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DETROIT (AP) – Former Senator Carl Levin, a powerful voice on military matters in Washington and a staunch supporter of the auto industry in Michigan during his record-breaking tenure in the United States Senate, has passed away. He was 87 years old.
The Harvard-trained civil rights attorney and former taxi driver, who for decades had his faded 1953 auto union membership card in his wallet, died Thursday, his family and the Faculty’s Levin Center said. right from Wayne State University in an evening release.
“We are all devastated by his loss. But we are filled with gratitude for all the support Carl has received throughout his extraordinary life and career, allowing him to reach so many people and accomplish so much good, ”the statement said.
First elected to the Senate in 1978, Levin represented Michigan longer than any other senator, targeting tax shelters, supporting manufacturing jobs and pushing for military funding. His tenure is a testament to voters’ approval of the slightly crumpled and down-to-earth Detroit native, whom Time magazine ranked among the nation’s top 10 senators in 2006.
“He’s just a very decent person,” Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, another member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in 2008. “He’s unpretentious, unpretentious. He never forgets that what we do is linked to the lives of the people he represents.
A Washington insider and former prosecutor known for his scholarly demeanor, Levin took a civil but straightforward approach that allowed him to work effectively with Republicans and his fellow Democrats. He was particularly astute on defense matters thanks to his years as the first Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
And he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind.
He was in the minority – even among his fellow Democrats in the Senate – when he voted against sending US troops to Iraq in 2002, and two years later said that President George W. Bush’s administration had ” writes the book on how to mismanage a war ”. He gave cautious approval to the reinforcement of President Barack Obama’s troops in 2009 in Afghanistan, but subsequently warned of “the beginning of unraveling” of Democratic support.
He also criticized President Ronald Reagan’s build-up of nuclear weapons, saying it came at the expense of conventional weapons needed to maintain military readiness.
But, his colleagues said, it almost always engendered a sense of respect.
“We have always had a very trusting and respectful relationship,” said Republican Senator John Warner, who worked closely for years with Levin on the Armed Services Committee, once. “We’re not trying to surprise each other. The security of the nation and the well-being of the armed forces come first.
Famous for wearing his glasses on his nose, Levin appeared to be the same candid, hardworking guy everywhere he went, whether he was in front of cameras on Capitol Hill, on an overseas fact-finding mission, or lost in the crowds of ‘a college football stadium on match day.
“No one would accuse Carl Levin of looking like the Hollywood version of a US senator. He’s chubby, bald and creased at times, and he constantly wears his glasses up to the tip of his nose, ”Time magazine said in its 2006 article ranking the senator among the best in the country. “Still, the Michigan Democrat has earned the respect of both sides for his attention to detail and his in-depth knowledge of politics, especially in his role as a vigilant monitor of businesses and federal agencies.”
An enemy of fraud and waste, Levin investigated in 2002 Enron Corp., which had declared bankruptcy the previous year amid financial scandals. The investigation contributed to a new federal law that requires executives to sign financial statements so that they can be criminally responsible for publishing fictitious numbers.
Levin pushed for legislation designed to crack down on offshore tax havens, which he says costs the U.S. government at least $ 100 billion a year in lost taxes. He was also an advocate for stem cell research and gun control.
Closer to home, Levin has promoted policies that benefit the auto industry and supported the provision of $ 25 billion in loan guarantees to General Motors and Chrysler. He argued that a vibrant domestic auto industry was crucial to rebuilding the economy after the Great Recession. He was also a member of a task force supporting efforts to tackle pollution and other environmental issues affecting the Great Lakes.
“If you’ve ever worn the uniform, worked on an assembly line, or sacrificed to make ends meet, then you had a voice and a vote in Senator Carl Levin,” Obama said in 2013. “No one worked stronger to bring manufacturing jobs back to our shores, close unfair tax loopholes and make sure everyone follows the same rules.
Carl Milton Levin was born in Detroit on June 28, 1934, and he remained in Motor City for most of his life. After high school, he spent time as a taxi driver and worked on auto assembly lines to help him complete his education.
Always proud to have helped build the DeSoto and Ford trucks at a Highland Park factory, he retained his United Auto Workers membership card for decades. It ended when his wallet was stolen.
He received a BA in political science from Swarthmore College in 1956 and a law degree from Harvard in 1959. He married his wife, Barbara, two years later, and together they raised three daughters.
Levin aligned himself with his family’s strong sense of civic duty in 1964, when he was appointed deputy attorney general and first general counsel for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. Her older brother, longtime former US Representative Sander “Sandy” Levin, had a liberal voting record on many social issues, while their father sat on the Michigan Corrections Commission, a group of citizens who oversaw prison operations. , and their mother volunteered for a Jewish Organization.
Carl Levin was Michigan’s only Jewish senator. He once said that public service is in his DNA and politics was often discussed at dinner tables when he was little.
He plunged into public service when Detroit voters elected him to city council in 1969, and served as its president before toppling a Republican to win the 1978 Senate race. He won the seat five times more, but decided not to run for a seventh term in 2014.
Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer called Levin a “Michigan champion.”
“He saw what we were capable of when we came to the table as Michiganders, as Americans, to get things done,” she said. “Carl has dedicated his life to public service, and it’s up to us to follow his example.”
After his retirement, Wayne Law’s Levin Center was established to promote fact-based bipartisan oversight by Congress and state legislatures and to encourage civil dialogue on public policy issues. He chaired the center and co-taught law courses. He was also a partner and distinguished lawyer at the law firm Honigman in Detroit.
His memoir, “Getting to the Heart of the Matter: My 36 Years in the Senate,” was published in March. The Navy appointed him a destroyer to honor his years of public service.
His nephew, Andy Levin, was re-elected in 2020 to the seat of his father’s 9th Congressional District, which represents parts of the Detroit suburbs.
“Carl Levin personified integrity and the notion of placing the public good above self-interest,” said Andy Levin, calling it “the very image of sober purpose and righteousness. In truth. He wasn’t funny, in fact he often broke through tense situations with self-deprecating humor, and he privately shared incisive observations about others with staff and colleagues.
Carl Levin is survived by his wife, their three adult daughters, Kate, Laura and Erica, and several grandchildren. There will be a private funeral. Information on a public memorial will be available.
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Eggert reported from Lansing, Michigan.
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