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Ralph Nader
Personal details
Born	(1934-02-27) February 27, 1934 (age 90) Winsted, Connecticut United States
Political party	Independent Green
Height	300px
Occupation	Attorney and Political Activist
Website	http://www.nader.org

Ralph Nader (born February 27, 1934) is an American attorney and political activist in the areas of consumer rights, humanitarianism, environmentalism and democratic government. Nader has been a staunch critic of corporations, which he believes wield too much power and are undermining the fundamental American values of democracy and human rights. He helped found many governmental and non-governmental organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Public Citizen, and several Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), including NYPIRG.

Nader ran for President four times (in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004). In 1992 he ran as a Democrat in the Democratic primaries. In 1996 and 2000, he was the nominee of the Green Party; in 2004, he ran as an independent.

Life and early career

Nader was born in Winsted, Connecticut. His parents, Nathra and Rose Nader, were Lebanese immigrants. Nathra Nader was employed in a textile mill, and at one point owned a bakery and restaurant where he engaged customers in political discourse.

Nader graduated from Princeton University in 1955 and Harvard Law School in 1958. He served in the United States Army for six months in 1959, then began work as a lawyer in Hartford, Connecticut. Between 1961 and 1963, he was a Professor of History and Government at the University of Hartford. In 1964, Nader moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked for Assistant Secretary of Labor, Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He also advised a United States Senate subcommittee on car safety. In the early 1980s, Nader spearheaded a powerful lobby against FDA approval of mass-scale experimentation of artificial lens implants. Nader also served as a faculty member at The American University Washington College of Law.

Clash with the automobile industry

Nader's first consumer safety articles appeared in the Harvard Law Record, a student publication of Harvard Law School, but he first clashed with automobile industry in an article he wrote for The Nation in 1959 called "The Safe Car You Can't Buy." In 1965, Nader wrote Unsafe at Any Speed, a study that purported to demonstrate that many American automobiles were unsafe, especially the Chevrolet Corvair and General Motors. GM tried to discredit Nader, hiring private detectives to tap his phones and investigate his past, and hiring prostitutes to trap him in compromising situations. GM failed to uncover any wrongdoing, and never explained resorting to smear tactics instead of defending the car in the popular press, where the company had considerable corporate influence. GM's avoidance of technical journals makes more sense, as it was well known among auto engineers that the Corvair's swing axle suspension handled miserably. Upon learning of GM's actions, Nader successfully sued the company for invasion of privacy, forced it to publicly apologize, and used much of his $284,000 net settlement to expand his consumer rights efforts. Nader's lawsuit against GM was ultimately decided by the New York Court of Appeals, whose opinion in the case expanded tort law to cover "overzealous surveillance".

A 1972 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration safety commission report conducted by Texas A&M University ultimately exonerated the Corvair, declaring that the car possessed no greater potential for loss of control than its contemporaries in extreme situations. A different account, however, was given in John DeLorean's "General Motors autobiography", On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors, 1979 (published under the name of his would-be ghostwriter, J. Patrick Wright), in which DeLorean asserts that Nader's criticisms were valid. The specific Corvair design flaws were corrected in the last years of the Corvair's production, although by then the Corvair name was irredeemably compromised.

In his 1975 book Hit and Run: The Rise, and Fall of Ralph Nader, journalist Ralph de Toledano suggested that Nader had falsified and distorted evidence of faults with the Corvair. Mr. Nader sued de Toledano and the protracted case eventually was settled out of court, causing de Toledano's financial ruin.

Activism

Hundreds of young activists, inspired by Nader's work, came to DC to help him with other projects. They came to be known as "Nader's Raiders" who, under Nader, investigated government corruption, publishing dozens of books with their results:

• Nader's Raiders (Federal Trade Commission)
• Vanishing Air (National Air Pollution Control Administration)
• The Chemical Feast (Food and Drug Administration)
• The Interstate Commerce Omission (Interstate Commerce Commission)
• Old Age (nursing homes)
• The Water Lords (water pollution)
• Who Runs Congress? (Congress)
• Whistle Blowing (punishment of whistle blowers)
• The Big Boys (corporate executives)
• Collision Course (Federal Aviation Administration)
• No Contest (corporate lawyers)
• Destroy the Forest (Destruction of ecosystems worldwide)
• Operation: Nuclear (Making of a nuclear missile)

In 1971, Nader founded the non-governmental organization (NGO) Public Citizen as an umbrella organization for these projects. Today, Public Citizen has over 140,000 members and scores of researchers investigating Congressional, health, environmental, economic and other issues. Their work is credited with facilitating the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and prompting the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). In an article published in The New Republic in 2002, it was reported that Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch had received heavy financial support from South Carolina anti-union textile trade magnate, Roger Milliken. Miliken and his D.C. Republican aide, Josh Nash, later helped to raise funds for both Nader's 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns.

Non-profit organizations

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In 1980, Nader resigned as director of Public Citizen to work on other projects, forcefully campaigning against what he believed to be the dangers of large multinational corporations. He went on to start a variety of non-profit organizations:

• Capitol Hill News Service
• Citizen Advocacy Center
• Citizens Utility Boards
• Congress Accountability Project
• Consumer Task Force For Automotive Issues
• Corporate Accountability Research Project
• Disability Rights Center
• Equal Justice Foundation
• Foundation for Taxpayers and Consumer Rights
• Gay Rights Convention
• Georgia Legal Watch
• National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform
• National Coalition for Universities in the Public Interest
• Pension Rights Center
• PROD (truck safety)
• Retired Professionals Action Group
• The Shafeek Nader Trust for the Community Interest
• 1969: Center for the Study of Responsive Law
• 1970s: Public Interest Research Groups
• 1970: Center for Auto Safety
• 1970: Connecticut Citizen Action Group
• 1971: Aviation Consumer Action Project
• 1972: Clean Water Action Project
• 1972: Center for Women's Policy Studies
• 1980: Multinational Monitor (magazine covering multinational corporations)
• 1982: Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
• 1982: Essential Information (encourage citizen activism and do investigative journalism)
• 1983: Telecommunications Research and Action Center
• 1983: National Coalition for Universities in the Public Interest
• 1989: Princeton Project 55 (alumni public service)
• 1991: GLAAD sponsorship committee
• 1993: Appleseed Foundation (local change)
• 1994: Resource Consumption Alliance (conserve trees)
• 1995: Center for Insurance Research
• 1995: Consumer Project on Technology
• 1997?: Government Purchasing Project (encourage the government to purchase safe and healthy products)
• 1998: Center for Justice and Democracy
• 1998: Organization for Competitive Markets
• 1998: American Antitrust Institute (ensure fair competition)
• 1999?: Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest
• 1999?: Commercial Alert (protect family, community, and democracy from corporations)
• 2000: Congressional Accountability Project (fight corruption in Congress)
• 2001?: League of Fans (sports industry watchdog)
• 2001: Citizen Works (promote NGO cooperation, build grassroots support, and start new groups)
• 2001: Democracy Rising (hold rallies to educate and empower citizens)

Consumer advocacy, public interest, and civic action

Because his early work stressed consumer (and worker) protection from unsafe products, Nader is often referred to as a "consumer advocate". This description should not be misinterpreted to suggest that Nader is an advocate of consumption. On the contrary, his message of civic engagement (citizen activism in the public interest), like his harsh critique of "rapacious" corporations, calls for resistance to excessive consumerism.

Presidential campaigns

1972

"Draft Nader" effort had no ballot line to offer, nor did Nader authorize his name to appear on any ballot until 1992.

1990

Nader considered launching a third party around issues of citizen empowerment and consumer rights. He suggested a serious third party could address needs such as campaign-finance reform, worker and whistle-blower rights, government-sanctioned watchdog groups to oversee banks and insurance agencies, and class-action lawsuit reforms.

1992

Nader stood in as a write-in for "none of the above" in the 1992 New Hampshire Democratic Primary and received little more than 3000 votes. He was also a write-in candidate in the 1992 Massachusetts Democratic Primary, where he appeared at the top of the ballot.

1996

Nader was drafted as a candidate for President of the United States on the Green Party ticket during the 1996 presidential election. He was not formally nominated by the Green Party USA, which was, at the time, the largest national Green group; instead he was nominated independently by various state Green parties (in some areas, he appeared on the ballot as an independent).

2000

Nader ran actively in 2000 as candidate of the Green Party, which had been formed in the wake of his 1996 campaign. That year, he received 2,883,105 votes for 2.74% of the popular vote, missing the 5% needed to qualify the Green Party for federally distributed public funding in the next election, yet qualifying the Greens for ballot status in many new states. In October of 2000, at his largest rally of his campaign, in New York City's Madison Square Garden, Nader said that Al Gore and George W. Bush were "Tweedledee and Tweedledum -they look and act the same, so it doesn't matter which you get". Many Democrats blame Nader for throwing the 2000 election to the Republicans and George Bush; his votes in the key state of Florida, among others, exceeded the difference in votes between Gore and Bush. Florida, however, was so close that votes for any of seven candidates would have switched the results.

2004

Nader announced on December 24, 2003 that he would not seek the Green Party's nomination for president in 2004; however, he did not rule out running as an independent candidate. On February 22, 2004, Nader announced on NBC that he would indeed run for president as an independent, saying, "There's too much power and wealth in too few hands." His campaign ran on a platform consistent with the Green Party's positions on major issues, such as opposition to the war in Iraq. Due to concerns about a possible spoiler effect in 2000, many Democrats urged Nader to abandon his 2004 candidacy. The Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Terry McAuliffe, argued that Nader had a "distinguished career, fighting for working families", and "would hate to see part of his legacy being that he got us eight years of George Bush." He received 463,653 votes for 0.38% of the popular vote. Nader replied to this in filmed interviews for the 2007 documentary An Unreasonable Man, by pointing out that, "Voting for a candidate of one's choice is a Constitutional right, and the Democrats who are asking me not to run are, without question, seeking to deny the Constitutional rights of voters who are, by law, otherwise free to choose to vote for me." In this campaign Democrats accused Nader of having his bid funded by Republicans who wanted a repeat of his effect on the 2000 election. According to FEC records, the majority of donors who gave the maximum allowed donation to his campaign ($2,300)also gave the maximum to the Bush campaign.

2008

In February 2007, Nader left the door open for another possible White House bid in 2008 and criticized Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton as "a panderer and a flatterer." Asked on CNN's Late Edition news program if he would run in 2008, Nader replied, "It's really too early to say.... I'll consider it later in the year." Asked during a radio appearance to describe the former First Lady, Nader said, "Flatters, panders, coasting, front-runner, looking for a coronation ... She has no political fortitude." He says that his decision to run will be determined by whether the Democratic Party selects Hillary Clinton as its nominee. Some Greens have started a campaign to draft Nader as their party's 2008 presidential candidate.

In June 2007, Nader again hinted at a run. He said, "You know the two parties are still converging -- they don't even debate the military budget anymore. I really think there needs to be more competition from outside the two parties."

Personal finances and private life

According to the mandatory financial disclosure report that he filed with the Federal Election Commission in 2000, he then owned more than $3 million worth of stocks and mutual fund shares; his single largest holding was more than $1 million worth of stock in Cisco Systems, Inc. Nader held an additional $2 million-plus in Fidelity and other mutual funds. The largest recipients of Nader's donations have included his own Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) and other non-profit organizations under his umbrella.

Works

Books

Nader has authored, co-authored and edited many books, which include:

• Unsafe at Any Speed. Grossman Publishers, 1965.
• Action for a Change (with Donald Ross, Brett English, and Joseph Highland). Penguin (Non-Classics); Rev. ed edition, 1973.
• Whistle-Blowing (with Peter J. Petkas and Kate Blackwell). Bantam Press, 1972.
• Corporate Power in America (with Mark Green)
• You and Your Pension (with Kate Blackwell)
• The Consumer and Corporate Accountability
• In Pursuit of Justice
• Corporate Power in America
• Ralph Nader Congress Project
• Ralph Nader Presents: A Citizen's Guide to Lobbying
• Verdicts on Lawyers
• Who's Poisoning America (with Ronald Brownstein and John Richard)
• The Big Boys (with William Taylor)
• Nader, Ralph. The Good Fight: Declare Your Independency and Close the Democracy Gap. Paperback ed. Harper Collins Pub., 2004.
• Nader, Ralph. Crashing the Party: Taking on the Corporate Government in an Age of Surrender. Paperback ed. St. Martin's Pr., 2002.
• Nader, Ralph. Cutting Corporate Welfare. Paperback ed. Open Media, 2000.
• Nader, Ralph, and Wesley J. Smith. No Contest: Corporate Lawyers and the Pervertion of Justice in America. Hardcover ed. Random House Pub. Group, 1996.
• Nader, Ralph, and Wesley J. Smith. Collision Course: the Truth About Airline Safety. 1st ed. McGraw-Hill Co., 1993.
• Nader, Ralph, and Clarence Ditlow. Lemon Book: Auto Rights. 3rd ed. Asphodel Pr., 1990.
• Nader, Ralph, and Wesley J. Smith. Winning the Insurance Game: the Complete Consumer's Guide to Saving Money. Hardcover ed. Knightsbridge Pub., 1990.
• Nader, Ralph, and John Abbotts. Menace of Atomic Energy. Paperback ed. Norton, W.W. & Co., Inc., 1979.
• Ralph Nader, Joel Seligman, and Mark Green. Taming the Giant Corporation. Paperback ed. Norton, W. W. & Co., Inc., 1977.
• Canada Firsts (with Nadia Milleron and Duff Conacher)
• The Frugal Shopper (with Wesley Smith)
• Getting the Best from Your Doctor (with Wesley Smith)
• Nader on Australia
• The Ralph Nader Reader. Seven Stories Press, 2000. ISBN 1-58322-057-7
• "It Happened in the Kitchen: Recipes for Food and Thought"
• "Why Women Pay More" (with Frances Cerra Whittelsley)
• "Children First! A Parent's Guide to Fighting Corporate Predators"
• "The Seventeen Traditions" Regan Books, 2007. ISBN 0061238279

Articles

• The "I" Word - Boston Globe - May 31, 2005 - Nader calls for the impeachment of President George W. Bush (with Kevin Zeese)
• Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee on Alito Nomination - Jan. 10, 2006
• Bush to Israel: 'Take your time destroying Lebanon' - The Arab American News - Aug. 2006
• Bill Moyers For President Nader on Bill Moyers running for President in 2008, October 28, 2006

Selected speeches and interviews

• Bolohan, Scott (2007-2-16). "Nader critiques political apathy, personal values: Interview with Ralph Nader". The DePaulia. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Chowkwanyun, Merlin (2004-12-16). "The Prescient Candidate Reflects: An Interview with Ralph Nader". Counterpunch. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Nader, Ralph (1992-01-15). "Ralph Nader speaking at Harvard Law School". {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Video and audio links

• Audio/Video Interview on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman: Ralph Nader on Why He Might Run In 2008, the Iraq War & the New Documentary "An Unreasonable Man". He also looks back at his childhood and his new book "Seventeen Traditions." Film director Henriette Mantel joins us to talk about "An Unreasonable Man". February 5th, 2007
• Audio/Video Interview on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman: Ralph Nader on Conservative Democrats, Corporate Power and the Middle East. Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
• Ubben Lecture at DePauw University, September 27, 2007
• Ralph Nader video appearances on C-SPAN in RealVideo - rec. April 9, 2000 to present - Retrieved June 6, 2005
• A Call to Civic Engagement, online video of speech given on August 18 2005 in Montreal.
• Ralph Nader speaks at the Reform Party Convention, 2004 - Provided by C-SPAN in
• Archived Audio of Ralph Nader Statement at the End of 2004 Campaign, from Democracy Now! November 3, 2004
• Archived Video of Ralph Nader - Howard Dean Debate on C-SPAN, July 9, 2004
• Archived Video of Nader / Camejo 2004 campaign kickoff rally in San Francisco, July 16, 2004
• Archived Audio of Nader / Camejo 2004 campaign kickoff rally in San Francisco, July 16, 2004
• John Bachir Film: Ralph Nader Interview, 2004
• Ralph Nader speaks at the Commonwealth Club video

RealVideo format.

• On Corporate & Government Responsibility Talk at UC Berkeley April 26, 2002
• Nader on Iraq CBC Broadcast 3 days into the invasion of Iraq.
• Nader on Ethics of Public Participation at Center for Ethics, Emory College
• Ralph Nader on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
• Ralph Nader and Howard Dean debate the role of third political parties in America

Notes

• An Unreasonable Man (2006). An Unreasonable Man is a documentary film about Ralph Nader that appeared at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
• Burden, Barry C. (2005). Ralph Nader's Campaign Strategy in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election 2005, American Politics Research 33:672-99.
• Ralph Nader: Up Close This film blends archival footage and scenes of Nader and his staff at work in Washington with interviews with Nader's family, friends and adversaries, as well as Nader himself. Written, directed and produced by Mark Litwak and Tiiu Lukk, 1990, color, 72 mins. Narration by Studs Terkel. Broadcast on PBS. Winner, Sinking Creek Film Festival; Best of Festival, Baltimore Int'l Film Festival; Silver Plaque, Chicago Int'l Film Festival, Silver Apple, National Educational Film & Video Festival.
• Bear, Greg, "Eon" - the novel includes a depiction of a future group called the "Naderites" who follow Ralph Nader's humanistic teachings.
• Martin, Justin. Nader: Crusader, Spoiler, Icon. Perseus Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0-7382-0563-X

References

1. Candidates / Ralph Nader 2004
2. Mickey Z. 50 American Revolutions You're Not Supposed To Know. New York: The Disinformation Company, 2005. p.87 ISBN 1932857184
3. Ralph Nader's museum of tort law will include relics from famous lawsuits—if it ever gets built December 2005
4. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Federal Role in Highway Safety: Epilogue -The Changing Federal Role May 7, 2005
5. Independent Suspensions: Swing axle suspension 1998
6. Original Triumph Spitfire -- Camber Compensator August 21, 1999
7. Nader v. General Motors Corp., 307 N.Y.S.2d 647 (N.Y. 1970).
8. Brent Fisse and John Braithwaite, The Impact of Publicity on Corporate Offenders. State University of New York Press, 1983. p.30 ISBN 0873957334
9. The dark side of Ralph Nader July 1, 2004
10. 2000 Presidential Election Results
11. How the Great Crusader used the Green Party to get his revenge: Ralph Nader, Suicide Bomber May 5, 2004
12. Democrats Upset at 'Spoiler' in 2000 Race
13. 2000 OFFICIAL PRESIDENTIAL GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS
14. 2004 Presidential Election Results
15. Nader Leaves '08 Door Open, Slams Hillary Reuters, February 5, 2007.
16. Ralph Nader: Hillary's Just a 'Bad Version of Bill Clinton' Feb. 16, 2007
17. DraftNader.org
18. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4580.html
19. http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/06/20/nader/

External links

• The Nader Page (not campaign-related)
• Nader/Camejo 2004
• Greens for Nader 2008 (a 2008 presidential draft site)
• Ballot access details
• Nader's Glitter Opposing view by Thomas Sowell.
• Salon.com Citizen Nader
• 2004 Vote Profile: Ralph Nader
• Digital History Ralph Nader
• Interview with Ralph Nader for Princeton Report on Knowledge about the spin of information. April 26, 2007
• Ralph Nader on The Hour July 14, 2007
• 10 Things You Didn't Know About Ralph Nader March 23, 2007
• Skeletons in the Closet page on Ralph Nader 2000
• Salon - The Dark Side of Ralph Nader

Template:Persondata

• 1934 births
• Living people
• American activists
• American democracy activists
• American environmentalists
• American political writers
• Connecticut lawyers
• Consumer rights activists
• Social Progressives
• Lebanese Americans
• Maronites
• Green Party (United States) politicians
• Harvard Law School alumni
• Princeton University alumni
• United States presidential candidates