Mel Carnahan

Melvin Eugene Carnahan (February 11, 1934 – October 16, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 51st Governor of Missouri from 1993 until his death in 2000.

Carnahan was a Democrat and held various positions in government.

Carnahan's father was the superintendent of Ellsinore schools and in 1944, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, representing the eight congressional district, serving from 1945 to 1947 and from 1949 to 1961.

A.S.J. Carnahan later became the U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone under John F. Kennedy.

As a child, Mel Carnahan traveled with his father across the district, attending local events.

In 1945, he moved to Washington D.C. with his father, though moved back to Missouri when his father was defeated for re-election.

In 1948, because his father was running for Congress, Carnahan was present for Harry Truman's final campaign stop in St. Louis during that year's presidential election.

Mel Carnahan later said he developed a desire for public service from his father.

Carnahan moved back there in 1949, where he met his future wife Jean at a Baptist church.

He graduated from Anacostia High School, earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in business administration at George Washington University in 1954.

During the Korean War, Carnahan also joined the United States Air Force (USAF) but failed the physical due to passing out during a blood test.

Carnahan then served as a special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, rising to the rank of First Lieutenant.

In 1956, he and his wife moved back to Missouri.

He received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia in 1959, graduating Order of the Coif.

He then moved to Rolla, the largest city in his father's congressional district, with an intent to follow his father's career path.

First elected as a municipal judge in 1960, Carnahan eventually was elected as a State Representative—where he became majority leader during his second term.

Mel Carnahan's political career started in 1960 at the age of 26 when he was elected to serve as a municipal judge in Rolla.

In 1962, he ran for a seat in the Missouri House of Representatives.

In the Democratic primary, Carnahan defeated three opponents.

That November, he won the election for the Phelps County house district.

He won re-election in 1964, and that same year, the Democratic caucus elected Carnahan as assistant floor leader to majority leader H.P. Patterson.

In 1965, Paterson died and the caucus elected Carnahan as his successor.

During his tenure, Carnahan served as a member of the Judiciary Committee and helped to pass one of the state's first conflict-of-interest laws, requiring legislators and lobbyists to report any interests on a bill.

Carnahan also used his influence as majority leader to help advance a bill banning racial discrimination in public places; this bill was later signed into law by Governor Warren E. Hearnes.

In 1965, Missouri was forced to redraw its legislative districts due to a federal court ruling the state's districts suffered from malapportionment.

Carnahan helped draw up a redistricting plan but voters rejected it in a special election.

Carnahan later clashed with Governor Hearnes over his re-apportionment plan for state districts, in which Hearnes rather than the legislature would pick the members of the independent committee.

After being defeated in a race for state Senate in 1966, Carnahan practiced law in Rolla.

After a lengthy absence, Carnahan returned to politics in 1980, being elected to the position State Treasurer.

He served in the post for 4 years, until he was defeated in a bid for the office of Governor in 1984.

In 1988, Carnahan made a second political comeback, winning an election for the job of Lieutenant Governor, the sole Democratic win statewide that year.

In 1992, Carnahan made a second bid for Governor, and defeated St. Louis Mayor Vincent Schoemehl in the Democratic primary, and defeated state Attorney General William Webster in November to be elected the Governor of Missouri.

During his first term, Carnahan signed legislation into law concerning education, and taxes, while also dealing with crises such as the Great Flood of 1993.

Carnahan was re-elected in 1996, defeating State Auditor Margaret Kelly.

During his second term, Carnahan faced adversity on issues such as abortion, where his veto of a bill restricting abortion was overridden by the state legislature, and faced controversy surrounding his pardon of a death row inmate at the behest of Pope John Paul II.

In 2000, he ran for the U.S. Senate against incumbent John Ashcroft in a hotly contested election.

During the final weeks of the campaign, Carnahan was killed in a plane crash while on his way to a campaign event.

He was posthumously elected to the U.S. Senate and his widow Jean Carnahan was appointed to serve in the Senate until a special election was held in 2002.

Melvin Eugene Carnahan was born in Birch Tree, Missouri, and grew up on a small farm near Ellsinore.

He was the son of Kathel (née Schupp) and A. S. J. Carnahan, and had one sibling, an older brother Robert "Bob" Carnahan.