Mel Carnahan

Melvin Eugene "Mel" Carnahan (February 11, 1934 – October 16, 2000) was an American politician. A Democrat, he served as the 51st Governor of Missouri (1993–2000) and was elected posthumously to the U.S. Senate.

Family life and education

Carnahan was born in Birch Tree, Missouri, and grew up on a small farm near Ellsinore, Missouri, with his only sibling, Robert "Bob" Carnahan. He was the son of Kathel (Schupp) and A. S. J. Carnahan, the superintendent of Ellsinore schools who, in 1944, was elected to the United States House of Representatives.

Carnahan moved with his family to Washington, D.C., where he graduated high school and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from George Washington University. He entered the United States Air Force, rising to First Lieutenant, and served as a special agent for the Office of Special Investigation. He received a Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia, Missouri, in 1959.

Political career

Carnahan's political career started as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives representing the Rolla area. In 1980, Carnahan was elected Missouri State Treasurer. He served in that post from 1981 to 1985. In 1984 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Missouri, losing the Democratic primary election to then-Lieutenant Governor Kenneth Rothman, who lost the general election that year to state Attorney General John Ashcroft.