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Member Number: 11510
The American social crusader and lawyer Ralph Nader (born 1934) became a symbol of the public's concern over corporate ethics and consumer interests. He inspired investigations that were intended to improve the operations of industries and government bureaus.
Ralph Nader was born on February 27, 1934, in Winsted, Connecticut, to Lebanese immigrants. He graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1955 and then went to Harvard Law School, receiving his degree in 1958. Nader served briefly in the U.S. Army, traveled, then opened a law office in Hartford, Connecticut. He also lectured in history and government at the University of Hartford.
Nader was one among many concerned for safety in auto design, but most writers and members of safety and auto associations saw the problem as one in engineering and individual preference in a consumers' market. Nader, while still at Harvard, had studied auto injury cases and was persuaded that faulty design, rather than driver incompetence, was responsible for the staggering accident statistics. He testified before state legislative committees on the subject and wrote articles for magazines.
In 1964 Nader was appointed a consultant to the Department of Labor and undertook to study auto safety in depth. He also worked with Senator Abraham A. Ribicoff's Government Operations Subcommittee, providing it with data on auto accidents. In 1965 he left the department to prepare a book on the subject.
Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-in Dangers of the American Automobile (1965) appeared while Ribicoff's committee was holding hearings on the subject. Nader, a tall, attractive figure, testifying before the committee, became a target of auto manufacturers then coping with lawsuits by victims of auto accidents who were charging faulty car design. Although new safety laws were inevitable, their character was given new facets by Nader's revelations that he had been personally harassed and his private life investigated by detectives. The admission in March 1966 by General Motors president James M. Roche that his firm had indeed had Nader under surveillance received national television coverage and made Nader a public figure. Unsafe at Any Speed became a best seller and a factor in the legislation which in September became law.
Nader enlarged his investigations of the auto industry and the National Traffic Safety Agency, which was responsible for administering the new law. In November he sued General Motors for $26 million, alleging invasion of privacy. He also began a series of studies in various fields intended to upgrade responsible industrial production and human relations. These included safety in mines, control of oil and gas pipes dangerous to people and the environment, and justice for Native Americans. One cause which harked back to Upton Sinclair's 1905-1906 crusade was Nader's activity in behalf of what became the 1967 Wholesome Meat Act.
Living austerely, working with swiftness and economy, and supplementing with foundation grants his income from royalties, article writing, and lectures, Nader attracted over a hundred young people - soon known as "Nader's Raiders" - from law schools and elsewhere. They helped him gather data about industries and government bureaus. In 1969 he organized his Center for the Study of Responsive Law. Its work resulted in such publications as "The Nader Report" on the Federal Trade Commission (1969) and The Interstate Commerce Commission [sic]: The Public Interest and the ICC (1970), with more publications promised in all social fields. In August 1970 Nader was once more in the headlines, having been awarded $425,000 from General Motors, funds promptly put into his expanded crusade.
From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, Nader's public image faded from his Unsafe at Any Speed heyday. But by 1988, he successfully campaigned to roll back California car insurance rates, then ignited public opinion to block a proposed 50 percent pay hike for members of Congress.
He gained notoriety in 1990 when a Forbes magazine story accused him of working together with trial lawyers for supporting Americans' right to sue. The criticism didn't deter him from other investigations, including safety flaws in the airline industry because of financial instability following deregulation. But his book, Collision Course: The Truth About Airline Safety, with Wesley J. Smith, was panned by some for questionable use of statistics.
After failing to stop the North American Free Trade Agreement (1993), he was nominated as 1996 Green Party candidate for President, winning some support in popular polls. Nader himself had summed up his philosophy: "You've got to keep the pressure on, even if you lose. The essence of the citizens' movement is persistence."
Nader and his coworkers were patently in the Progressive tradition. However, their precise relation to public wants and preferences remained controversial. His critics held that he sought to impose his own standards of production rather than to help determine public interest. Nevertheless, he appeared to the public as a dedicated and valuable citizen whose full achievement was yet to be determined.
AccomplishmentsBooks
Nader has authored, co-authored and edited many books. Among these are:
- 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. . 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. . 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. . 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
- The Nader Page (not campaign-related)
- Nader/Camejo 2004
- Greens for Nader 2008 (a 2008 presidential draft site)
- Ralph Nader, Suicide Bomber: How the Great Crusader used the Green Party to get his revenge (Broken)
- Ballot access details
- Democracy Rising: Anti-war news, commentary and activism
- Common Dreams: News and Commentary for the Progressive Community
- 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.
- Ralph Nader on The Hour
Quotes:
"There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship."
"Obviously, the answer to oil spills is to paper-train the tankers."
"For almost seventy years the life insurance industry has been a smug sacred cow feeding the public a steady line of sacred bull."
"When strangers start acting like neighbors... communities are reinvigorated."
"Sanctions against polluters are feeble and out of date, and are rarely invoked."
"Today the large organization is lord and master, and most of its employees have been desensitized much as were the medieval peasants who never knew they were serfs."
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Letter: Want real change? Then vote for Nader Billings Gazette, USA - Ralph Nader represents real change and he will fight for the consumers (us) as he has done for decades. He will get us out of Iraq (sooner rather than ... |
 AFP | Nader Plays the Race Card AlterNet, CA - But Ralph Nader didn't have any qualms about bring race into the campaign. The perennial political gadfly accused Obama of saying and doing nothing to ... Nader jabs again at Obama's 'corporate' views Ralph Nader's guilt complex Obama rips Nader's 'talking white' remark |
 Honolulu Star-Bulletin | Rivals snub isles, Nader says Honolulu Star-Bulletin, HI - By Craig Gima Independent presidential candidate and consumer advocate Ralph Nader, appearing in Honolulu yesterday, called on both major-party candidates ... Ralph Nader to campaign in Hawaii Nader outlines issues prior to rally at UH Nader to visit Hawaii |
 CNN Political Ticker | Nader says McCain and Obama ignore Hawaiian voters Third Party Watch (press release) - Ralph Nader’s visiting Hawaii and claiming that major party candidates Barack Obama and John McCain are ignoring the concerns of Hawaiians by failing to ... CNN Poll Has Nader With 6 Percent CNN poll: Obama, McCain in a statistical dead heat New Poll Shows Statistical Dead Heat in Presidential Race |
 ABC News | First thoughts: Can the center hold? MSNBC - There’s also perennial candidate Ralph Nader, who got 2.7% of the vote (2.9 million votes) in 2000 and 0.38% (464000) in 2004. Winger says Nader’s on the ... Would-be spoilers emerge from the left and the right Bob Barr: 'I am not Ralph Nader' Will libertarian Barr be next Nader |
Energy price controls needed Ventura County Star, CA - This year marks the last year of the Bush presidency and, if the observations made by Ralph Nader in a May 27 e-mail are anywhere near accurate, ... |
Nader's VP "talking white" too? San Francisco Chronicle, USA - For the second time in two weeks, Ralph Nader has questioned Barack Obama for what he called his determination to "talk white'' -- because he's apparently ... Ralph Nader's Effect on Progressive Values |
Nader submits signatures for Nevada ballot KRNV, NV - Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader says he'll fight any attempt to keep his name off state ballots, but for now it looks like he'll have enough ... |
Nadar to qualify for Nevada presidential ballot Las Vegas Sun, NV - By Cy Ryan · July 3, 2008 · 1:06 PM CARSON CITY – Four years ago Ralph Nader ran for president but he collected only 4838 votes in Nevada. ... |
Nader seeks place on Nevada ballot Las Vegas Sun, NV - AP Backers of presidential candidate Ralph Nader say they have enough signatures to get the political activist on the Nevada ballot in November. ... |
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