Mike Gravel

Mike Gravel
Gravel in 2008
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 (1930-05-13)May 13, 1930 Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	June 26, 2021(2021-06-26) (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 (U.S. presidential nominations).

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 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.