Carl Milton Levin (June 28, 1934 – July 29, 2021) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Michigan from 1979 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2007 to 2015.
Born in Detroit, Levin graduated from Swarthmore College and Harvard Law School. He worked as the general counsel of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission from 1964 to 1967, and as a special assistant attorney general for the Michigan Attorney General's Office. Levin was a member of the Detroit City Council from 1969 to 1977, serving as the council's president for the last four of those years.
In 1978, Levin ran for the United States Senate, defeating Republican incumbent Robert P. Griffin. Levin was re-elected in 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002, and 2008. On March 7, 2013, Levin announced that he would not seek a seventh term. On March 9, 2015, Levin announced he was joining the Detroit-based law firm Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP. At the same time, he founded the Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School, dedicated to "strengthening the integrity, transparency, and accountability of public and private institutions by promoting and supporting bipartisan, fact-based oversight; advancing good governance, particularly with respect to the legislative process; and promoting civil discourse on current issues of public policy".
Levin became Michigan's senior senator in 1995, and he was the longest-serving senator in the state's history. At the time of his retirement Levin was the fourth longest-serving incumbent in the U.S. Senate. He released his memoir, Getting to the Heart of the Matter: My 36 Years in the Senate, in March 2021. It was published by Wayne State University Press.
Early life, education, and career
Levin was born in Detroit, the son of Jewish parents, Bess Rachel (née Levinson) and Saul R. Levin. Saul served on the Michigan Corrections Commission. Levin graduated from Detroit Central High School in 1952 and attended Swarthmore College. He graduated with his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1956. During his student summers he worked as a taxi driver and on an auto factory line. He then attended the Harvard Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctor in 1959. He also received an honorary degree from Swarthmore College in 1980, as well as honorary degrees from Michigan State University in 2004, Wayne State University in 2005, Lawrence Technological University in 2006, and Michigan Technological University in 2008.
After earning his Juris Doctor, Levin was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan. He entered private practice as a lawyer for Grossman, Hyman and Grossman and taught law at Wayne State University and the University of Detroit Mercy. Levin served as General Counsel for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission from 1964 to 1967, where he helped form the Detroit Public Defender's Office and led the Appellate Division of that office, which has become the State Appellate Defender's Office. He served as a special assistant attorney general for the state of Michigan and chief appellate defender for the city of Detroit from 1968 to 1969.
Levin was elected to the Detroit City Council (known then as the Detroit Common Council) in 1969, serving two four-year terms from 1970 to 1977. Levin served as president of the City Council throughout his entire second term, until the end of his tenure. During his time as council president, Levin became so frustrated with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's handling of repossessed houses in Detroit (leading neighborhoods to suffer from significant urban decay), that he and other members of the council, went out with a bulldozer "to help raze some of the houses." He was close to Detroit mayor Coleman Young, the city's first African-American mayor, and was described by Forbes as Mayor Young's "right hand man." During his time on the City Council, Levin practiced law part-time, working as a counsel for the Schlussel, Lifton, Simon, Rands and Kaufman law firm from 1971 to 1973. He later served as the general counsel at Jaffe, Snider, Raitt, Garratt and Heuer, from 1978 to 1979.
Levin was elected to the United States Senate in 1978, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Robert P. Griffin.
Committee on Armed Services (chairman)
As chairman of the full committee, Sen. Levin served as an ex officio member of all subcommittees
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security
Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia (chair)
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (chair)
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Select Committee on Intelligence
Levin was the sponsor of 51 bills that became law.