Lindsey Graham Reveals Why He Never Married

Lindsey Graham is currently in the fight of his life to keep his South Carolina Senate seat. While recently taking the lead over his Democratic opponent, Graham's victory is by no means assured (via 538 Blog). Part of that hesitant forecast may be due to the fact that Senator Graham is not just single, but has never married. According to Graham, he got close once. Sharing in a 2015 interview with The Herald, he says he got close once during his tenure at Rhein-Main Air Base from 1984-88. His lost love was a flight attendant for Lufthansa named Sylvia. She was the roommate of his roommate's girlfriend (which same roommate couple later went on to marry themselves).

As for how close they actually got to marriage, we'll probably never know, but Graham did reveal a bit about the reasons they didn't stay together. "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," he describes, explaining the marriage-that-wasn't to his audience.

Why he never met anyone else, maybe there's a reason — maybe there's not. Either way, he has never issued an official statement on the rest as far as we are aware.

But one thing is for sure, a lack of a spouse can be a disadvantage in political Washington. Now, we don't mean that unmarried people are in any way less than those who've tied the knot. Politically, we are referring to the networking and campaigning power of two vs one. There's a definite political advantage for those with a savvy and engaged partner. There's a lengthy history of influential Senate spouses from Abigail Adams and Dolley Madison to Eleanor Roosevelt and Nancy Reagan (via U.S. Senate). 

The power of a smart women (or man) to help make connections in the incredibly complex political arena can only been seen as a benefit to most candidates. While there's no hard and fast rule against a lone representative, there's definitely benefits to a great partnership. Instead, Graham hits the roads solo.