Jim Graham

Scottish born American politician (1945–2017)

James McMillan Nielson Graham (August 26, 1945 – June 11, 2017) was a Scottish born American politician and a member of the Council of the District of Columbia. As a Democrat he represented Ward 1 in Washington, D. C. from 1999 until 2015.

Graham was born on August 26, 1945, in Wishaw, Scotland. Graham's parents, neither of whom had high school degrees, settled in Hyattsville, Maryland, after immigrating to the United States from Scotland. A graduate of Michigan State University where he was a student politician and vice president of the National Student Association, Graham received a J. D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School and a L. L. M. from Georgetown University Law Center. Graham worked as a clerk for Chief Justice Earl Warren and held a staff attorney position with the U. S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee (chaired by Senator Abe Ribicoff, D Connecticut). Graham served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and George Washington University, as well as supervising instructor at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Graham was licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and before the U. S. Supreme Court. Prior to taking a seat on the city council, Graham was executive director of the Whitman Walker Clinic, a nonprofit organization providing services to people in Washington who have HIV and AIDS. Graham was a recovering alcoholic and came out as gay after leaving federal employment. He was the second openly gay elected official in D. C., after David Catania.

In October 1979, Graham joined Whitman Walker Clinic's board. He helped the clinic survive its initial funding crises and in April 1981 became president of the board. Within three years, he became the executive director, leading the clinic's response to AIDS for 15 years (1984–1999). Under his leadership the clinic became a leading HIV/AIDS institution, with more than 1,200 volunteers, 270 full time employees, and satellite operations in Southeast Washington, Maryland and Virginia. When Graham left Whitman Walker in January 1999, it had become one of the most comprehensive community based medical organizations responding to HIV/AIDS in the country. In 1984, dismayed by the quality of legal support, Graham himself undertook the legal aid counseling of those with AIDS for 18 months: "I went to dying people to straighten out their legal affairs in addition to other duties. It carried me right into the trenches; it created the whole experience. I vividly remember going to the bedsides, the horrible circumstances. It was extremely emotional." In an oral history for the Rainbow History Project, Graham commented, "We've had one of the greatest epidemics of all time and this was the history, the history of the community banding together and helping itself. It was a phenomenal story."

Graham died June 11, 2017, at George Washington University Hospital from complications related to an infection and from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

In early 2005, Graham was accused (allegedly by Washington businessman Sinclair Skinner) of driving historically African American businesses from the neighborhoods of Columbia Heights, Shaw, and the U Street corridor. The Washington City Paper reported on the accusation:

In early 2005, just as the Club U issue was heating up, posters portraying Graham as a reptile holding a pitchfork labeled "Grahamzilla" appeared on light poles and street signs around the ward. Another set of posters depicted Graham standing on a porch partying with young white men at the Graham "plantation." The latter included an illustration showing "Graham opponents" hanging from a gallows. The posters stretched the limits of political speech and disappeared quickly after they were put up. On September 24, 2009, Graham's Chief of Staff, Ted Loza, was arrested by the FBI and charged with two counts of accepting bribes. The indictment alleges that Loza accepted two payments and promised to promote the legislation and policies concerning D. C. taxi cabs that the alleged briber wanted. Graham was the chairman of the committee that oversees taxi cab regulation, but voluntarily gave up oversight of cabs after Loza's arrest. The District of Columbia Board of Ethics and Government Accountability found substantial evidence that Graham asked a developer to withdraw its bid for a real estate project so that another firm, who had donated to Graham, could win the bid. In exchange, Graham offered to support the firm's bid for a lottery contract, violating the District employees code of conduct. Graham described his actions as political horsetrading rather than anything illegal or unethical.