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.