“He‘s just a very decent person,” Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a fellow Senate Armed Services Committee member, said in 2008. “He’s unpretentious, unassuming. He never forgets that what we’re doing is enmeshed with the lives of the people he represents.”
A Washington insider and former prosecutor known for his professorial bearing, Levin took a civil but straightforward approach that allowed him to work effectively with Republicans and fellow Democrats. He was especially astute on defense matters thanks to his years as the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
And he didn’t fear speaking his mind.
Carl Levin, Michigan s longest-serving senator, has died at 87
July 29, 2021 / 11:49 PM / AP
Former Senator 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.
Carl Levin, the Senate Scourge of Corporate America, Dies at 87
The longest-serving U.S. senator in Michigan history, Mr. Levin was regarded by colleagues and Washington observers as a paragon of probity.
Senator Carl Levin of Michigan in 2007.Credit.Doug Mills/The New York Times
July 29, 2021
Carl Levin, a liberal Michigan Democrat who served 36 years in the Senate and scared the wits out of America’s biggest C.E.O.s by demanding explanations for shadowy schemes that hid billions in profits overseas and avoided vast corporate taxes at home, died on Thursday in Detroit. He was 87.
His death was confirmed by the Levin Center at Wayne State University. Mr. Levin had disclosed in March that he had lung cancer, Jim Townsend, a spokesman for the family, said.
Carl Levin, longtime Democratic US senator, dies
Bloomberg via Getty Images
Carl Levin
By Paul LeBlanc, CNN
Carl Levin, a former US senator from Michigan who advanced Democratic priorities throughout his 36-year tenure in Congress, has died, the Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School said late Thursday in a statement.
“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. He was a clarion voice for a military strong enough to defend our nation and uphold American values. He was a tireless advocate for the positive role that government can play in the lives of the American people and a relentless watchdog ensuring that government programs meet their commitments,” the statement from the Levin family and Levin Center says in part.
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.