Graham was born on August 10, 1922 at Saint Nazaire, Brittany, France. His father, William H. Graham, who died in 1940, met and married his wife Jeanne Marie Augereau while serving in the United States military during World War I in Saint Nazaire.
He was the United States Ambassador to Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) from 1974 to 1978. At the age of 19, Pierre left France for the United States enrolled in the Merchant Marine Academy in Kingsport, New New York After graduating, he continued to serve in the United States Navy from 1943 through 1946 as a lieutenant in the Pacific.
Graham joined the United States. Foreign Service in 1949.
He saw overseas posts as an Economic Officer in Morocco from 1951 to 1954, Political Officer in Lebanon from 1954 to 1957, as well as France from 1957 to 1958, and Deputy Principal Officer in Senegal from 1958 to 1961. He became a Personnel Officer to the United States. State Departement, in Washington, District of Columbia from 1962 to 1964.
From 1964 to 1966, he was Deputy Chief of Mission in Guinea. In 1966, he was detailed to the National War College.
He was the United States Representative to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris from 1969 to 1979.
He later became chargé d"Affaires in Jordan from 1973 to 1974. He was nominated as United States Ambassador to Upper Volta by President Nixon in 1974 and remained in that post until he retired in 1978. Graham retired in the Maureillas-las-Illas near Céret, France, in the Pyrenees Mountains close to the border between France and Spain.
