele Khoury and they had four daughters: Gwen, Cissy, Suzanne, and Kendall. Gwen Graham served as a United States representative from Florida from 2015 to 2017, made a gubernatorial run in 2017, and currently holds a position in the Biden administration.

Robert Graham resided in the family-founded town of Miami Lakes. His political career initiated in 1966 with his election to the Florida House of Representatives from Dade County. He secured a seat in the Florida Senate in 1970 and was re-elected in 1972 and 1976, representing a district that encompassed northern Dade and southern Broward Counties.

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