Lindsey Graham 2016: South Carolina Senator Announces Presidential Run

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has officially launched his 2016 White House campaign in his hometown of Central, South Carolina.

Lindsey Graham underlined his foreign policy experience telling supporters: “I have more experience with our national security than any other candidate in this race. That includes you, Hillary.”

He also promised “limited and effective government” and strong national defense.

Lindsey Graham is the ninth Republican and fourth US senator to join the race for the presidential nomination.

He joined Congress in 1994, winning re-election twice.

The South Carolina senator chairs several Senate subcommittees related to security and has travelled extensively, giving him a strong foreign policy brief.

An active-duty Air Force lawyer for six years, Lindsey Graham is a 30-year veteran of the Air Force Reserve.

In his remarks on June 1, Lindsey Graham said the US would “never achieve peaceful coexistence with radical Islam”.

“I want as president to defeat the enemies that are trying to kill us. Not just penalize them, or contain them, but defeat them,” he said.

Lindsey Graham has spoken out against President Barack Obama’s foreign policy, calling for US ground troops in the fight against Islamic State (ISIS).

He said he would protect US government benefit programs like Medicare and Social Security, having known what it is like to need them himself.

In a video that preceded his speech, Lindsey Graham is described as the first in his family to go to college and a “battle-tested leader who has fought to protect the American dream”.