“His workdays are an extension of his belief in a personal style of governing,” Graham’s U.S. senate colleagues wrote in a farewell address read onto the Senate floor when Graham retired. “By working closely with Floridians, Graham learned about the hopes and challenges they face. For him, there was no substitute for that kind of on-the-job experience.”

Governor Graham

The gimmick helped Graham — whose father had run unsuccessfully for governor 34 years earlier — win the 1978 governor’s race. His campaign included a fight song: “Bob Graham is a cracker. Be a Graham cracker backer.” Graham was known for singing at campaign rallies.

During his eight years as governor — he was reelected in 1982 with 64% of the vote — Graham developed a reputation for late hours, early-morning staff calls, and a preference for hard work over back-slapping. He ran habitually late for meetings and appointments due to long conversations, though his disinterest in chit chat also led some to incorrectly believe he was aloof.

And yet, Graham — whose transformation from intellectual to “ordinary guy” might be exemplified by his decision to move away from the name D. Robert Graham to just Bob — could also be flamboyant and self-deprecating.

In 1986, during the annual Tallahassee press skits — playful hazing among Capitol reporters that often included a “rebuttal” from the governor — Graham arrived in full military garb, backed by the Florida A&M Marching 100, to declare himself “governor for life.” Another year, Graham showed up with the late crooner Jimmy Buffett, a friend, and they sang a version of the singer’s “Margaritaville” that they called “Wasting Away in Tallahassee.”

By that time, Graham had won over fans and critics alike, with most detractors begrudgingly acknowledging his successes.

Still, Graham’s first year as governor was seen as slow and his ambition so broad as to be somewhat aimless, earning him the nickname “Governor Jello.” And he faced intense challenges.

He was governor of Florida in April of 1980 when then-Cuban dictator Fidel Castro — reacting to thousands of Cubans seeking refuge at the Peruvian Embassy on the communist island — opened the floodgates for masses of Cuban and Haitian refugees who wanted to escape. An estimated 125,000 Cuban "balseros," many aboard makeshift vessels, some released from prisons and mental health institutions, made the 90-mile trek across the Florida Straits, catching the Jimmy Carter administration off-guard.

Robert McKnight, at the time a state senator representing Miami-Dade and the Florida Keys, recalled in a 2018 op-ed that on April 20, when the first of hundreds of boats began arriving in Key West, an aide to Graham fetched him in Tallahassee to join Graham in the governor’s office at the state Capitol. McKnight said that when he and his wife arrived, they found the governor, his staff and a Key West state representative shouting, with then-Miami Congressman Dante Fascell, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, who was on a speaker phone.

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