He's scrabbled to get legislation passed that protects the state's waters, to provide access to its most remote areas and to destroy any barriers that get in the way of his vision for the betterment of Alaskans.

Over the decades, he's used his influence and political persuasion to get billions of dollars to Alaska. The state has for years received federal dollars totaling more than $10,000 per capita, well above any other state in the nation.

And that has earned him a different championship title: That of wasteful spender, the pork barrel king, the bane of responsible spending of taxpayer money. It's primarily those living outside Alaska — taxpayer watchdog groups and some members of Congress — who hold this viewpoint.

Sen. Stevens, they say, uses mafia-like methods to strong-arm acquiescence to get money and other services to Alaska, whether or not it is truly needed. Stevens' methods of slipping in earmarks for Alaska projects are unnecessary at best, unethical at worst, critics say.

His reputation has garnered the attention of federal investigators, who are targeting Stevens in allegations of corruption and favoritism because of his ties with big business, his critics say.

For his part, Stevens scoffs at such talk. Yes, he's under investigation, but says he's confident he'll be cleared. And he makes no apologies for using whatever means necessary to get legislation passed that helps Alaska. If other states benefit from language in a bill, well that's fine too.

The criticism doesn't bother him, he said in an interview in Anchorage in late August. But the malice behind some of those zings does hurt.

No matter which viewpoint one holds, few can deny that without Sen. Stevens, Alaska would be a far different place.

Still, if not for the scorning of a woman, that nation's ranking senator may have retired as a pilot.

A dream to fly

Theodore Fulton Stevens was born in Indianapolis, Ind., in November 1923 to George and Gertrude Stevens. George, an accountant, moved the family to Chicago when young Ted was about 4 years old.

Shortly after their arrival, George Stevens was blinded due to problems associated with diabetes. At about the same time, the Great Depression was taking hold. The family moved back to Indiana.

Sen. Ted Stevens dons a cap from Afognak Lodge during the opening of a Whistle Stop site along the Alaska Railroad at Spencer Glacier in August. Stevens makes no apologies for using harsh methods to get money for Alaska programs. Photo/Rob Stapleton/AJOC

“Those were tough times,” Sevens said. “We lived in a two-bedroom bungalow house that my grandfather built. We didn't have water or sewer.”

In 1933, his grandfather died. To help the family financially, young Ted Stevens took a job as a newsboy.

In the late 1930s, the Stevens family moved to California, where Stevens graduated from Redondo Union High School in 1942.

America had just entered World War II, and Stevens had his eye on flying fighter planes. His relatives, however, had a different opinion.

“My aunt and uncle made me promise I wouldn't enlist until I finished high school and started college,” he said. “No one in our family had ever gone to college. Neither of my older siblings wanted to go. So my aunt decided I would be the one. She loaned me the money to go one semester.”

Stevens enrolled in an aeronautical engineering program at Oregon State University. And in 1943, joined an Army Air Corps program at Montana State College. After scoring high on tests for flight training, he was sent to California flight school. He earned his wings in 1944.

“I was always interested in aircraft,” he said. “It was a dream to fly.” As a child, Stevens spent what money he had on books about World War I pilots.

In World War II, Stevens was assigned to fly C46 and C47 transport planes with the 14th Air Force Transport Section over “The Hump,” the Himalayas, to move supplies to China from bases in Burma and India. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal and a medal from the Chinese government. But his dream was to fly the P38 fighter aircraft.

But it was flying; he was fulfilling a dream. He was discharged in March 1946. The war was over, but Stevens stayed in China to make some money flying.

Loves lost and found

While serving in the war, Stevens had been engaged to a lady in Texas. After a long mission in China, Stevens returned to base to a tall stack of letters.

“I read the last one first, and saw she had gotten married,” he said. “I decided to hell with flying. I'm going to go back home and go to school.”

Stevens returned to the states, completing a degree in political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1947. Three years later, he earned a law degree from Harvard.

He paid for his education using the GI Bill, working such jobs as bartending, and selling his blood. “A lot of us did that at the time,” he said. “There were not many blood banks in those days. You could get $25 a pint.”

After graduation, he took a job with Northcutt Ely, a law firm in Washington, D.C.

He met Ann Mary Chennington in the fall of 1951. They occasionally double dated with William Rehnquist, who later became the Supreme Court chief justice.

Stevens married Ann in 1952. They had five children. In 1978 Ann died, along with four others, in a plane crash in Anchorage. Stevens survived, but suffered broken ribs, problems with his back and amnesia.

“It was a difficult time,” he said. “It's still very difficult.”

A year later, his daughters set him up on a date with his current wife, Catherine. They married in December 1980 and had one child together.

The road to politics

Stevens grew up among politics. His grandfather was active in political organizations on the city level, Stevens said.

Before he was 30 years old, he had his eye on working in Washington, though holding a political seat hadn't yet occurred to him.

In the early 1950s, Stevens worked for Dwight Eisenhower's presidential campaign, with the hope of obtaining a job with the Department of Interior afterward. A national hiring freeze chilled that idea.

So, when Charles Clasby offered Stevens a job with Collins and Clasby, the young attorney in February 1953 borrowed $600, loaded up a 1947 Buick and drove the Alaska Highway to Fairbanks.

He and Ann agreed they'd try it for six months. Six months after their arrival, Stevens was appointed U.S. attorney for Fairbanks after Bob McNealy, a Democrat, resigned. Some would say taking that job was his first act of upsetting people: Some locals were upset that a newcomer got the job.

But Stevens did well, noted as an active prosecutor who vigorously brought to court violations of federal and territorial liquor, drug and prostitution laws. He quickly garnered the attention of politicos in D.C.

In 1956, he was appointed as legislative council for the Department of Interior, posted in Washington, D.C. His mission was to garner support in D.C. so that Alaska could become an official state in the union, the first state admitted since 1912.

Many at the time were frustrated by the fact that after three decades under the American flag, the Alaska Territory still did not have adequate roads, airfields, tuberculosis hospitals and dependable shipping at reasonable costs.

Stevens helped shape the Statehood Act, wrote many of the speeches to promote it and actively lobbied for passage - an illegal activity since he worked for the executive branch at the time. Alaska became a state in 1959.

“It was an intense period,” he said. “Eisenhower had great worries about the idea that the Northwest area was exposed to the Soviet Union.”

Stevens returned to Alaska in the 1960s, opening a law office in Anchorage. Politics called, however, and he ran for senate against Ernest Gruening. He lost. “I had no business running against Gruening,” Stevens said.

In 1964, he was elected to the state House of Representatives. Four years later, Stevens ran for Republican nomination for senate and lost to Elmer Rasmussen, who in turn lost Mike Gravel.

Before Gravel was sworn in, Democratic Sen. Bob Bartlett died. Then-Gov. Wally Hickel appointed Stevens. He was sworn in before Gravel, making Stevens the state's senior senator.

Stevens was elected to finish the term in a special election held in 1970. He's been elected ever since.

Building a state, and a reputation

In his 40 years in politics, Stevens' efforts have been credited in creating such far-reaching legislation as providing for universal phone services and fisheries protections.

He helped settle the Alaska Native land claims battle that ultimately allowed for the oil pipeline. He helped provide essential air service for rural areas, funding for the telemedicine network to provide better health care to villages, and built the Denali Commission, which is a joint federal and state organization that helps fund various projects in rural Alaska.

In 2002, Stevens served as President Pro Tempore, meaning he was third in line for the presidency.

From 1997 to 2005, Stevens chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee, the group responsible for passing out money to the nation's programs. The position allowed the senator to funnel additional money to Alaska projects.

Still, the senator can't get it all. His efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration have consistently failed.

At 83 years old and the longest-serving Republican member of the Senate, Stevens has no plans to retire. There's still much to do, he said.

He needs to help pave the way for a gas pipeline, continues to work on opening ANWR, and many areas in rural Alaska still need money for infrastructure.

And whenever it's necessary, he'll pull out his Incredible Hulk tie — which he wears to address the Senate floor for the most serious issues — and he'll put his infamous temper to work.

“I use my temper, I don't lose my temper,” he said. “A good reputation to have is that you fight for what you believe in.”