Ted Stevens DEAD: Looking Back At The Life Of The Longest-Serving GOP Senator (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Ted Stevens, who died in the plane crash late Monday afternoon, was the longest-serving Republican in the senate. He served from the end of 1968 through his defeat in 2008.

Stevens, who served on the Senate Appropriations Committee, was known as "Uncle Ted," partly due to his ability to bring funds to his home state.

He left behind six children and a wife, Catherine. His first wife, Ann, perished in a plane crash in Alaska in 1978. Stevens survived that crash at Anchorage International Airport, which added his name in 2000.

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Early Life

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Ted Stevens was born in Indiana in 1923, before his family moved to Chicago. By the time he was 6, Stevens' parents had divorced and he moved back to Indiana. There, he lived with his father, while his mother and three siblings moved to California. Stevens' father died of lung cancer in 1957.

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Ted Stevens was born in Indiana in 1923, before his family moved to Chicago. By the time he was 6, Stevens' parents had divorced and he moved back to Indiana. There, he lived with his father, while his mother and three siblings moved to California.

Stevens' father died of lung cancer in 1957.

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Comments

[PreacherThug]

10:55 PM on 09/01/2010

The Bush Justice Department screwed Stevens.
RIP, Mr. Alaska.
I'll miss your "tubes."

[bike2055]

07:42 AM on 08/11/2010

He died serving his State, what an honorable way to die.

[InLosAngeles]

07:39 AM on 08/11/2010

Alaska was "nowhere" before Ted helped open up the frontier with tireless efforts. The more you look at this diminutive giant of a man, the more you realize almost every project he brought up to Alaska today would be considered a "bridge to nowhere", until you step back and look at the totality of his efforts, and the huge dividends it returned to the lower 48 and the people of Alaska. Thank you Ted. No man is perfect, but few leave such a rich, wonderful legacy of accomplishments for his constituents and nation as you have. You were truly a pioneer, or better yet a Grizzly. Rest in peace.

[StellaRay]

01:50 AM on 08/11/2010

Wow. Ghost town here, huh?

SIGH. I'm kind of relieved to see it be so. I feared a bunch of my fellow progressives chiming in with the worst they could say about Stevens, the way SO MANY republicans chose the event of Ted Kennedy's death to pounce, to step on my mourning with their own political peevishness.

Bless you my progressive friends, for not showing up badly here.

[Soulcatcher]

03:10 AM on 08/11/2010

One additional thought, then I'll shut up. When people are so worried about being nice, and seeming polite and respectful, that they fail to step up and call out the people who have done us wrong, they stop being part of the solution and become part of the problem. A person could read the list of comments here, note how polite and respectful they are for the most part, reflect on the idea they are talking about probably the most corrupt Senator of my lifetime and a man who never failed to put his own personal interests ahead of the interests of the country, and probably end up with a fairly good idea why the problems we face now show no real sign of getting solved. It's because people think it's more important to be "nice" than to drain the swamp and get rid of the malaria. Just my opinion.

[StellaRay]

10:35 PM on 08/11/2010

Soulcatcher---LOVE your moniker---no need to "shut up." I understand your anger more than you know. And I have no interest in defending Ted Stevens politically. But the man died in a plane crash. No need to defend or decry him right now. I do not think it's a matter of "worrying about being nice" here. I think it is a matter of civility.

Your statement that Stevens is "the most corrupt senator of your lifetime," tempts me to supply you with so many others that fit the bill, and in many cases, exceed the sins of Stevens, imo. But again, that would make something political that just doesn't need to be political right now. The man had a wife, a family and friends. I see absolutely nothing wrong with extending my condolences to them, my understanding that my judgments of his mistakes are not more important right now than their loss.

As I noted, there were MANY on the right who chose the occasion of Ted Kennedy's death to make their political point. This was offensive to me. And truth is, you could substitute the references to Stevens in your post with Kennedy and achieve pretty much the kind of thing that occured when Kennedy died. I am not partisan when it comes to the basics in life. The death of a loved one is painful. Those that did not love that particular one are best served by being a human being first, a political being second.

[sydneymoon]

12:15 AM on 08/11/2010

Like other posters I don't share his politics, but what a tragic ending. I didn't know the man, but I knew one of his daughters years ago when I lived in the DC area. I send condolences to his family.

[SoAppropos]

09:26 PM on 08/10/2010

I met the man once when I lived in DC as a young person. I worked for a newspaper at the time and our editor's friend was a long-time friend of Senator Stevens. I had dinner one evening with these individuals. Senator Stevens was a genuine person, funny and warm. He did his best for his constituents. He was conservative and I am not; however, he was a real person and he died tragically. He will be missed by his friends and family and I honor his passing.

[StellaRay]

11:07 PM on 08/10/2010

Fanned, SoAppropos.

As one progressive to another, or at least as one democrat to another, or at least as one person who does not identify themselves totally in political terms to another, I SO appreciate your humanity.

We are in a political civil war these days, so I can't tell you how much I appreciate there being another person out there

My, this thread is not attracting the clicks. Maybe that's a good thing.

[ghost geezer]

11:56 PM on 08/10/2010

May the decency hold. HPOST can be pushed up or down, depending on the
quality of the posts. Here it is pushed up.

[Soulcatcher]

03:34 AM on 08/11/2010

"He will be missed by his friends and family "
And that, I believe, is the most he could have hoped for and probably more than he deserved.
I know. I'm a troublemaker aren't I.

[StellaRay]

08:32 PM on 08/10/2010

There is NO Place for politics on a thread like this, but that won't stop it from happening. So little civility these days.

My sympathies to the family and loved ones of Ted Stevens.