TALLAHASSEE — As he stood in line Friday in the old Capitol to pay final respects to the late Florida Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, James Stansbury sported a 45-year-old Father’s Day gift he had bought for his dad. He was wearing a Bob Graham Florida tie purchased when he was a student at Florida State University. The tie is a Graham memento a Tallahassee clothier had designed in the 1970s when Graham was first elected governor. Stansbury recalled several encounters he had with Graham as a student and state employee, and then after Graham retired as an elected official. “He always had time to talk. He didn’t have an entourage or anything like that. It would just be him. A humble servant of the people, always willing to listen, always accessible," said Stansbury, a state land use planner. Graham's legacy, according to Stansbury and a dozen other mourners, is a lasting bond with Floridians like one no other politician ever had – or is likely to create again. 

His casket was topped with a mix of Florida greenery, palms and citrus, including orchids, magnolias, kumquats and Spanish moss. An honor guard of military and law enforcement officers brought the casket inside to the FAMU Gospel Choir singing Aretha Franklin's "Walk in the Light." Graham died April 16 in Gainesville with wife Adele and other family by his side. The 87-year-old Democratic governor and U.S. senator suffered a stroke in 2020 and retired from public life. He had served a total of 38 years in elected office. Those who were interviewed during what became a three-hour lying in state at the old Capitol remembered the man they considered an exceptional Floridian, a statesman who placed good public policy over partisan advantage.   

“We worked a lot together when I was mayor of Tampa on transportation, growth management and the 6-cent sales tax,” said Republican former Gov. Bob Martinez, who succeeded Graham as governor. “And when I was elected governor, I couldn’t have asked for a better transition.”

Graham was a multi-millionaire south Florida politician and Harvard Law grad, a patrician who embraced what it's like to work for a living so that he could do a better job. A dare by a high school civics teacher for him to teach for a day led to the creation of Graham “work days” in which he would do “ordinary jobs” for eight hours, seeing a Florida he did not know.  

What the media considered a political gimmick, according to Graham confidants, provided experiences that would inform the policies Graham would later advocate. “You learn by walking in other people’s shoes, by getting into the nitty-gritty of what human beings around you are dealing with,” said state Rep. Allison Tant, D-Tallahassee, who as a Florida State student interned in Graham’s office. 

Graham was a noted diarist who recorded his work days and other interactions with people in small spiral notebooks. A New York Times analysis of his notes once found that, outside his official duties, he had worked more than 921 “ordinary jobs” in 109 cities in five states as an elected official. Those jobs included eight-hour shifts as a short order cook, a bellhop, social worker, plumber, citrus packer, tomato picker, road worker, garbage man, circus clown and tree trimmer, among other gigs. 

As governor, Graham championed environmental protection, public schools, social services and growth management to accommodate a growing population. He earned high marks – an 83% approval rating – and is credited with creating 1.2 million jobs and raising the state’s per capita income above the national average for the first time. 

“Early on, a lot of people called him ‘Gov. Jello’ because he didn’t seem to have a fixed position, but I think that masks the fact he really was listening and learning,” said John Hedrick, a retired assistant public defender in Tallahassee and a longtime Democratic Party activist.  

Tony Carvajal, the executive director of the Association of Florida Colleges, said he'd become disillusioned with the political process early in his career. Then he moved into Graham's orbit and found that he seemed to take an interest in and have respect for everyone, regardless of the person’s status. “He held one of the highest positions in the U.S. Senate (chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee), but he would take the time to bring you along, not by force but by connecting with you,” Carvajal said. He added: “He came from wealth. You knew he was highly educated. You knew he was in the military. But he never made you feel he was any of those things. He got me back to doing public policy.” Numerous mourners, like Carvajal and Tant, credit Graham for setting them on their career paths.  

Former Tallahassee Mayor John Marks said he was a 27-year-old Air Force veteran with a law degree when Graham called to inquire if he was interested in being a Public Service Commissioner. “He gave me that catalyst, the jumpstart that I am extremely proud of and grateful that he did,” said Marks, whom Graham named to the commission, which regulates investor-owned utilities. “He said, ‘If you’re on the (PSC), I expect you to do your job. If you need me, I am here but I expect you to do your job and if you do, I doubt that you will hear from me again.’ ” Marks got the appointment. The next time he saw Graham was two years later when the governor asked him to vet another candidate for the commission. “A lot of the things I accomplished are a result of the confidence he had in me as a young, young guy,” Marks said. 

Noted lobbyist Ron Book added: “I’m here because of the guy that gave me everything that I became,” he said, standing near the Graham casket. Book was Graham’s director of legislative affairs. He said Graham would not let the Legislature end the session until he was satisfied with how money was distributed to individual school districts. “He wanted to know everyone was getting their fair share,” said Book, a prominent lobbyist whose clients include nonprofits such as Best Buddies International and 20 cities, school boards, and hospital districts. 
 

Former Florida Senate President Jim Scott, a Republican from Fort Lauderdale, served in the state Senate with Graham. He called him a great friend who understood that partisan politics ends on Election Day. “We were taught, and Graham was of that mold, that you were elected as a Democrat or Republican, but then you’re a senator. Or then you’re a governor. (And) you govern based on the whole state, and you deal with policy,” Scott said. 
 

After he left the U.S. Senate in 2004, Graham founded the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida and wrote at least six books, including “America, the Owner’s Manual: You Can Fight City Hall – and Win.” Matthew Jacobs, executive director of the Bob Graham Center, said Graham’s life's work was to get “to know people on their terms, connecting with them and figuring out how to do the most good." He said “America, the Owner’s Manual” is given to students at the center "so they can learn how to impact their local communities and pursue change.” 

Doug Cook, a former budget director under the late Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles, put Graham in the context of a pantheon of Florida leaders including Chiles, and former Govs. Reubin Askew and Leroy Collins. “They built modern Florida,” Cook said. “They were always focused on the people of Florida. And they were devoted to Florida. We’re a better state because of them.” 

And Bud Chiles, of Tallahassee, a son of Gov. Chiles, said people were asking him, " 'Why do people here look so joyful today?’ I say it’s because people have such a remembrance of a great leader who really cared about the average Floridian, their problems, their concerns and (who) dedicated his life to meeting those needs.“He put that above power, fame, money and made the sacrifices that he needed to make," Chiles added. “It was a golden age, that started with ... Gov. Collins and continued into the sixties and seventies with the election of my dad, Bob Graham and Gov. Askew.

“I think that’s why people are smiling. Those were great days.”