Former Michigan Sen. Carl Levin dies at 87
Carl Levin, Michigan's longest-serving senator, died on Thursday. He was 87.
In a statement, Levin's family said that "whether he was chairing a hearing on critical national security issues or working on behalf of his home state, he believed that collaboration and compromise served our common purpose better than partisanship and political brinkmanship."
Levin, a Democrat, represented Michigan in the Senate from 1979 until his retirement in 2015. Before going to Congress, the Harvard Law graduate worked at the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, was a public defender in his hometown of Detroit, and sat on the Detroit City Council.
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
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
During his time in the Senate, Levin pushed for tax reform and the creation of more manufacturing jobs in the United States, raised pay for military members, and voted against the Iraq War. Levin's memoir, Getting to the Heart of the Matter, was released earlier this year, and in the book he shared that because he was once a local official, "I understand the importance of responding to people in need, listening to even the smallest voice, and working hard on behalf of the people with honesty, integrity, and civility."
Politics is a Levin family affair — his older brother, Sander Levin, was a longtime Democratic congressman, representing Michigan's 9th Congressional District, and his nephew Rep. Andy Levin (D) now holds that seat. Levin is survived by his wife, Barbara, and daughters Erica, Laura, and Kate.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Will California’s Proposition 50 kill gerrymandering reform?Talking Points Or is opposing Trump the greater priority for voters?
-
‘The trickle of shutdowns could soon become a flood’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Wikipedia: Is ‘neutrality’ still possible?Feature Wikipedia struggles to stay neutral as conservatives accuse the site of being left-leaning
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
-
Trump nominee in limbo after racist texts leakSpeed Read Paul Ingrassia lost Republican support following the exposure of past racist text messages
-
Trump begins East Wing demolition for ballroomspeed read The president’s new construction will cost $250 million
-
Appeals court clears Trump’s Portland troop deploymentSpeed Read A divided federal appeals court ruled that President Trump can send the National Guard to Portland
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
-
DOJ indicts John Bolton over classified filesSpeed Read Continuing the trend of going after his political enemies, Trump prosecutes his former national security adviser
-
Trump, Putin set summit as Zelenskyy lands in DCSpeed Read Trump and Putin have agreed to meet in Budapest soon to discuss ending the war in Ukraine
-
Courts deal setbacks to Trump’s Chicago operationsSpeed Read President Donald Trump cannot deploy the National Guard in Illinois
