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Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel (; born May 13, 1930) is an American politician who is a former Democratic United States Senator from Alaska, who served two terms from 1969 to 1981, and a candidate in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel served in the U.S. Army in West Germany, and he later graduated from the Columbia University School of General Studies. He moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1966 and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a Senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful but unsuccessful attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971 at some risk to himself. He conducted an unusual campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in getting Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but gradually alienated most of his Alaskan constituencies and his bid for a third term was defeated in a primary election in 1980. Gravel returned to business ventures and went through difficult times, suffering corporate and personal bankruptcies amid poor health. He has been a quixotic advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative. In 2006, Gravel began a run for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States to promote those ideas. His campaign gained an Internet following and national attention due to forceful, humorous, and politically unorthodox debate appearances during 2007, but he found very little support in national polls or in 2008 caucuses and primaries. In March 2008, he announced that he was switching to the Libertarian Party to compete for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. At the Libertarian National Convention of 2008 he failed on both counts, and he announced that his political electoral career had ended. ==Early life, military service, education== Gravel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children born to French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.〔(Mike Gravel genealogy site )〕〔(Mike Gravel genealogy site )〕〔''Current Biography Yearbook 1972'', p. 182.〕〔Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', pp. 69–70.〕 His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora,〔 pp. 392, 398.〕 and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression,〔 speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him "Mike" from an early age,〔 his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed to him the importance of education.〔Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', p. 74.〕 Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic.〔 There he struggled – due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia〔 – and was left back in third grade.〔Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', p. 83.〕 He completed elementary school in 1945〔Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', p. 81.〕 and his class voted him "most charming personality".〔 A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on behalf of his boss; Gravel was immediately impressed with "the awesomeness of political office."〔〔 Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts,〔 where his performance was initially mediocre. Then an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking.〔 Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year,〔 and he graduated in 1949.〔Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', pp. 105, 128.〕 He has a sister, Marguerite, who became a Holy Cross nun,〔 but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith.〔 He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield.〔 Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.〔Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', pp. 105, 107–108.〕 Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps.〔Gravel and Lauria, ''A Political Odyssey'', pp. 108–110.〕 After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.〔 While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service.〔 There he had an adventurous time moving around the country, conducting surveillance operations on civilians, and paying off spies.〔 After about a year he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his Quebec-American accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies.〔 He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954,〔 eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a B.S. in 1956.〔Stephen Haycox, Gravel entry in ''American Legislative Leaders in the West, 1911–1994'', Greenwood Press, 1997, p. 126; ISBN 0-313-30212-X.〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Notable Alumni )〕 He moved to New York "flat broke",〔 and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel,〔 driving a taxicab,〔Alex Koppelman, ("Don't worry, be Mike Gravel" ), salon.com, May 7, 2007; accessed July 4, 2007.〕 and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust.〔 During this time he left the Catholic religion.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mike Gravel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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