Passed away at the age of 91.
Mike Gravel was born in Massachusetts to French-Canadian Quebecois diaspora parents and didn't speak any language but Lingua Francois until the age of seven. He was raised Catholic, was an average student, wanted to join the Israeli Defense Forces in 1947 but dissuaded from such but did serve in the US Military from 1951-54 to avoid being drafted and rose to the rank of First Lieutenant while working in Counter-Intelligence.
He then moved to Alaska where he worked in Real Estate and joined the Democratic Party in 1958 and was best known for dressing up as Paul Revere while advocating for Tax Reform in regards to lowering taxes, a more efficient government and curbing socialism. He won the seat for Senator of Alaska in 1969 and held that seat until 1981. While in office, he opposed nuclear testing, anti-ballistic missile testing, nuclear power, the Vietnam War, ending the draft and publishing the Pentagon Papers in his first Senate term.
He also supported basic minimum income (ie UBI) the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, more adherence to United Nations conventions, and in a political decision that would cost him his Senate seat, opposed then President Jimmy Carter's initiative to compromise the use of Alaskan land, ceding some of the vast federal Alaskan territorial holdings to state control and ceding others to the establishment of national parks and wildlife refuges. Despite his filibuster however the bill passed and much of Alaskan territory was put under the protection of various Federal and State government agencies. He lost his Senate seat to Frank Murkowski, the father of current moderate US Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski in 1981.
A decade later he returned to politics advocating 'direct democracy' which would have many government initiatives put to National Popular Vote. He was also outspoken on on the Iraq War, advocating single payer Health Care, a FairTax system, public transportation, publicly funded elections, marriage equality and reparation payments not just for African-Americans but many victims of US imperialism, which gained much publicity when he ran for the Democratic Nomination for President in 2008. He withdrew after several polls when he only received less then half a percent of the vote and later that year joined the Libertarian Party. He then left the Libertarian Party to run as a Democrat in the 2020 election where he fared even worse.
What he's clearly best known for is this campaign ad however:
He made a sequel but it wasn't that cool for his 2020 campaign.
His website posted two complimentary op-eds dedicated to the mans life.
Mike Gravel was born in Massachusetts to French-Canadian Quebecois diaspora parents and didn't speak any language but Lingua Francois until the age of seven. He was raised Catholic, was an average student, wanted to join the Israeli Defense Forces in 1947 but dissuaded from such but did serve in the US Military from 1951-54 to avoid being drafted and rose to the rank of First Lieutenant while working in Counter-Intelligence.
He then moved to Alaska where he worked in Real Estate and joined the Democratic Party in 1958 and was best known for dressing up as Paul Revere while advocating for Tax Reform in regards to lowering taxes, a more efficient government and curbing socialism. He won the seat for Senator of Alaska in 1969 and held that seat until 1981. While in office, he opposed nuclear testing, anti-ballistic missile testing, nuclear power, the Vietnam War, ending the draft and publishing the Pentagon Papers in his first Senate term.
He also supported basic minimum income (ie UBI) the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, more adherence to United Nations conventions, and in a political decision that would cost him his Senate seat, opposed then President Jimmy Carter's initiative to compromise the use of Alaskan land, ceding some of the vast federal Alaskan territorial holdings to state control and ceding others to the establishment of national parks and wildlife refuges. Despite his filibuster however the bill passed and much of Alaskan territory was put under the protection of various Federal and State government agencies. He lost his Senate seat to Frank Murkowski, the father of current moderate US Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski in 1981.
A decade later he returned to politics advocating 'direct democracy' which would have many government initiatives put to National Popular Vote. He was also outspoken on on the Iraq War, advocating single payer Health Care, a FairTax system, public transportation, publicly funded elections, marriage equality and reparation payments not just for African-Americans but many victims of US imperialism, which gained much publicity when he ran for the Democratic Nomination for President in 2008. He withdrew after several polls when he only received less then half a percent of the vote and later that year joined the Libertarian Party. He then left the Libertarian Party to run as a Democrat in the 2020 election where he fared even worse.
What he's clearly best known for is this campaign ad however:
He made a sequel but it wasn't that cool for his 2020 campaign.
His website posted two complimentary op-eds dedicated to the mans life.