Lindsey Graham Autobiography Reveals Segregation-Era Upbringing Amid Sister’s Senate Appointment

A 2015 memoir by the late South Carolina senator details his role in desegregating his family’s cafe, as his sister takes his Senate seat.

• Graham’s 2015 autobiography recounts how he convinced his parents to allow Black customers inside their cafe in the 1970s instead of serving them through a take-out window.
• Graham acknowledged in the book that the change came “much later than it should have,” and said white customers initially refused to patronize the cafe.
• To win his 1994 congressional race, Graham relied on an endorsement from segregationist Strom Thurmond, whose Senate seat he would later take in 2003.
• On Monday, President Trump recommended Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, be appointed interim senator, and Governor Henry McMaster appointed her to serve the remainder of Graham’s term.