Mike Gravel, former Alaska senator and idiosyncratic presidential candidate, has died at 91
Mike Gravel, a senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 who ran quixotic presidential bids in 2008 and 2020, died Saturday, his daughter, Lynne Mosier, told The Associated Press. He was 91 and in failing health.
Gravel's two terms in the Senate were notable for his opposition to the Vietnam War — he led an unsuccessful one-man filibuster of the draft in 1971 and read the 4,100 pages of the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record — and fighting President Jimmy Carter's actions to preserve much of Alaska as national lands. He was unseated in the 1980 Democratic primary by a candidate who went on to lose to Sen. Frank Murkowski (R).
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
