US Congressman. A member of the Democratic party, he represented northeastern Minnesota's 8th congressional district in the US House of Representatives. The son of an iron ore miner, he graduated from Chisholm High School, Chisholm, Minnesota in 1952, and attended the College of St. Thomas (now the University of St. Thomas) in Saint Paul, Minnesota where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1956. The following year he received a Master's Degree in European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, with further study at Université Laval in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada and Georgetown University in Washington DC. He then taught for four years as a civilian language teacher in the US Marine Corps, teaching English to Haitian military personnel and French to American Marine officers and noncommissioned officers. From 1963 to 1974 he served on the staff of Minnesota's 8th District US Representative John Blatnik. During this time, he helped create the Economic Development Administration, the only federal agency devoted to the creation and retention of jobs in economically distressed American communities. In 1974, when Blatnik decided not to run for a 15th term, he endorsed Oberstar as his successor and he easily won, and was subsequently reelected 16 times, serving from January 1975 until January 2011. He was the longest serving member of either house of Congress in Minnesota's history. He maintained a liberal voting record, but opposed gun control, abortion, and free trade agreements. An internationally recognized expert on aviation and aviation safety, he served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee during his entire time in Congress, and was chairman of the Committee from 2007 to 2011. During his time in Congress, he was House Democratic At-Large Whip and a member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic Study Group. Additionally, he served on the International Relations Committee, was co-chair of the Great Lakes Task Force and was a member of the Upper Mississippi Task Force and the Democratic Homeland Security Task Force. He co-chaired the Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus and was a member of the Bike Caucus, the Caucus for Sustainable Development, the Congressional Caucus on Global Road Safety, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, the Congressional Steel Caucus, the Medical Technology Caucus, the Mississippi River Caucus, the Native American Caucus, and the Renewable Energy Caucus. In 2009 he received the Tony Jannus Award for distinguished leadership in the field of commercial aviation. In November 2010 he was defeated for reelection in a close race by Republican Chip Cravaack. In June 2012, he was made Commander in the French Ordre national du Mérite. He died unexpectedly in his sleep at his home at the age of 79.