Mike Gravel | |
|---|---|
 Gravel in 1973 | |
| United States Senator from Alaska | |
| In office January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1981 | |
| Preceded by | Ernest Gruening |
| Succeeded by | Frank H. Murkowski |
| 3rd Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives | |
| In office January 25, 1965 – January 22, 1967 | |
| Preceded by | Bruce Kendall |
| Succeeded by | Bill Boardman |
| Member of the Alaska House of Representatives from the 8th district | |
| In office January 23, 1963 – January 22, 1967 | |
| Preceded by | John S. Hellenthal |
| Succeeded by | Michael F. Beirne |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Maurice Robert Gravel May 13, 1930 Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | June 26, 2021 (aged 91) Seaside, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic (before 2008, 2010–2021) |
| Other political affiliations | Libertarian (2008–2010) |
| Spouses | Rita Martin
(m. 1959; div. 1981)Whitney Stewart (m. 1984) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Columbia University (BS) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1951–1954 |
| Rank |  First Lieutenant |
Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel (/ɡrəˈvɛl/ grə-VELL; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician and writer who represented Alaska in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party. He ran for president twice: in 2008, and 2020.
Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.
As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted an unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980.
An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party, and joined the Libertarian Party, to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute.