U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is expected to formally announce his candidacy for president of the United States on June 1 in his hometown of Central.
In a Monday interview on "CBS This Morning," the S.C. Republican said he will tell everyone what he's "going to do about running for president" before explaining why he's running.
"I'm running because of what you see on television. I'm running because I think the world is falling apart," Graham said on the morning show.
On Jan. 18, Graham was interviewed by Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press" and said he was setting up a testing-the-waters committee under the IRS code that would allow him to look beyond South Carolina to see if there was a viable path for him to make a run.
Two weeks later, on Jan. 28, Graham gave the committee an identity. His Security Through Strength committee funded his travels around the country to gauge support for a potential presidential run.
In his Monday interview, Graham all but confirmed his candidacy.
Graham said it's not the fault of others or their lack of "this or that" that makes him want to run. Rather, it's what he feels he can bring to the table.
"It's my ability in my own mind to be a good commander in chief and to make Washington work," Graham said. "The reason I had six primary opponents in my last election is that I've been accused of working with Democrats too much. In my view, Democrats and Republicans work together too little, and I would try to change that if I got to be president."
Graham was elected to the Senate in 2002 and re-elected in 2008, garnering more than 1 million votes - becoming the top vote-getter in South Carolina's history, according to his website.
He was elected to the U.S. House in 1994 as the first Republican from the Third Congressional District of South Carolina since 1877.
Before his service in the House, he served in the United States Air Force and more than six years on active duty as an Air Force lawyer.
Graham graduated from D.W. Daniel High School near Clemson and earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of South Carolina.
Derrek Asberry is the SRS reporter for the Aiken Standard.