member of the Missouri House of Representatives
Mel Carnahan took which position from 1963 to 1967?
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 a plane crash in 2000 . A Democrat , he was elected posthumously to the U.S . Senate ; his widow , Jean , served in his stead for two years until a special election . Early 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 , serving from 1945-1947 and 1949-1961 . Carnahan moved with his family to Washington , D.C . in 1945 and returned in 1949 , the year he met his future wife Jean . There he graduated from Anacostia High School in 1952 and earned a Bachelor of Arts ( B.A. ) in business administration from George Washington University in 1954 . He married Jean Anne Carpenter that same year and also entered the United States Air Force during the Korean War and served as a special agent for the Office of Special Investigation rising to the rank of First Lieutenant . In 1956 , he and his wife moved back to his home state of Missouri . He received a Juris Doctor ( J.D. ) from the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia , Missouri , in 1959 . Political career . State Legislator . Carnahans political career started in 1960 when he was elected to serve as a municipal judge in Rolla . Two years later he was elected as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives representing the Rolla area . He remained in the Missouri house until 1966 , winning the position of majority floor leader in his second term . In 1966 , he lost an election for the state senate and started practicing law . State Treasurer . 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 . Governor of Missouri . In 1988 , he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Missouri . In 1992 , he faced Mayor of St . Louis Vincent C . Schoemehl in the Democratic primary for governor . He won the Democratic nomination by a wide margin and went on to easily defeat Republican state Attorney General William L . Webster in the general election . He was elected Governor of Missouri on November 3 , 1992 , and reelected for a second term on November 5 , 1996 , defeating Republican State Auditor Margaret B . Kelly . 2000 Senate election and death . In 2000 , Carnahan ran in the election against incumbent Republican John Ashcroft to become a United States Senator . It was a heated and intense campaign , in which Carnahan traveled all over Missouri to garner support in what was a very close race . However , early in the evening of October 16 , the night before a presidential debate held at Washington University in St . Louis just three weeks before the election , the twin-engine Cessna airplane he was flying on , which was piloted by his son Randy , lost control in rainy and foggy conditions and crashed on a forested hillside near Goldman , Missouri , only about south of St . Louis . All three on board the plane ( Mel and Randy Carnahan and Chris Sifford , the governors campaign advisor and former chief of staff ) were killed in the crash . Lieutenant Governor Roger B . Wilson ascended to the governorship and served out the balance of Carnahans term , which ended in January 2001 . Because Missouri election law would not allow Carnahans name to be removed from the November 7 , 2000 , ballot , the campaign chose Carnahans widow , Jean Carnahan , to unofficially become the new Democratic candidate . Wilson promised to appoint her to the seat , if it became vacant as a result of Mel Carnahans win in the election . Carnahans campaign continued using the slogan Im Still with Mel . A Senate first , Carnahan posthumously won , by a 2% margin . Jean Carnahan was then appointed to the Senate and served until November 2002 , when she was defeated by a 1% margin in a special election by Republican James Talent . Awards and recognitions . A high school , Carnahan High School of the Future , was named after him in 2003 . Personal life . Carnahan and his family were active members of the First Baptist Church of Rolla , where he served as an ordained deacon and member of the building committee . In 1984 , he risked his political career by taking a public stand against Missouri ballot issues , Amendments 5 and 7 , which would legalize parimutuel betting and create a state lottery . He was one of only a handful of state elected officials to take such a position ; however , both amendments passed . Carnahan married Jean Carpenter in Washington , D.C . on June 12 , 1954 . They had four children , all lawyers . Russ Carnahan , a former member of the U.S . House of Representatives for Missouris 3rd District ( 2005–2013 ) ; Tom Carnahan , founder of Wind Capital Group , which builds wind farms ; Robin Carnahan , former Missouri Secretary of State ( 2005–2013 ) ; and Roger Randy Carnahan , who piloted the plane and perished in the same crash that killed his father . External links . - National Governors Association