Eulogy for a Fellow Gator

Just a quick notice tonight that Bob Graham, former Governor of Florida and later Senator, passed away yesterday (via AP News): 

Former U.S. Sen. and two-term Florida Gov. Bob Graham, who gained national prominence as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks and as an early critic of the Iraq war, has died. He was 87...

Graham, who served three terms in the Senate, made an unsuccessful bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, emphasizing his opposition to the Iraq invasion.

But his bid was delayed by heart surgery in January 2003, and he was never able to gain enough traction with voters to catch up, bowing out that October. He didn’t seek reelection in 2004 and was replaced by Republican Mel Martinez.

Graham was a man of many quirks. He perfected the “workdays” political gimmick of spending a day doing various jobs from horse stall mucker to FBI agent and kept a meticulous diary, noting almost everyone he spoke with, everything he ate, the TV shows he watched and even his golf scores...

Graham's name came up often during the 2008 Presidential cycle as a possible Veep pick for Barack Obama, but the thing about his diaries came up and it got to be a joke that having someone that dedicated to writing everything down wouldn't be a good thing in the Oval Office. Alas.

Graham was a major figure in Florida in my youth - when my family moved here in 1977 - and had put his name to a lot of early efforts towards wildlife and shoreline preservation as the development boom of the 1980s shook the state. They literally added his name to the reconstructed Sunshine Skyway Bridge as he was a major proponent of getting a larger, grander span installed after the 1980 tragedy that collapsed the first one.

 

See the sail-like cables holding up the span?
Graham signed off on that. One of the earliest 
bridge designs using that look, and quickly became
popular for a lot of other bridges.
from Wikipedia Commons.

Graham was also one of those national figures from the days when bipartisanship actually worked, who had built up a solid reputation for inquiry and administrative detail. He was one of the few who challenged Dubya's claims to invade (and occupy) Iraq. He was also the last of the big-name Democrats - alongside Lawton Chiles - who helped lead Florida before the partisan takeover by the Far Right Republicans by the early 2000s.

Graham was also a Florida alum (Class of 1959) with a dedicated Bob Graham Center for Public Service named after him (I'll be lucky - with my resume - to get a brick outside Library West graffitied with my name on it).

So, for all the party-goers at the Swamp restaurant across the campus on University Avenue, pour a glass out for Bob. 

(Gets told they tore that restaurant down for a Wawa convenience store)

WHAT THE HELL?! Bloody developers took over the city council, didn't they? /headdesk

Are there ANY drinking pubs across the street from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium? ANY?!

Ugh. Thank the Gods that Bob's not around to see this travesty.

Go Gators.