Is Lindsey Graham married? A look at the South Carolina Senator's mysterious love life
Lindsey Graham has been the senior US senator from South Carolina since 2003 and is currently the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. While he identifies as a Republican, his political views have more or less been moderate and centrist over the years. At the start of his political career, Graham was known for his willingness to work with lawmakers across the political aisle on a number of issues such as judicial nominees.
The South Carolina native was a staunch critic of President Donald J. Trump after dropping out of the 2016 presidential race. He famously took issue with the POTUS' remarks about his late friend Senator John McCain. In early 2017, however, Graham appeared to reverse his stance on Trump and went on to become one of his most fervent supporters. That said, while Graham's political views may have wavered over the years, his relationship status has reportedly been rather stable. As confirmed by The Netline, Lindsey Graham is not married.
Graham had served in the American Air Force before he entered politics. He came close to tying the knot with a woman named Sylvia while he was stationed in Germany at the Rhein-Main Air Base. While Graham's roommate married Sylvia's roommate, things didn't work out for them. “Her mother was elderly, and I wasn’t going to stay in Germany. I didn’t think she wanted to come back to South Carolina," Graham later told Herald Online. "It was the closest that Graham ever came to getting married," according to the outlet.
When Graham ran for President in 2016, his relationship status came under the spotlight. James Buchanan was the only US president who had managed to stay a bachelor throughout his presidency. Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson were bachelors when elected into office, but got married during their respective terms -- and so Lindsey's single status grabbed headlines throughout the campaign trail. To put the issue to bed, he explained to Politico his decision to stay single. “I’ve been close once early on, [as I was] taking care of my sister. It’s something that I really don’t know the answer to, other than I think it’s OK," he said. "At the end of the day, there’s nothing wrong about not being married. Having a marriage and a good family and children is a blessing. But I don’t think I’m a defective person by any means.”
At the time, he quipped that should he be elected President, his sister, Darline Graham Nordone, and female friends "would play the role of First Lady in rotation." Nonetheless, he insisted that he had a loving family despite not being married. “You can be single and still have a family. I very much have a family – my aunt and uncle, I try to take care of because they took care of me," he continued to Politico." There are millions of people who are single. I don’t think they need to answer, ‘Why are you single?’… I don’t think there’s anything disqualifying about being single.”
Having said that, Graham's single status obviously attracted several gay rumors. He clarified in a 2010 interview with the New York Times that he isn't gay. “I know it’s really gonna upset a lot of gay men – I’m sure hundreds of ‘em are gonna be jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge – but I ain’t available. I ain’t gay. Sorry.”