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'''Maurice Robert''' "'''Mike'''" '''Gravel''' (born May 13, 1930) is an American politician who served as a [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from Alaska from 1969 to 1981. A member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], he ran for U.S. president in the 2008 election and in the 2020 election.
'''Maurice Robert''' "'''Mike'''" '''Gravel''' (born May 13, 1930) is an American politician who served as a [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from Alaska from 1969 to 1981. A former member of the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]], he ran for U.S. president in the 2008 election.


Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel served in the U.S. Army in West Germany, and later graduated from the Columbia University School of General Studies. He moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967 and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.
Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel served in the U.S. Army in West Germany, and later graduated from the Columbia University School of General Studies. He moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967 and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.


As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful but unsuccessful attempts to end the draft during the [[War in Vietnam]] and for putting the ''Pentagon Papers'' into the public record in 1971 at some risk to himself. He conducted an unusual campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was reelected to the Senate in 1974, but gradually alienated his Alaskan constituents, and his bid for a third term was defeated in a primary election in 1980.
As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful but unsuccessful attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam and for putting the ''Pentagon Papers'' into the public record in 1971 at some risk to himself. He conducted an unusual campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was reelected to the Senate in 1974, but gradually alienated his Alaskan constituents, and his bid for a third term was defeated in a primary election in 1980.


Gravel returned to business ventures and went through difficult times, suffering corporate and personal bankruptcies amid poor health. He has been an advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative.
Gravel returned to business ventures and went through difficult times, suffering corporate and personal bankruptcies amid poor health. He has been an advocate of direct democracy and the [[National Initiative]].


In April 2006 Gravel began a run for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States to promote those ideas. His campaign gained an Internet following and national attention due to forceful, humorous, and politically unorthodox debate appearances during 2007, but he found very little support in national polls or the 2008 caucuses and primaries. In March 2008 he left the Democratic Party and joined the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] to compete for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the [[Libertarian Platform]]. At the [[2008 Libertarian National Convention|Libertarian National Convention of 2008]], he failed on both counts. He subsequently became an executive for a marijuana products company and continued to speak out about various political issues and candidates.
In April 2006 Gravel began a run for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States to promote those ideas. His campaign gained an Internet following and national attention due to forceful, humorous, and politically unorthodox debate appearances during 2007, but he found very little support in national polls or the 2008 caucuses and primaries. In March 2008 he left the Democratic Party and joined the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] to compete for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the [[Libertarian Platform]]. At the [[2008 Libertarian National Convention|Libertarian National Convention of 2008]], he failed on both counts. He subsequently became an executive for a marijuana products company and continued to speak out about various political issues and candidates.
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Launching his bid in April 2019, Gravel ran for president again in the 2020 election, in a campaign designed as a democratic project rather than with the intent to win. He met the donor threshold to qualify for the second of the Democratic Party debates, but was not invited. His campaign ended four months after it began.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gravel meets donor threshold to qualify for Democratic primary debate |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jul/13/mike-gravel-2020-candidate-meets-donor-threshold-n/ |last=http://www.washingtontimes.com |first=The Washington Times |website=The Washington Times |language=en-US |access-date=2020-05-12}}</ref>
Launching his bid in April 2019, Gravel ran for president again in the 2020 election, in a campaign designed as a democratic project rather than with the intent to win. He met the donor threshold to qualify for the second of the Democratic Party debates, but was not invited. His campaign ended four months after it began.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gravel meets donor threshold to qualify for Democratic primary debate |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jul/13/mike-gravel-2020-candidate-meets-donor-threshold-n/ |last=http://www.washingtontimes.com |first=The Washington Times |website=The Washington Times |language=en-US |access-date=2020-05-12}}</ref>


== Early life, military service, education ==
== Biography ==
Gravel was born on May 13, 1930 in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.<ref>[http://www.wargs.com/political/gravel.html Mike Gravel genealogy], Wargs.</ref><ref name="cby-182">''Current Biography Yearbook 1972'', p. 182.</ref><ref name="gravel-70">Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', pp. 69–70.</ref>
Gravel was born on May 13, 1930 in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.<ref>[http://www.wargs.com/political/gravel.html Mike Gravel genealogy], Wargs.</ref><ref name="cby-182">''Current Biography Yearbook 1972'', p. 182.</ref><ref name="gravel-70">Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', pp. 69–70.</ref>


His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora,<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Thernstrom |2= |editor-first=Stephan |title=Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-674-37512-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/harvardencyclope00ther}} pp. 392, 398.</ref> and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood<ref name="repub">{{cite news |first=Jo-Ann |last=Moriarty |url=http://www.masslive.com/metrowest/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1171877454218870.xml&coll=1&thispage=1 |title=Springfield native has sights set on top job |newspaper=[[The Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts)|The Republican]] |location=Springfield |date=February 19, 2007 |access-date=July 7, 2007}}</ref> during the Great Depression,<ref name="gravel-70" /> speaking only French until he was seven years old.<ref name="wapo090907">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/04/AR2007090401794.html?sid=ST2007101600688 |title=Last |author=Leahy, Michael |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=September 9, 2007 |access-date=December 20, 2007 |authorlink=Michael Leahy (author)}}</ref> Calling him "Mike" from an early age,<ref name="cby-182" /> his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.<ref>Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', p. 74.</ref>
Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,"<ref name="nyt022776" /> and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.<ref name="wapo090907" /><ref name="salon050707" /> Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision,<ref name="nyt070271">{{cite news |url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F20D10FD3A5B1A7493C0A9178CD85F458785F9 |title=Impetuous Senator: Maurice Robert Gravel |author=Warren Weaver, Jr. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 2, 1971 |access-date=December 24, 2007 |format=fee required}}</ref> as did its newness<ref name="wapo090907" /> and cooler climate.<ref name="salon050707" />


Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic.<ref name="cby-182" /> There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia,<ref name="wapo090907" /><ref>{{cite news |publisher=[[Democracy Now!]] |title=How the Pentagon Papers Came to be Published by the Beacon Press: A Remarkable Story Told by Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, Dem Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel and Unitarian Leader Robert West |date=July 2, 2007 |url=http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/02/1331255 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703224833/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07%2F07%2F02%2F1331255 |archive-date=July 3, 2007}}</ref> and was left back in third grade.<ref>Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', p. 83.</ref> He completed elementary school in 1945<ref>Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', p. 81.</ref> and his class voted him "most charming personality".<ref name="cby-182" /> A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with "the awesomeness of political office."<ref name="cby-182" /><ref name="wapo090907" />
Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests,<ref name="odyssey-136" /> Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/10383606/?terms=%22mike%2Bgravel%22 |title=Democrats Plan Two-Day Drive For Campaign |newspaper=[[Fairbanks News-Miner]] |date=October 7, 1957 |page=10 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=April 3, 2019}}</ref><ref name="fnm-statehood">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/11709894/?terms=%22mike%2Bgravel%22 |title=Alaskan Young Demo Tells Conference Statehood Views |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Fairbanks News-Miner |date=June 23, 1958 |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=April 3, 2019}}</ref>


Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts,<ref name="cby-182" /> where his performance was initially mediocre.<ref name="nyp070371">{{cite news |title=unknown |author=Dudar, Helen |newspaper=[[New York Post]] |date=July 3, 1971}}</ref> Then an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking.<ref name="nyp070371" /> Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year<ref name="nyp070371" /> and he graduated in 1949.<ref>Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', pp. 105, 128.</ref> He has a sister, Marguerite, who became a Holy Cross nun,<ref name="cby-182" /> but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith.<ref name="uu121007">[http://www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/59987.shtml Mike Gravel's Unitarian Universalism], by Doug Muder, ''UUWorld'', December 10, 2007. Accessed December 19, 2007.</ref> He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield.<ref name="cby-182" /> Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.<ref>Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', pp. 105, 107–108.</ref>
By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature<ref name="fdnm-feb58">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/4530775 |title=Total of 30 Candidates File For Fourth Division Seats |newspaper=Fairbanks News-Miner |date=February 3, 1958 |pages=1, 3 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=April 3, 2019}}</ref> (this was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time).  Using the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he ran but lost.<ref name="salon050707" /><ref name="odyssey-136">Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', p. 136.</ref>  At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.<ref name="fnm-statehood" />
 
Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps.<ref name="gravel-108">Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', pp. 108–110.</ref> After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.<ref name="gravel-108" /> While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a <!--not sure about this title or unit--> Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service.<ref name="gravel-108" /> In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.<ref name="gravel-108" /> After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his Quebecois accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies.<ref name="gravel-108" /> He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954,<ref name="repub" /> eventually becoming a first lieutenant.<ref name="nyt022776">{{cite news |url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F30E14F83A58167493C5AB1789D85F428785F9 |title=Senators From Hinterlands Recall Early Years in City; U.S. Senators Recall Their Early Years in City |author=Martin Tolchin |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 27, 1976 |access-date=December 11, 2007 |format=fee required}}</ref>
 
Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a B.S. in 1956.<ref name="westbio">Stephen Haycox, Gravel entry in ''American Legislative Leaders in the West, 1911–1994'', Greenwood Press, 1997, p. 126; {{ISBN|0-313-30212-X}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://gs.columbia.edu/notable-alumni |title=Notable Alumni |publisher=[[Columbia University]] |access-date=July 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715014713/https://gs.columbia.edu/notable-alumni |archive-date=July 15, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He moved to New York "flat broke"<ref name="nyt022776" /> and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel,<ref name="nyt022776" /> driving a taxicab,<ref name="salon050707">{{cite web |author=Alex Koppelman |url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/05/07/mike_gravel/index.html |title=Don't worry, be Mike Gravel |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627105316/http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/05/07/mike_gravel/index.html |archive-date=June 27, 2009 |website=salon.com |date=May 7, 2007 |access-date=July 4, 2007}}</ref> and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust.<ref name="nyt022776" /> During this time he left the Catholic religion.<ref name="uu121007" />
 
== Move to Alaska ==
[[File:AnchorageThirdAvenue.jpg|thumb|right|Gravel opened a small ground-floor real estate office on the north side (left) of Third Avenue in [[Downtown (Anchorage)|downtown]] [[Anchorage]] (center), opposite the Anchorage Westward (now Hilton Anchorage) Hotel (right).<ref name="odyssey-134" /> The [[Chugach Mountains]] are in the distance.]]
Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,"<ref name="nyt022776" /> and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.<ref name="wapo090907" /><ref name="salon050707" /> Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision,<ref name="nyt070271">{{cite news |url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F20D10FD3A5B1A7493C0A9178CD85F458785F9 |title=Impetuous Senator: Maurice Robert Gravel |author=Warren Weaver, Jr. |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 2, 1971 |access-date=December 24, 2007 |format=fee required}}</ref> as did its newness<ref name="wapo090907" /> and cooler climate.<ref name="salon050707" /> Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.<ref name="odyssey-134">Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', pp. 134–135.</ref> Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-Fairbanks run.<ref name="odyssey-134" /> Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again.<ref name="odyssey-134" /> The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.<ref name="mn-wed" />  Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, <!--when exactly? --> and would continue a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life.<ref name="uu121007" />
 
Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests,<ref name="odyssey-136" /> Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there.  By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/10383606/?terms=%22mike%2Bgravel%22 |title=Democrats Plan Two-Day Drive For Campaign |newspaper=[[Fairbanks News-Miner]] |date=October 7, 1957 |page=10 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=April 3, 2019}}</ref> and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.<ref name="fnm-statehood">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/11709894/?terms=%22mike%2Bgravel%22 |title=Alaskan Young Demo Tells Conference Statehood Views |agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=[[Fairbanks News-Miner]] |date=June 23, 1958 |page=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=April 3, 2019}}</ref>  He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/10309892/?terms=%22mike%2Bgravel%22 |title=Farmer of the Year from Fairbanks (caption) |newspaper=[[Fairbanks News-Miner]] |date=March 4, 1958 |page=8 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=April 3, 2019}}</ref>
 
By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature<ref name="fdnm-feb58">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/4530775 |title=Total of 30 Candidates File For Fourth Division Seats |newspaper=[[Fairbanks News-Miner]] |date=February 3, 1958 |pages=1, 3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=April 3, 2019}}</ref> (this was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time).  Using the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he ran but lost.<ref name="salon050707" /><ref name="odyssey-136">Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', p. 136.</ref>  At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.<ref name="fnm-statehood" />
 
Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, and often dressing as Paul Revere.<ref name="westbio" /><ref name="atl-revere" /><ref name="twi-revere" /><ref name="chi-revere" />  Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/4514391/?terms=%22mike%2Bgravel%22 |title=Tax Fighter To Arrive |newspaper=[[Fairbanks News-Miner]] |date=December 16, 1958 |page=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=April 22, 2019}}</ref>  The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.<ref name="atl-revere" /><ref name="twi-revere">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/363574033/?terms=%22maurice%2Bgravel%22 |title=Alaska JC Touring For Tax Reforms |newspaper=[[The Herald-Palladium|The Herald-Press]] |location=St. Joseph, Michigan |date=February 18, 1959 |page=6 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=April 22, 2019}}</ref> The tour's general message was an urging of "lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income."<ref name="atl-revere">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/398050553/?terms=%22mike%2Bgravel%22%2B%22paul%2Brevere%22 |title='Paul Revere' is Here, Doesn't Like Taxation |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Constitution]] |date=March 6, 1959 |page=16 |access-date=April 2, 2019 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> At several stops Gravel stated that the "tide of socialism" had to be stopped.<ref name="atl-revere" /><ref name="chi-revere">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/372461105/?terms=%22maurice%2Bgravel%22 |title='Paul Revere' From Alaska Urges Tax Cut |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=February 20, 1959 |page=9 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=April 22, 2019}}</ref>  He elaborated at another stop, "It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/363574424/?terms=%22maurice%2Bgravel%22 |title=Alaska Jaycee Sparks Plan For Tax Reform |newspaper=[[The Herald-Palladium|The Herald-Press]] |location=St. Joseph, Michigan |date=February 21, 1959 |page=5 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=April 22, 2019}}</ref>  The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington, D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers:<ref name="twi-revere" /> dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol.<ref>Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', p. 141.</ref>
 
The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.<!-- Montana paper says Apr 25 but both CBY and Gravel-Lauria say April 29  --><ref name="cby-184" /><ref name="mn-wed" />  She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager.<ref name="mn-wed">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/354707867/?terms=%22maurice%2Bgravel%22%2Banchorage |title=Marriage Vows Spoken by Rita Martin and Maurice R. Gravel |newspaper=[[The Montana Standard]] |date=May 17, 1959 |page=9B |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>  She had also been named Anchorage's "Miss Fur Rendezvous" of 1958.<ref name="cby-184">''Current Biography Yearbook 1972'', p. 184.</ref>  They would have two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel,<ref name="cby-184" /> born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.<ref name="nyt070271" />
 
Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960.<ref name="salon050707" /> During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage.<ref name="odyssey-142">Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', pp. 142–143.</ref> After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.<ref name="odyssey-142" />


== Career after leaving the Senate ==
== Career after leaving the Senate ==


Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: "I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,"<ref>Politics1, [http://www.politics1.com/blog-0406a.htm#0417 "P2008: An Interview With Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080102230755/http://www.politics1.com/blog-0406a.htm |date=January 2, 2008 }} by Ron Gunzburger, April 17, 2006.</ref> and "Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do."<ref name="wapo090907" /> By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated.<ref name="odyssey-196">Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', pp. 196–197.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://newyork.metromix.com/events/article/q-and-a-mike/492923/content |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010150630/http://newyork.metromix.com/events/article/q-and-a-mike/492923/content |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 10, 2008 |title=Q&A: Mike Gravel |author=Leonard Jacobs |publisher=[[Metromix]] |date=July 8, 2008 |access-date=July 20, 2008}}</ref><ref name="ap121281">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ygcgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CGUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5116,1717191 |title=People in the News |agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=[[Lewiston Journal]] |date=September 12, 1981 |page=14}}</ref> They filed for divorce in September 1981;<ref name="ap121281" /> she would later get all of his Senate pension income.<ref name="salon050707" />
Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: "I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,"<ref>Politics1, [http://www.politics1.com/blog-0406a.htm#0417 "P2008: An Interview With Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080102230755/http://www.politics1.com/blog-0406a.htm |date=January 2, 2008 }} by Ron Gunzburger, April 17, 2006.</ref> and "Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do."<ref name="wapo090907" /> By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated.<ref name="odyssey-196">Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', pp. 196–197.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://newyork.metromix.com/events/article/q-and-a-mike/492923/content |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010150630/http://newyork.metromix.com/events/article/q-and-a-mike/492923/content |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 10, 2008 |title=Q&A: Mike Gravel |author=Leonard Jacobs |publisher=[[Metromix]] |date=July 8, 2008 |access-date=July 20, 2008}}</ref><ref name="ap121281">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ygcgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CGUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5116,1717191 |title=People in the News |agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=[[Lewiston Journal]] |date=September 12, 1981 |page=14}}</ref> They filed for divorce in September 1981;<ref name="ap121281" /> she would later get all of his Senate pension income.<ref name="salon050707" />
During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in [[Anchorage, Alaska|Anchorage]] and [[Kenai, Alaska]],<ref>''[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]'', [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000388 Mike Gravel profile]</ref> a consultant, and a stockbroker.<ref name="salon050707" /> One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued.<ref name="salon050707" /> In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with [[Merrill Lynch]] Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled [[Alaska Native Corporation]]s could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ASAfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iKcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1228,3229509&dq=mike+gravel&hl=en |title=Native corporations offer tax loopholes |author=Swardson, Anne |agency=[[The Washington Post]] |newspaper=[[Anchorage Daily News]] |date=October 22, 1986 |page=C–4}}</ref> Gravel also learned [[computer programming]] at some point but never practiced it.<ref name="nytm-2019" />
In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator [[Jacob Javits]].<ref name="wapo090907" /><ref>Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', p. 243.</ref>


=== Return to politics ===
=== Return to politics ===
[[File:gravelcouple.JPG|thumb|right|Mike and Whitney Gravel with their dog Ginger]]
In 1989, Gravel reentered politics.<ref name="salon050707" /> He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes [[direct democracy]].<ref>[http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0413-11.htm "First Democrat to Announce Candidacy for President on Monday"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061122112654/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0413-11.htm |date=November 22, 2006 }}, Joe Lauria, CommonDreams New Centre, Published April 13, 2006.</ref> He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention in bringing direct democracy about.<ref name="ni4d-rev" />
In 1989 Gravel reentered politics.<ref name="salon050707" /> He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes [[direct democracy]].<ref>[http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0413-11.htm "First Democrat to Announce Candidacy for President on Monday"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061122112654/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0413-11.htm |date=November 22, 2006 }}, Joe Lauria, CommonDreams New Centre, Published April 13, 2006.</ref> He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|1787 Constitutional Convention]] in bringing direct democracy about.<ref name="ni4d-rev" />


Gravel led a quixotic effort to get a [[United States Constitution]]al [[Constitutional amendment|amendment]] to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot [[initiative]]s.<ref name="salon050707" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/07/power-people-democracy-foundations-plan-create-fourth-branch-government |title=Power to the People: The Democracy Foundation's Plan to Create a Fourth Branch of Government |author=Jonathan Stein |magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=June 29, 2007 |access-date=November 25, 2012}}</ref> He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the [[National Initiative]] would allow American citizens to become "law makers".
Gravel led a quixotic effort to get a [[United States Constitution]]al amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives.<ref name="salon050707" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/07/power-people-democracy-foundations-plan-create-fourth-branch-government |title=Power to the People: The Democracy Foundation's Plan to Create a Fourth Branch of Government |author=Jonathan Stein |magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=June 29, 2007 |access-date=November 25, 2012}}</ref> He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become "law makers".


In 2001,<!-- need a firmer cite on this --> Gravel became director of the [[Alexis de Tocqueville Institution]], where he admired institute co-founder [[Gregory Fossedal]]'s work on direct democracy in Switzerland.<ref name="ni4d-rev">{{cite web |url=http://old.ni4d.us/library/fossedal_direct_democracy_in_switzerland.htm |title=Direct Democracy in Switzerland: A Review |publisher=[[National Initiative for Democracy]] |access-date=November 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511232809/http://old.ni4d.us/library/fossedal_direct_democracy_in_switzerland.htm |archive-date=May 11, 2011}}</ref> By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute,<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20041029205923/http://www.adti.net/background/contacting.html |archive-date=October 29, 2004 |title=Contacting the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution |publisher=[[Alexis de Tocqueville Institution]] |url=http://www.adti.net/background/contacting.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2008/gravel/gravel041706b.html |title=Former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel Announces His Campaign |date=April 17, 2006 |publisher=Democracy in Action}}</ref>
In 2001,<!-- need a firmer cite on this --> Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.<ref name="ni4d-rev">{{cite web |url=http://old.ni4d.us/library/fossedal_direct_democracy_in_switzerland.htm |title=Direct Democracy in Switzerland: A Review |publisher=National Initiative for Democracy |access-date=November 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511232809/http://old.ni4d.us/library/fossedal_direct_democracy_in_switzerland.htm |archive-date=May 11, 2011}}</ref> By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute,<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20041029205923/http://www.adti.net/background/contacting.html |archive-date=October 29, 2004 |title=Contacting the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution |publisher=Alexis de Tocqueville Institutio] |url=http://www.adti.net/background/contacting.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2008/gravel/gravel041706b.html |title=Former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel Announces His Campaign |date=April 17, 2006 |publisher=Democracy in Action}}</ref>


In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on [[direct democracy]] at a conference hosted by the ''[[American Free Press]]''. The event was cosponsored by the ''[[Barnes Review]]'',<ref name="salon050707" /> a journal that endorses [[Holocaust denial]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wymaninstitute.org/articles/2003-denialreport.php |title=Holocaust Denial: A Global Survey – 2003 |author=Alex Grobman, Rafael Medoff |publisher=[[David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies]] |access-date=December 29, 2009}}</ref> After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel has said repeatedly that he does not share the group's views on the Holocaust,<ref name="pjv">{{cite news |url=http://www.pjvoice.com/v26/26300words.aspx |title=Interview with Senator Mike Gravel |author=Alan Tuttle |publisher=[[Philadelphia Jewish Voice]] |date=August 2007 |access-date=January 1, 2008}}</ref> stating, "You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. I've been to the Holocaust Museum. I've seen the footage of General Eisenhower touring one of the camps. They're [referring to the ''Barnes Review'' and publisher [[Willis Carto]]] nutty as loons if they don't think it happened".<ref name="politics1">{{cite news |url=http://www.politics1.com/blog-0406a.htm |title=An Interview with Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel |author=Ron Gunzburger |publisher=Politics1.com |date=April 17, 2006 |access-date=December 29, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080102230755/http://www.politics1.com/blog-0406a.htm |archive-date=January 2, 2008}}</ref> The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.<ref name="pjv" />
In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the ''American Free Press''. The event was cosponsored by the ''Barnes Review'',<ref name="salon050707" /> a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wymaninstitute.org/articles/2003-denialreport.php |title=Holocaust Denial: A Global Survey – 2003 |author=Alex Grobman, Rafael Medoff |publisher=David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies |access-date=December 29, 2009}}</ref> After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel has said repeatedly that he does not share the group's views on the Holocaust,<ref name="pjv">{{cite news |url=http://www.pjvoice.com/v26/26300words.aspx |title=Interview with Senator Mike Gravel |author=Alan Tuttle |publisher=Philadelphia Jewish Voice |date=August 2007 |access-date=January 1, 2008}}</ref> stating, "You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. I've been to the Holocaust Museum. I've seen the footage of General Eisenhower touring one of the camps. They're [referring to the ''Barnes Review'' and publisher Willis Carto] nutty as loons if they don't think it happened".<ref name="politics1">{{cite news |url=http://www.politics1.com/blog-0406a.htm |title=An Interview with Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel |author=Ron Gunzburger |publisher=Politics1.com |date=April 17, 2006 |access-date=December 29, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080102230755/http://www.politics1.com/blog-0406a.htm |archive-date=January 2, 2008}}</ref> The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.<ref name="pjv" />


Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in [[Arlington County, Virginia]], until 2010 and now reside in [[Burlingame, California]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mikegravel.us/contact |title=National Contacts |publisher=MikeGravel.us |access-date=March 18, 2013}}</ref> They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gravel2008.us/bio |title=Mike Gravel Biography |publisher=Mike Gravel for President 2008 |access-date=December 29, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071227091525/http://www.gravel2008.us/bio |archive-date=December 27, 2007}}</ref> Whitney Gravel's income has sustained the couple since 1998.<ref name="wapo090907" /> In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for [[back pain]] and [[neuropathy]].<ref name="salon050707" /> Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared [[personal bankruptcy]] in 2004.<ref name="wapo090907" /><ref name="salon050707" /> He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had "zero net worth".<ref name="salon050707" />
Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and now reside in Burlingame, California.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mikegravel.us/contact |title=National Contacts |publisher=MikeGravel.us |access-date=March 18, 2013}}</ref> They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gravel2008.us/bio |title=Mike Gravel Biography |publisher=Mike Gravel for President 2008 |access-date=December 29, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071227091525/http://www.gravel2008.us/bio |archive-date=December 27, 2007}}</ref> Whitney Gravel's income has sustained the couple since 1998.<ref name="wapo090907" /> In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for [[back pain]] and [[neuropathy]].<ref name="salon050707" /> Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared [[personal bankruptcy]] in 2004.<ref name="wapo090907" /><ref name="salon050707" /> He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had "zero net worth".<ref name="salon050707" />


== 2008 presidential campaign ==
== 2008 presidential campaign ==
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=== Democratic Party primaries ===
=== Democratic Party primaries ===
[[File:Mgravelgrandpa.jpg|thumb|left|Mike Gravel at the launch of his Presidential campaign in April 2006]]
[[File:Mgravelgrandpa.jpg|thumb|left|Mike Gravel at the launch of his Presidential campaign in April 2006]]
At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote [[direct democracy]] and the [[National Initiative]] was to run for president.<ref name="salon050707" /> On April 17, 2006,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01EED8173FF93BA25757C0A9609C8B63 |title=Washington: A 'Maverick' For President |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 18, 2006 |access-date=December 24, 2007}}</ref> Gravel became the first candidate for the [[Potential Democratic candidates in the 2008 U.S. presidential election|Democratic nomination]] for [[President of the United States]] in the [[2008 United States presidential election|2008 election]], announcing his run in a speech to the [[National Press Club (USA)|National Press Club]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] Short on campaign cash, he took [[public transportation]] to get to his announcement.<ref>{{cite news |author=Elliot, Philip |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-122070086.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511205241/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-122070086.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 11, 2011 |title=Ex-Alaska Sen. Gravel Runs for President |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=April 17, 2006 |access-date=August 28, 2010 |format=fee required}}</ref> (Gravel called for [[public financing of elections]].<ref name="Q&A">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/10/01/DI2007100101475.html The Candidates: Sen. Mike Gravel: Democratic Candidate for President, Former U.S. Sen. (D-Alaska)], ''Washington Post'' (October 16, 2007).</ref>) Other principal Gravel positions were the [[FairTax]], [[Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq (2007–2011)|withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq]] within 120 days, a [[single-payer health care|single payer national health care system]], and [[term limits]].
name="salon050707" /> On April 17, 2006,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01EED8173FF93BA25757C0A9609C8B63 |title=Washington: A 'Maverick' For President |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 18, 2006 |access-date=December 24, 2007}}</ref> Gravel became the first candidate for the [[Potential Democratic candidates in the 2008 U.S. presidential election|Democratic nomination]] for [[President of the United States]] in the [[2008 United States presidential election|2008 election]], announcing his run in a speech to the [[National Press Club (USA)|National Press Club]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] Short on campaign cash, he took [[public transportation]] to get to his announcement.<ref>{{cite news |author=Elliot, Philip |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-122070086.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511205241/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-122070086.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 11, 2011 |title=Ex-Alaska Sen. Gravel Runs for President |agency=Associated Press |date=April 17, 2006 |access-date=August 28, 2010 |format=fee required}}</ref> (Gravel called for [[public financing of elections]].<ref name="Q&A">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/10/01/DI2007100101475.html The Candidates: Sen. Mike Gravel: Democratic Candidate for President, Former U.S. Sen. (D-Alaska)], ''Washington Post'' (October 16, 2007).</ref>) Other principal Gravel positions were the [[FairTax]], [[Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq (2007–2011)|withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq]] within 120 days, a [[single-payer health care|single payer national health care system]], and [[term limits]].


Gravel had opposed the [[Iraq War]] from the beginning,<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="GravelOfficial">[http://new.mikegravel.us/issues How Mike Stands on the Issues] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917034549/http://new.mikegravel.us/issues |date=September 17, 2016 }}, MikeGravel.us (accessed September 7, 2016).</ref> and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had "died in vain".<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="Kim" /> He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as [[reparations (transitional justice)|reparation payments]] for Iraqis.<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="GravelOfficial" /> Gravel also called for a "U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="GravelOfficial" />
Gravel had opposed the [[Iraq War]] from the beginning,<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="GravelOfficial">[http://new.mikegravel.us/issues How Mike Stands on the Issues] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917034549/http://new.mikegravel.us/issues |date=September 17, 2016 }}, MikeGravel.us (accessed September 7, 2016).</ref> and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had "died in vain".<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="Kim" /> He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as [[reparations (transitional justice)|reparation payments]] for Iraqis.<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="GravelOfficial" /> Gravel also called for a "U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="GravelOfficial" />
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