Mike Gravel, former US Senator from Alaska, dead at 91

senator from Alaska who read the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record and confronted Barack Obama about nuclear weapons during a later presidential run, has died.

Gravel, who had been living in Seaside, California, was in poor health, said Theodore W.

He served two terms. He lost to Gruening’s grandson, Clark Gruening, in the 1980 Democratic primary.

Gravel’s time as a senator came at a challenging time for the state, including the construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline; deciding how to settle Alaska Native lands claims; and whether to classify huge tracts of land as parks, preserves and monuments.

He read 4,100 pages of the 7,000-page leaked document known as the Pentagon Papers, which chronicled the Defense Department’s involvement in Vietnam.

He later ran briefly for the nomination for president in 2020, criticizing American wars and vowing to cut military spending.

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