(Information courtesy of the U.S. Department of State)

Mike Gravel represented Alaska in the U.S. Senate from 1969 to 1981. He also served in the U.S. Army and was once a New York City taxi driver. Gravel has proposed abolishing the income tax and replacing it with a progressive sales tax. He also advocates legislation capping U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Gravel was born May 13, 1930, to French Canadian immigrants in Springfield, Massachusetts. He attended Columbia University in New York City. Gravel and his wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, have two children and four grandchildren.