Voters and the press, especially television news programs, loved it, and he limited reporters’ access to show he was seeking insights into working lives, not pulling stunts. Whatever his motives, “Workdays” became a campaign staple, enabling Mr. Graham to win two terms as governor (1979-1987), three terms in the Senate (1987-2005) and a heady but hopeless run for the White House in 2003.

When he retired from the Senate after 38 years of public life, Mr. Graham, an obsessive diarist of minutiae that read like an hourly log, had itemized all his “Workdays” experiences as well as his activities as governor, senator and presidential aspirant. The record showed that, outside his official duties, he had worked in 921 more-or-less ordinary jobs in 109 cities and five states.

The political allure of “Workdays” had long ago faded, of course, but almost every published profile of him mentioned it, along with his quirky diary, courtly manners and tendency to be long winded. Still, he promoted “Workdays” to the last. Announcing his presidential candidacy, he said he would resume the practice in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

“I have a reputation, that is not undeserved, as being more of an understated person, and I’m not easily aroused to fervent, some people would say charismatic levels,” he said in a campaign interview with The New York Times. “But I think maybe what the American people want right now is someone who can give them a sense of steady leadership, as opposed to an emotional jolt.”

He had always relied on steady progress. As Florida’s 38th governor, he won high marks for educational strides in public schools and universities; economic programs that added 1.2 million jobs and raised per capita income above national averages for the first time, and environmental policies that brought fragile lands like the Everglades under state protection. He was easily re-elected in 1982, and left office as one of Florida’s most popular politicians, with an 83 percent voter-approval rating.