NEED TO KNOW

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan was running for U.S. Senate in 2000 when tragedy struck

Carnahan, his son and a longtime aide were killed in a plane crash, just weeks before Election Day

Despite his death, Carnahan went on to win the hotly contested Senate seat, and his widow, Jean, served two years in the Senate in his stead

Mel Carnahan was seemingly born to be a politician . Just 10 years old when his father, A. S. J. Carnahan, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, Mel often traveled at his side, witnessing how the elder Carnahan stood up for southeastern Missouri in the nation's capital.

In fact, it was moving to Washington, D.C., with his father that led young Mel to one of the most important meetings of his life. At 15 years old, he met Jean Carpenter in a

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