Bob Graham, former U.S. senator and Florida governor, dies at 87

Bob Graham, a former Democratic senator and two-term governor of Florida, shown in June 2002, has died, his family announced Tuesday. “The quagmire in Iraq is a distraction that the Bush administration, and the Bush administration alone, has created,” Graham said in 2003. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, called Graham “a patriotic American” and thanked him for his “distinguished public service.” She highlighted his work on the inquiry into 9/11 and said he “bravely opposed entry into the war in Iraq.” “He brought his love for his family and for his state of Florida to the Senate, where he served with immense dignity and courage,” she said in a statement Tuesday. “This has been a very important part of my development as a public official, my learning at a very human level what the people of Florida expect, what they want, what their aspirations are and then trying to interpret that and make it policy that will improve their lives,” Graham said in 2004 as he completed his final job as a Christmas gift wrapper.