Levin, Carl Milton (1934-2021), served as a United States senator from 1979 to 2015. Levin, a member of the Democratic Party, represented Michigan.
Levin was born in Detroit on June 28, 1934. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College in 1956 and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1959. He worked for a Detroit law firm from 1959 to 1964. From 1964 to 1967, Levin served as assistant attorney general and general counsel for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. In 1968 and 1969, he was special assistant attorney general for the state of Michigan and chief appellate defender for the city of Detroit. Levin was a member of the Detroit City Council from 1969 to 1977, serving as president from 1974 to 1977. He also worked for law firms in Detroit from 1971 to 1979.
In 1978, Levin was elected to his first term in the U.S. Senate. He took office in 1979. Levin won reelection in 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002, and 2008. His brother Sander Martin Levin served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2019.
As a senator, Carl Levin served as chairman of the Armed Services Committee. He supported efforts to protect the Great Lakes and to strengthen American manufacturing, particularly the automotive industry. Levin also supported programs in such areas as education, health care, and infrastructure. Levin did not seek reelection to his Senate seat in 2014. He died on July 29, 2021.
