On Monday, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham became the ninth Republican to cast his bid in the 2016 presidential race.

She is "ready to be commander-in-chief on day one," said the Republican senator during a speech in his hometown of Central, South Carolina, reports ABC News.

"I'm pretty sure no one here, including me, ever expected to hear me say, 'I'm Lindsey Graham, and I'm running for president of the United States,'" he said to loud cheers.

During his announcement speech, the retired Air Colonel made note of his experience in foreign policy and put emphasis on the threat of ISIS against the United States. The senator served in the military for 33 years, according to his campaign website.

"I have more experience with our national security than any other candidate in this race. That includes you, Hillary," he said taking a jab at Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. "I know the players, I know our friends and I know our enemies alike -- but most importantly, ladies and gentlemen, they know me."

The GOP war hawk also took shots at President Obama's foreign policy approach against ISIS.

"The Obama Administration, and some of my colleagues in Congress, have substituted wishful thinking for sound national security strategy. I want to be president to defeat the enemies trying to kill us, not just penalize them or criticize them or contain them, but defeat them," he said. 

"Simply put, radical Islam is running wild," Sen. Graham added. "They are large, they are rich, they're entrenched. As president I will make them small, poor and on the run."

Sen. Graham faces stiff competition from popular Republican candidates like Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul.

Last week, former New York Gov. George Pataki announced his run for the White House in a campaign video titled "Announcement," which was published on YouTube and his website Thursday morning. In the video, Pataki touted the fact that he was a three-term governor in "a very deep blue state."