--- title: Lindsey Graham Promises Boozy, Bipartisan White House description: The South Carolina Republicans says he would look to the model of Ronald Reagan: cocktails with Democrats to solve nation's problems. canonical: https://time.com/4000929/lindsey-graham-alcohol/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-17T21:15:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:48:29.525Z article:section: Politics og:title: Lindsey Graham Would Drink With Democrats as President og:description: “After a few drinks, we’re going to stop the B.S. and work together” og:url: https://time.com/4000929/lindsey-graham-alcohol/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f983397d3330c59/69885faca988ca29f76b3f11/lindsey-graham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3357 og:image:height: 1888 og:image:alt: Lindsey Graham republican presidential candidate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lindsey Graham Would Drink With Democrats as President twitter:description: “After a few drinks, we’re going to stop the B.S. and work together” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f983397d3330c59/69885faca988ca29f76b3f11/lindsey-graham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Lindsey Graham Would Raise a Glass With Democrats If Elected > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Aug 17, 2015 9:15 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham speaks during a pre-debate forum on Aug. 6, 2015, in Cleveland. Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham speaks during a pre-debate forum on Aug. 6, 2015, in Cleveland.John Minchillo—AP  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Aug 17, 2015 9:15 PM UTC Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is promising one big change if his White House bid proves successful: “If I’m President, we’re going to drink more.” The South Carolina Republican made the pledge during a Monday trip to the Iowa State Fair, a must-hit stop for political candidates from both parties. Graham, who is struggling to gain traction in the polls, was telling voters near deep-fried food booths that Republican President Ronald Reagan met with Democratic House Speaker Tip O’Neill over cocktails and the two enjoyed a warm relationship in private. Graham said that was a model he would adopt if he wins the GOP nomination and then the White House: he would drink with any Democrat who wanted to join him in addressing steep challenges facing the country, such as Social Security, national security or health care. “After a few drinks, we’re going to stop the B.S. and work together,” Graham said. Graham’s pledge of bipartisanship, however, ran counter to his description just minutes earlier of the current White House occupant, whose relationship with Congress is distant at best. “No one respects our current commander-in-chief,” Graham lamented, outlining his disagreements both foreign and domestic with Obama. “You’ve elected someone president who has never run a lemonade stand or bought a car,” the recently retired Air Force officer added. The answer, Graham proposed: “Make me commander-in-chief because we need one who knows what the hell they’re doing.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4000929/lindsey-graham-alcohol/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4000929/lindsey-graham-alcohol/"},"headline":"Lindsey Graham Would Raise a Glass With Democrats If Elected","datePublished":"2015-08-17T21:15:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:48:29.525Z","description":"South Carolina Republican promises a boozy, bipartisan White House as President","url":"https://time.com/4000929/lindsey-graham-alcohol/","keywords":["2016 Election","republicans","2016 Election","Lindsey Graham"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f983397d3330c59/69885faca988ca29f76b3f11/lindsey-graham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Elliott","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f983397d3330c59/69885faca988ca29f76b3f11/lindsey-graham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Lindsey Graham republican presidential candidate","caption":"Lindsey Graham republican presidential candidate","creditText":"John Minchillo—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4000929/lindsey-graham-alcohol/","name":"Lindsey Graham Would Raise a Glass With Democrats If Elected"}}]}] ```