Robert P. Griffin

Robert Paul Griffin (November 6, 1923 – April 16, 2015) was a Republican U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan and Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.

Griffin was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended public schools in Garden City and Dearborn. During the Second World War, he enlisted in the 71st Infantry Division in 1943 and spent fourteen months in Europe. After the war, he graduated from Central Michigan College (now Central Michigan University) at Mount Pleasant in 1947. He received a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1950. He commenced the practice of law in Traverse City.

Griffin was elected as a Republican to the House of Representatives from the Michigan's 9th congressional district in 1956, unseating incumbent Ruth Thompson in the Republican primary. He served in the Eighty-fifth United States Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1957 to his resignation May 10, 1966. He was appointed by Governor George Romney on May 11, 1966 to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy, caused by the death of Patrick V. McNamara.

He was elected, on November 8, 1966, to a full six-year term, defeating former Governor Soapy Williams by a 56% to 44% margin. He served January 3, 1967 and was reelected in 1972 after winning a tough race against state Attorney General Frank J. Kelley, and served from May 11, 1966, to January 2, 1979. He was Republican Whip from 1969 to 1977.

In 1968, Griffin led a successful filibuster against the nomination of Supreme Court Associate Justice Abe Fortas to be elevated to Chief Justice, charging President (and former Senate Majority Leader) Lyndon B. Johnson with cronyism, noting the close relationship between both. Fortas resigned his Associate Justice seat in May 1969 when it was discovered Fortas had been paid a $20,000 a year retainer by Louis Wolfson, a close friend and former client, since 1966.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1978, narrowly defeated by former Detroit City Council president Carl Levin. He was a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 1987 to 1994. His son, Richard Allen Griffin, was a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals from 1989 to 2005, when he was appointed by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

During Griffin's first Senate campaign in 1966, a suburban Detroit rock band, Doug Brown and the Omens, released a promotional flexidisc in support of his candidacy. The song, "Give Bob The Ball" (which extolled Griffin's "youth and experience") has been included on the garage rock compilation album Friday At The Hideout.

A resident of Traverse City, Griffin died on April 16, 2015, aged 91.