Carl Levin, Six-Term Senator From Michigan, Dies At 87: 'An Unstoppable Force'

Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who served six terms in the U.S. Senate, passed away on Thursday at the age of 87.

Rise To Prominence: The Detroit-born Levin graduated from Swarthmore College and Harvard Law School and served as general counsel of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission and as a special assistant attorney general for Michigan before seeking elected office in 1969 as a member of Detroit City Council. He served on the council until 1977, acting as council president beginning in 1973.

Levin won election to the U.S. Senate in 1978, defeating Republican incumbent Robert P. Griffin. By the time he left office in January 2015, he was Michigan’s longest-serving senator.

Capitol Hill Fixture: Levin was a fixture on the Senate Armed Services Committee, serving as chairman from 2001-2003 and 2007-2015 and as ranking member when the Republicans held Senate control.

Levin’s critics said he kowtowed to Detroit’s auto manufacturers such as Ford Motor Company F and General Motors GM through his vigorous opposition to raising mandatory automobile fuel efficiency standards and his advocacy for the industry’s financial rescue when the Great Recession crashed the economy. He also supported federal initiatives into the development of fuel cell vehicles.

His work on the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations included probes into misconduct by the financial services industry, including money laundering and offshore tax havens.

Levin also sought to encourage transparency in government through the authorship of bills including the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Competition in Contracting Act, the Ethics Reform Act, the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights and the Lobbying Disclosure Act.

Related Link: Michigan's Home Depot Stores Ban Hot Dog Vendors

Post-Washington Life: Following his retirement, he joined the Detroit-based law firm Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP and founded Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School to promote transparency and ethics in government and corporations.

In 2018, a federal judge named him as a mediator in a class action lawsuit against Flint and state officials including former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder over the city’s lead-contaminated water. Levin’s work resulted in a proposed $641 million settlement that is under judicial consideration.

His autobiography “Getting to the Heart of the Matter: My 36 Years in the Senate” was published by Wayne State University Press.

Jeff Donofrio, president and CEO of Business Leaders for Michigan, praised Levin as an “an unstoppable force when it came to working for the people of Michigan. He was a true gentleman, public servant, and elder statesman whose wisdom and ability to reach across the aisle will be missed.”

Photo: U.S. National Archives.