Ralph Nader

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Ralph Nader
Born	February 27, 1934 (age 73) Winsted, Connecticut  United States
Political party	Independent Green Party (For 1996 & 2000 Presidential campaigns)
Occupation	Attorney and Political Activist
Religion	Maronite Christian
Website	http://www.nader.org

Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader (born February 27, 1934), is an American attorney and political activist. Issues he has promoted include consumer rights, feminism, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government. Nader has also been a critic of American foreign policy in recent decades, which he views as corporatist, imperialist, and contrary to the fundamental values of democracy and human rights. His activism has played a large part in the creation of many governmental and non-governmental organizations, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Public Citizen, Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs). The Atlantic Monthly, in its list of the 100 most influential Americans, ranked Nader number 96: "He made the cars we drive safer; thirty years later, he made George W. Bush the president"; others discount his role in the 2000 presidential election.^[1] Nader is an influential and controversial figure.

Nader ran for President of the United States three times (1996, 2000, 2004). In 1996 and 2000 he was the nominee of the Green Party; Winona LaDuke was his vice-presidential running mate. In 2004 he ran as an independent with Green activist Peter Miguel Camejo as his vice-presidential nominee.

[edit] Life and early career

Nader was born in Winsted, Connecticut. His parents, Nathra and Rose Nader, were Lebanese Christian immigrants. Nader has always declined to name his family's religious affiliation. Nathra Nader was employed in a textile mill and at one point owned a bakery and restaurant where he engaged customers in discussions of political issues.

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. and got a job working for the 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 allowing for mass-scale experimentation of artificial lens implants.

[edit] Clash with the automobile industry

Nader first clashed with automobile industry in 1959 when he wrote the article "The Safe Car You Can't Buy" in an issue of The Nation.^[2] Most famously, in 1965 Nader released Unsafe at Any Speed, a study that purported to demonstrate unsafe engineering of many American automobiles, especially the Chevrolet Corvair and General Motors. GM tried to discredit Nader, hiring private detectives to tap his phones, investigate his past, and hiring prostitutes to trap him in a compromising situation.^[3][4] GM failed to turn up any wrongdoing. Upon learning this, 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".^[5]

A 1972 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration safety commission study conducted by Texas A&M university ultimately exonerated the Corvair and declared it possessed no greater potential for loss of control than its contemporaries in extreme situations.^{[citation needed]} A different account, however, is 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). DeLorean states that Nader's criticisms were valid; the specific Corvair design flaws were corrected in the last year or years of Corvair production, but by then the Corvair name was irredeemably compromised.

In 1975 a book was written by the journalist Ralph de Toledano, titled "Hit and Run: The Rise, and Fall? of Ralph Nader". [1] In this book Mr. 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 the financial ruin of de Toledano.

In 2006, Nader again clashed with the Automotive industry, as he felt that when Chrysler CEO Thomas W. LaSorda drove a new Jeep Wrangler through a plate glass window at the 2006 North American International Auto Show, it "showed how destructive the industry is."."^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 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" and, led by Nader, they investigated corruption throughout government, 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 NGO Public Citizen as an umbrella organization for these projects. Today, Public Citizen has over 140,000 members and numerous researchers investigating Congress, health, environmental, economic, and other issues. Their work is credited with helping to pass the Safe Drinking Water Act and Freedom of Information Act and prompting the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

[edit] Non-profit organizations

In 1980, Nader resigned as director of Public Citizen to work on other projects, especially 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
• 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
• 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)

[edit] Consumer advocacy, public interest, and civic action

Ralph Nader (right) appears with Bob McGrath on a 1988 Sesame Street episode, singing "People in Your Neighborhood". For the episode, Nader included a verse about consumer advocates, unique for a song featuring mail men and firefighters. Nader has since criticized the types of sponsors the show has accepted, such as McDonald's and Discovery Zone.

Because much of his early work involved advocacy to protect consumers (and workers) from unsafe products, Ralph Nader is often referred to as a "consumer advocate." This description should not be misunderstood 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 commercially-driven consumer culture. According to Nader, mass advertising creates artificial and often harmful desires.^{[citation needed]} Nader's "consumer" should not be conceived as a free-spending shopper, but rather as an active participant in democratic institutions.^{[citation needed]} For example, in his critique of television news as largely empty sensationalism, Nader acknowledges that most Americans may have been trained to behave as passive "consumers" of what passes for news, but Nader's call for engagement urges citizens to work together to organize community-based news production.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 9/11

He is a signatory to 911truth.org's 9/11 Truth Statement. [2]

[edit] Presidential campaigns

Main article: Ralph Nader's Presidential Campaigns

• 1972

"Draft Nader" effort had no ballot line to offer, nor did Nader authorize his name to appear on any ballot until 1982.

• 1980

Although Nader took no interest in running in 1980, he expressed the opinion that a victory by Ronald Reagan would be preferable to the reelection of Jimmy Carter. As he saw it, "Reagan is going to breed the biggest resurgence in nonpartisan citizen activism in history." .^[6]

• 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 about 6,300 votes.^[7][8] 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 the candidate of the Green Party of the United States, which had been formed in the wake of his 1996 campaign. According to a former Green Party activist, Nader and his associates, not the Green Party, were the driving force behind the 2000 campaign. That year, he received 2.74% of the popular vote, missing the 5% needed to qualify the Green Party for federally distributed public funding in the next election.^[9]

• 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. 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. Because of controversies over the spoiler effect in 2000, many Democrats urged Nader to abandon his candidacy in 2004. The Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Terry McAuliffe, argued that Nader had a "distinguished career, fighting for working families" and he "would hate to see part of his legacy being that he got us eight years of George Bush."

• 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 said, "It's really too early to say.... I'll consider it later in the year."^[10] During a radio appearance when he was asked to describe the former First Lady, Nader said, "Flatters, panders, coasting, front-runner, looking for a coronation ... She has no political fortitude”.[3] He says that his decision to run will be influenced, especially if the Democratic Party chooses Hillary Clinton[4]. Some Greens have already started a campaign to draft his candidacy in their party's primary for the 2008 election.[5]

[edit] Personal finances and private life

In 1970, General Motors paid an out-of-court settlement of $425,000 to settle an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit filed after it was revealed that GM hired private investigators in an attempt to expose any embarrassing details of his personal life, particularly his sex life. The investigation turned up nothing.^{[citation needed]}

Ralph Nader has lived a frugal and simple life even though he is worth millions personally. He has never been married or had children. He has not owned a car since 1955, and has lived for decades in a boarding house.^{[citation needed]}

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. [6] The largest recipients of Nader's donations have included Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) and other non-profit organizations.

[edit] Unofficial appearances

• Ralph Nader was portrayed in an episode of The Simpsons that aired after the 2000 presidential election in which he is portrayed as a clandestine member of the Springfield Republican Party and is thanked for all the fine work he has done for the Republicans.
• Jon Stewart has hosted him on The Daily Show in 2000, 2004, and 2007.
• He appeared on Da Ali G Show, where interviewer Ali G persuaded him to try out his rapping skills.
• Michaelangelo says "Remind me to drop a line to Ralph Nader" In the hit movie TMNT II : The secret of the ooze.
• He is portrayed in Tom Robbins' 1980 novel Still Life with Woodpecker as Princess Leigh-Cheri's love interest.
• Ralph Nader also made a cameo appearance in the movie Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) opposite Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni. In the movie, Ralph Nader criticizes Jim Carrey's character Dick Harper on a television show called MoneyLife about the financial and business dealings of his company Globodyne telling Dick Harper "I don't know how you sleep at night". Initially, Dick Harper spills his drink on live television when the Moneylife host announces that Ralph Nader is on-air. Dick says surprisingly, "Hey Ralph... Love your stuff" with Nader replying, "I wish I could say the same for you sir but I don't know how you sleep at night."
• Nader was also mentioned in the Greg Bear novel Eon as having a significant role in the politics of the world (as a martyr), though he does not appear directly.
• Nader is mentioned in the lyrics of Franco Unamerican by punk band NOFX
• Nader is also mentioned in the lyrics of "Fast Cars" by punk band the Buzzcocks
• Nader is mentioned as the third presidential candidate on Abe Lincoln Must Die!, the fourth chapter of the first season of the Sam and Max games.
• Nader hosted Saturday Night Live in the late 70's and has appeared on the show 5 times.
• A play on Nader's and Darth Vader's names is used in the 1977 Star Wars parody, Hardware Wars. The character, Darph Nader, (who has no similarities to Nader other than the name) is the unintelligible villain who speaks with his hands and mumbled words.

[edit] Works

[edit] Books

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. 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

[edit] 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

[edit] Selected speeches and interviews

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Ralph Nader

• Bolohan, Scott. "Nader critiques political apathy, personal values: Interview with Ralph Nader", The DePaulia, 2007-2-16.
• Chowkwanyun, Merlin. "The Prescient Candidate Reflects: An Interview with Ralph Nader", Counterpunch, 2004-12-16.
• Nader, Ralph. "Ralph Nader speaking at Harvard Law School", 1992-01-15.

[edit] 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
• 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

[edit] Notes

• An Unreasonable Man (2006). An Unreasonable Man is a documentary film about Ralph Nader that appeared at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
• Clinton, Bill (2005). My Life. Vintage. ISBN 1-4000-3003-X.
• Burden, Barry C. (2005). "Ralph Nader's Campaign Strategy in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election."[7] 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.
• Ballard, J.G, "The Atrocity Exhibition" - there are frequently repeated references to Ralph Nader.
• 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

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• 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.