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Mike Gravel

Former Senator, (D) Alaska

Mike Gravel is a former Democratic United States Senator from Alaska, who served two terms from 1969 to 1981, and a former candidate in the 2008 presidential election. He is chiefly known for his efforts in ending the draft following the Vietnam War and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971.

Born in 1930 to immigrant parents in Massachusetts, Gravel enlisted in the Army in 1951 and served in West Germany. A self-stated dyslexic, Gravel was educated at Columbia University%u2019s School of General Studies in New York, where he drove a taxi to support himself. Gravel's first steps into politics were in the Alaska House of Representatives, before he won his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate in 1968. During the 1980s, after Gravel lost his senate seat, he worked as a real estate developer, consultant and stockbroker.

Gravel is a strong supporter of direct democracy, and specifically, the National Initiative, which refers to proposals to allow for ballot initiatives at the federal level.

Big Think Interview with Mike Gravel

A conversation with the former Alaskan senator.

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17 min

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Mike Gravel chronicles his struggles to operate independently during the 2008 election, and bemoans the impossibly of a electing a President capable of bringing about real change.

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7 min

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American Government: Flawed from the Start

Former Alaskan senator Mike Gravel describes how the American government is designed to undermine the power of the people, and reveals how an elite-based government was the intention of the […]

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10 min

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Is flip-flopper a bad word?

Sincerity and learning from experience are not flip-flopping.

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1 min

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Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton?

Politicians don’t pay much attention to the Constitution.

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1 min

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The 2008 Election

What matters is the quality of the vote.

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5 min

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What story is missing from the news?

The fact that the military industrial complex owns our government is largely absent from the news media, says Mike Gravel.

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2 min

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What can you learn today from America’s youth?

The phenomenon of the Internet is one lesson that America’s youth teaches well, Mike Gravel says.

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2 min

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How will this age be remembered?

As the most significant step to the final realization of proper human governance.

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1 min

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What can America learn from the rest of the world?

Americans need to realize how blessed they compared to the rest of the world.

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2 min

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If you were an Iraqi, how would you view America?

A patriot, Gravel will use his military experience to get American troops out of Iraq.

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2 min

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What will be the legacy of the Bush administration?

It will be a long time before another pro-war president is elected.

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Is Terrorism Our Fault?

Leadership must carry a moral timber by valuing human life.

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2 min

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Is it a president’s job to solve moral questions?

You cannot legislate morality.

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4 min

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What will a world in which the U.S. is not the only superpower look like?

Mike Gravel forecasts mutual assured destruction.

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2 min

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How should we address climate change?

This is a global problem, with global solutions.

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5 min

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What is your position on earmark spending?

There needs to be accountability in our system of government.

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3 min

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Are two parties enough?

Two parties are not enough for a healthy democracy, Mike Gravel says.

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3 min

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Is the American political system broken?

The election system allows public interest to fall behind.

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1 min

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How would you restore a bipartisanship spirit to Washington?

Compromise does not get us into situations we don’t want to be in, Mike Gravel says.

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5 min

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How would you save social security?

We need to begin by making our whole system of revenue work more fairly.

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2 min

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