Sen. Lindsey Graham says he’s not “defective” because he’s single. While he’s “been close once” to marrying a woman, he’s unsure why he never did so. And he said that if voters want a John F. Kennedy-esque clan in the White House, they should look elsewhere.

“If you are looking for Camelot, I’m not your guy,” Graham said in an interview. “If you’re looking for glitz and glamour, I’m probably the worst choice in the bunch. If you are looking for a determined person to be president, I think I can fill that bill.”


Since entering the race for the GOP nomination last week, the 59-year-old Graham has received his share of media coverage over his status as a bachelor, a rarity for a president. His personal life also has been the cause of quips in the back-slapping Senate, with the likes of Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk caught on mic Thursday, referring to Graham as a “bro with no ho.” Graham himself generated a flood of headlines this week when he suggested he would have a “rotating first lady” to fill the spot if he became president.

“Well, I’ve got a sister. She could play that role if necessary,” Graham said in an interview with Daily Mail Online published earlier this week. “I’ve got a lot of friends. We’ll have a rotating first lady.”

“It was a joke,” Graham told POLITICO.

A single president would be rare but not unprecedented. James Buchanan was a lifelong bachelor and the only president who never married, while Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson married while in office.

Graham’s single status has much to do with his complicated family life, his friends say. As a college student at the University of South Carolina, both of his parents died within 15 months when his sister, Darline, was barely a teenager. He returned home from school on the weekends to take care of her, later becoming his sister’s legal guardian as he entered the Air Force in 1982 so she could receive medical benefits.

“I’ve been close once early on, [as I was] taking care of my sister,” Graham said when asked why he never married. “It’s something I really don’t know the answer to, other than I think it’s OK. At the end of the day, there’s nothing wrong about not being married. Having a marriage and a good family and children is a blessing. But I don’t think I’m a defective person by any means.”

He added: “I don’t think there’s anything in the Constitution that says single people need not apply for president. And if it bothers some people, then they won’t vote for me. I offer what I offer.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Graham’s best friend in the Senate, offered this assessment: “I know he’s dated some attractive women from time to time, but I’ve never seen him get real serious.”

McCain added with a big laugh: “I’ve often told Lindsey that he couldn’t find anybody that loves him as much as he does.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) hugs is sister Darline Graham Nordone on stage as he announces his candidacy for United States President during an outdoor event for supporters on June 1, 2015 in Central, South Carolina.

How voters view a bachelor as a candidate is uncertain. Over the years, polls have shown that fewer U.S. adults are married, a trend that presidential historian Julian Zelizer said could mean “much less resistance” these days to a non-traditional candidate.

Not having a wife by his side could also rob Graham of a valuable surrogate on the campaign trail, as his rivals — like Rand Paul and Hillary Clinton — dispatch their spouses to rally supporters. But Graham said his sister, Darline Graham Nordone, who works in vocational rehabilitation in South Carolina and has two daughters, would fill that void.

“She’s played a big role in my life,” Graham said, growing emotional. “Yes, she’ll play a big role in the campaign. She’s my No. 1 fan. Of all the things I’m proud of, how she turned out I’m proud of the most.”

Even though he’s single and has no children, Graham says he has close family, including an aunt and uncle who took care of him and his sister after his parents died in the mid-1970s.

“You can be single and still have family,” Graham said. “I very much have family — my aunt and uncle, I try to take care of because they took care of me.”

“There are millions of people who are single. I don’t think they need to answer, ‘Why are you single?’” he added. “What they need to be able to prove is, ‘Can you do the job?’ … Again, I don’t think there’s anything disqualifying about being single. But that will be up to the American people.”