Senator Mike Gravel: 'Recollections on Peace Work'

Peace Action of San Mateo County's next guest speaker has a storied history as a former United States Senator from the state of Alaska. Sen. Mike Gravel settled in the Peninsula some years ago, and has lately been appearing around the Bay Area to share his thoughts on such topics as the current U.S. wars, the Wikileaks documents, their "predecessor" the Pentagon Papers (in whose release Gravel had a major hand), and possible new people-based methods of governance. On February 20, we will present Sen. Gravel in a free public presentation, which he has titled "Recollections on Peace Work".

Sen. Gravel's recollections are likely to be many. As a Democratic Senator from Alaska from 1969-1981, he defied the Nixon Administration by reading more than half of the Pentagon Papers (released by Daniel Ellsberg) on the Senate floor - a gesture reflective of his fierce opposition to the Vietnam War whose inside story the leaked documents revealed. Gravel also used a filibuster to bring about a deal with the Nixon Administration ending the military draft in 1971.

Sen. Gravel ran for the Presidential nomination in 2008, first as a Democrat and again after switching his party affiliation to Libertarian. His platform featured opposition to the Iraq war, including a troop pullout in 120 days as well as a withdrawal of U.S. corporations that would allow Iraq to determine its own process for post-war reconstruction.

One of Gravel's current objectives is for what he calls a National Initiative for Democracy, encouraging a system of voting by the American people on specific issues rather than leaving national matters only up to Congress and the President. The National Initiative for Democracy is, according to Gravel, "a proposed law that empowers (people) as lawmakers."

Sen. Gravel has written two books: Jobs and More Jobs, and Citizen Power. He lectures and writes about governance, foreign affairs, economics, Social Security, energy, environmental issues and democracy.