Write a biography of Governor Mel Carnahan and evaluate his legacy to Missouri.

The name of the late Mel Carnahan is familiar to anyone who followed Missouri politics during the 1980's and 1990's.  Elected to several political offices, Carnahan is most remembered for the last two positions for which voters chose him – Governor in 1993, and U.S. Senator in 2000, since his untimely death prevented him from serving in the latter.

Born to A. S. J. Carnahan, one of Missouri's representatives in the U.S. House, and U.S. Ambassador to Sierre Leone, Melvin Eugene Carnahan grew up in Washington, D.C. He attended school there, graduating with a businesses administration degree in 1954. After graduating, he returned to Missouri, settling in Rolla, where he would begin his political career. Before doing so, however, Carnahan would enlist in the U.S. Air Force and continue his education. After serving a tour in the Air Force, he enrolled in law school at the University of Missouri-Columbia.  He became a lawyer after completing his law degree and passing the state bar exam in 1959.

Carnahan's entry to Missouri politics was marked by his election to the office of municipal judge in Rolla. He quickly advanced, and was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 1962. Later made a bid for a seat in the Missouri legislature's upper house, the Senate, and lost in the 1966 election cycle (the text and some newspaper articles after his death say he first lost in 1966, but other sources, such as http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/MO/ofc/stsen1960s.html give the year as 1968). He stayed in Rolla, practicing law, until 1980, when he would re-enter state politics.

In 1980 Carnahan ran for Missouri State Treasurer and won, a rare victory for a Democrat in 1980's Missouri. He made a failed run at Governor in 1984, losing in the primary, but tried for the office of Lieutenant Governor in 1988. Again he was one of the few Democrats to win in that election, and like his predecessor in office, Harriet Woods, he served under a Republican governor. This governor, John Ashcroft, would later become Carnahan's opponent in hi final election.

Mel Carnahan advanced from Lieutenant Governor to Governor in 1992. He handily defeated his Republican opponent by well over a million votes; William Webster's campaign was plagued by legal scandal. He and his party members enjoyed much success in that election, and Carnahan set to attending to state issues with his party behind him in the state legislature. During his terms as governor, Carnahan got behind many progressive causes – he was an advocate of campaign finance reform, worked on planning the state budget, sought tougher penalties for convicted criminals, and did much to improve the state of children's health care and support for the disabled in Missouri. He also led the political battle against the Hancock II amendment, which sought to close taxation and spending loopholes left open by the first Amendment in 1980, fearing that it went too far in its restrictions. His tax stance was nuanced, however; he signed into law a bill that cut individual taxes and eliminated the sales tax on food during his term. In 1999 he helped defeat a concealed weapons legalization effort by supporting the opposition to the “gun lobby.” Carnahan was well-liked by women and minorities; he appointed over 400 minority members to state positions, including the first African-American judge in Missouri's Supreme Court, Ron L. White. He also dealt with the challenge of Missouri's “Great Flood” in 1993 (see Identification 5 below), calling up the National Guard to aid in sandbagging efforts.

Carnahan's lasting impact was on education in Missouri, however. He was a staunch advocate for increasing state funding of Missouri's primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools. He supported Senate Bill 380, the “Outstanding Schools Act,” and signed it into law in May, 1993. During Carnahan's term, state financial support of education increased by 70%, with many of the increases directly or indirectly spurred by the passage of the act. He supported a more equitable distribution of funds for Missouri schools, hoping to ensure that every student got an equal opportunity at a quality education. He also advocated spending increases to hire more teachers (and increase their salaries) and expand class rooms, both measures aimed at reducing class sizes. Carnahan also signed into law the bills that helped fund the Parents organization, encouraged pre-Kindergarten education for Missouri children, supported summer reading programs at libraries (for which many librarians still thank him), and worked to channel more tax money into schools.

Though many thought he could be elected to another term as governor if allowed, term limits led to his pursuit of a U.S. Senate seat in the 2000 election. He challenged John Ashcroft's seat, Ashcroft being one of his longtime political adversaries, in a very competitive race. Less than a month before the election, however, Carnahan, his son “Randy,” and his aide Chris Siefert died tragically in a small-airplane accident. Bad weather and possible mechanical problems caused the plane to crash in Jefferson County. The state and nation provided an outpouring of sympathy for the late governor's family, with many of Carnahan's longtime supporters helping memorialize him. John Ashcroft stopped campaigning against Mel Carnahan out of respect for Carnahan's family, but in November, both men's names appeared on the ballot. Carnahan's name was favored by less than 1%, making the election one of closest in the history of the Missouri Senate, and Carnahan became the first Missourian to win an election posthumously.

Carnahan's successor, Roger Wilson, had promised to appoint Jean Carnahan temporarily, Mel's wife, if Mel was to win the election. He did so, and Jean, Mel's wife since 1954, and whom Mel reared four children, served in her husband's place until 2002.

Mel Carnahan's name will certainly be recorded by history books in the future, partially because of his ill-timed death and posthumous election to the Senate. However, these references will provide an opportunity for historians to mention his legacy, which few who benefited from it will forget during their lifetimes.

1. September 11, 2001
   September 11th, 2001, was the day that terrorists hijacked four airplnes, crashing them into the World Trade Center towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, and a field in Pennsylvania. The most devastating attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor, September 11 caused a radical shift in how Americans (including Missourians) viewed their security,  place in the world, and politics. Republicans were propelled into power in many states, and in Missouri, they secured majorities in both houses of the Missouri legislature for the first time in over half a century. Indeed, Missouri was a decidedly “Red state” from after September 11 until the midterm elections in 2006.
2. Kevin Phillips
   Kevin Phillips is a writer of political and social history and commentary. He wrote A Political History of the American Rich, which charted and bemoaned the “gap” between the “rich” and the “poor” in the United States. He worried that this gap was “unsustainable,” and widening. This was true to a point in Missouri, where the rate of increase of the wealth of the “rich” increased faster than the rate of increase of the wealth of the “poor.” It should be noted that almost all segments (it depends how many divisions there are) of in the “rich”-to-”poor” continuum largely enjoyed sustained increases in prosperity throughout the 1990's, however. According to the text, the poverty rate in Missouri “fell from 12.7% to 10.8%” during the decade, the unemployment rate declined, and the median family income rose.
3. John Ashcroft
   John Ashcroft has been a prominent politician from Missouri for decades now. In the 1990's he served as a Governor until 1992, and U.S. Senator until 2000. He ran against Mel Carnahan for re-election in the 2000 election, and lost the race after ceasing to campaign after Carnahan died in a tragic plane crash. George W. Bush appointed Ashcroft to the post of U.S. Attorney General when he took the Presidency. He was a controversial figure, advancing conservative causes, sanctioning drastic “anti-terrorism” and “anti-drug” measures.
4. “Starter castles” and SUVs
   According to the text, “starter castles” are large suburban homes in housing developments outside major cities, many of which were built during the housing market boom of the 1990's. They featured “manicured lawns,” and driveways (or garages) with Sport Utility Vehicles. SUVs, the large type of vehicle that became popular during the 1990's due to the increased wealth of most Americans, available time for leisure travel, bizarre tax incentives that qualified them for breaks intended for heavy trucks, and their becoming a “status symbol of [affluence].” Increased demands for SUVs meant increased demand for gasoline, the price of which more than tripled from the end of the 1990's to the mid-2000's.
5. 1993 flood and debate over Missouri’s rivers
   In the spring of 1993 Missouri experienced the largest-scale flood of its history. Heavy rains caused the Missouri and Mississippi rivers to rise to dangerous levels, causing low-lying areas to be inundated with dirty water. Flood barriers and sandbagging efforts helped save some towns from devastation, but thousands of Missourians were displaced when their homes were flooded. Travel was restricted, with bridges and roads closed by floodwaters.  During and after the cleanup, the Army Corps of Engineers came under fire for its levy, lock, and dam constructions, which many Missourians saw as a cause of damage from the flood. Since many parts of Missouri's rivers were obstructed to make way for commercial boat traffic, and the federal government forced insurers to insure people living in dangerous floodplains, many criticized government policy. 
6. Christopher Bond
   Christopher “Kit” Bond is a prominent Missouri politician. He was Governor and a U.S. Senator in the 1980's, and in the 1990's he defended his U.S. Senate seat against Democratic contenders – in 1992 he and Margaret Kelly were the only Republicans in statewide office in Missouri when they both won re-election, and in 1998 he beat Jay Nixon by substantial margin as Republicans gained political strength in Missouri. He won re-election again in 2004, and remains in office today.
7. Senate Bill 380
   Senate Bill 380 was an education funding bill passed in the wake of an judicial order to increase education funding in Missouri. Exempt from the Hancock Amendment's taxation/ spending requirements, the provisions of the bill were hotly debated throughout early 1993. It became known as the “Outstanding Schools Act,” and was largely the work of Governor Carnahan and the Democrats in the Missouri legislature.  It acted to raise taxes and reallocate money to go to Missouri schools, increased “equity” between rich and poor districts, and established a fund for further school aid. It led to much reform in accreditation, curriculum, and education policy. It led to more spending on education in Missouri throughout the 1990's and 2000's. 
8. Term limitations
   Distrust of politicians by Missourians led to the passage of 1992's term limitation proposition. Passed by popular initiative started by a petition, the proposition forbid legislators from serving for more than 8 years in the same office (starting in 1994). Three quarters of Missouri favored the proposition, although professional politicians were predictably less enthusiastic about it. Proponents say the limits allow politics to serve the interests of the population instead of politicians, and opponents say it forces unexperienced politicians into power and experienced, knowledgeable one out. The term limits largely influenced increased Republican success in the 1990's and 2000's, as the advantage of incumbency was removed from the Democratic politicians who dominated Missouri's legislature.
9. Bob F. Griffin
   Bob Griffin was the leader of the Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in history. A Democrat, during his term he had success in leading his party, and in the 1990's he provided significant aid to the Outstanding Schools Act. His previous popularity was overshadowed by scandal – in 1995 he was convicted of charges of corruption and sentenced to a prison term and fined for his transgressions.
10. Low-tax state
    Missouri is a “low-tax state” by many measures. By most, it ranks in the lowest third of taxes collected per person among the rest of the United States. Partially thanks to the 1980 Hancock Amendment, which limits taxation rate increases, Missouri spends less on “transportation, education, and welfare” than most other states. The text states that the “taxation system favored the rich” during the 1990's, although this seems to mean that Missouri's income tax was not strongly progressive (rather than actually being regressive) – the tax rate did increase for incomes larger than $9,000. The low-tax provisions have caused funding problems for education, road maintenance, and other state programs, especially after the decline in the national in state economy that followed the 1990's.