Former Sen. Carl Levin, Michigan’s longest serving senator, dies at 87
Updated:
July 30, 2021 12:01 am
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 20: Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) questions a witness during a hearing of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee November 20, 2014 in Washington, DC. The committee heard testimony on the topic of Wall Street Bank Involvement With Physical Commodities. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) (2014 Getty Images)
Former Sen. Carl Levin, a powerful voice on military issues in Washington and a staunch supporter of the auto industry back home in Michigan during his record tenure in the U.S. Senate, has died. He was 87.
He was in the minority even among his Democratic Senate colleagues when he voted against sending U.S. troops to Iraq in 2002, and two years later he said President George W. Bush’s administration had “written the book on how to mismanage a war.” He gave a cautious endorsement to President Barack Obama’s 2009 buildup of troops in Afghanistan, but later warned of “the beginnings of fraying” of Democratic support.
He was also critical of President Ronald Reagan’s buildup of nuclear weapons, saying it came at the expense of conventional weapons needed to maintain military readiness.
But, colleagues said, he almost always engendered a feeling of respect.
Mike Householder, Corey Williams And David Eggert
FILE - In this April 11, 2016 file photo, former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, left, stands with his brother, Congressman Sander Levin before an unveiling of the USS Carl M. Levin during a ceremony in Detroit. Former Sen. Carl Levin, a powerful voice for the military during his career as Michiganâs longest-serving U.S. senator, has died. The Democrat was 87. Levinâs family says Levin died Thursday, July 29, 2021.(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio File) July 29, 2021 - 8:36 PM
DETROIT (AP) â Former Sen. Carl Levin, a powerful voice on military issues in Washington and a staunch supporter of the auto industry back home in Michigan during his record tenure in the U.S. Senate, has died. He was 87.
By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER, COREY WILLIAMS and DAVID EGGERT
Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) â Former Sen. Carl Levin, a powerful voice on military issues in Washington and a staunch supporter of the auto industry back home in Michigan during his record tenure in the U.S. Senate, has died. He was 87.
The Harvard-educated civil rights attorney and former taxi driver, who for decades carried his faded 1953 auto union membership card in his wallet, died Thursday, his family and the Levin Center at Wayne State Universityâs law school announced in an evening statement.
âWe are all devastated by his loss. But we are filled with gratitude for all of the support that Carl received throughout his extraordinary life and career, enabling him to touch so many people and accomplish so much good,â the statement said.
DETROIT
Former Sen. Carl Levin, a powerful voice on military issues in Washington and a staunch supporter of the auto industry back home in Michigan during his record tenure in the U.S. Senate, has died. He was 87.
The Harvard-educated civil rights attorney and former taxi driver, who for decades carried his faded 1953 auto union membership card in his wallet, died Thursday, his family and the Levin Center at Wayne State University’s law school announced in an evening statement.
“We are all devastated by his loss. But we are filled with gratitude for all of the support that Carl received throughout his extraordinary life and career, enabling him to touch so many people and accomplish so much good,” the statement said.